In re Carothers

312 Ga. 393

863 S.E.2d 35

In the MATTER OF Barry Dean CAROTHERS.

S21Z0781

Supreme Court of Georgia.

Decided: September 8, 2021

Barry Dean Carothers, BC Law, 1803 S. Kanner Highway, Stuart, Florida 34994, for Appellant.

Heidi Manroe Faenza, Office of Bar Admissions, 330 Capitol Avene SE, Suite L200, Atlanta, Georgia 30334, Rebecca S. Mick, General Counsel Office of Bar Admissions, 330 Capitol Avenue, SE, Suite L200, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-1300, Russell David Willard, Senior Assistant Attorney General, Christopher M. Carr, Attorney General, Lee M. Stoy, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, Bryan Keith Webb, Department of Law, 40 Capitol Square, SW, Atlanta, Georgia 30334-0819, for Appellee.

Per Curiam.

Barry Dean Carothers appeals the decision of the Georgia Board of Bar Examiners denying his motion for admission to the State Bar of Georgia on motion without examination. Because we agree with Carothers that the Board erred by concluding that he has not been "admitted by examination" to the bar of a reciprocal jurisdiction, we reverse the Board's decision.

1. Background .

Carothers was admitted to the Florida Bar by examination in 1990. He was also later admitted by motion (without examination) to the bars of Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, and West Virginia. Then, in February 2020, Carothers took the Uniform Bar Examination ("UBE") in South Carolina and received a score of 267.¹ Based on that examination score and his completion of that state's other admission requirements, he was admitted to the South Carolina Bar. Carothers also applied for admission to the Alabama Bar by transferring his score on the same UBE. Because he met Alabama's UBE score requirement and completed the state's other admission requirements, he was admitted to the Alabama Bar in January 2021.

Carothers then applied to be admitted to the Georgia Bar on motion without examination based on Georgia's reciprocity with Alabama for bar admissions purposes. The Georgia Board denied his application on February 8, 2021, on the ground he had not been "admitted by examination" to membership in the bar of a jurisdiction that has reciprocity with Georgia, citing Part C, Section 2 (b) of this Court's Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law ("Georgia Rules"). See In the Matter of O'Neal , 304 Ga. 449, 451, 819 S.E.2d 1 (2018) ("This Court has the inherent and exclusive power to prescribe requirements for admission to the practice of law in order to promote the State's fundamental interest in ensuring that members of the legal profession are competent.").² Carothers appeals that decision.

2. The Georgia Rule for Admission on Motion .

Part C of the Georgia Rules allows applicants to be admitted to the Georgia Bar on motion rather than by passing the Georgia bar examination if they meet certain requirements. The only requirement at issue in this case mandates that the applicant

[h]as been admitted by examination to membership in the bar of the highest court of another United States jurisdiction which has reciprocity for bar admissions purposes with the State of Georgia[.]

Georgia Rules Part C, Section 2 (b).³ It is undisputed that Carothers has been admitted to the bar of the highest court of Alabama and that Alabama is a jurisdiction which has reciprocity with Georgia for bar admissions purposes.⁴ The Board contends, however, that Carothers was not "admitted by examination" to the Alabama Bar.

In considering the meaning of bar admission rules, we must afford the text its " ‘plain and ordinary meaning,’ " view it "in the context in which it appears," and read it "in its most natural and reasonable way, as an ordinary speaker of the English language would."

Deal v. Coleman , 294 Ga. 170, 172-173, 751 S.E.2d 337 (2013) (citation omitted). See also City of Guyton v. Barrow , 305 Ga. 799, 805, 828 S.E.2d 366 (2019) (noting that statutory interpretation principles from Deal "apply to all positive legal rules"). We begin with the recognition that the Uniform Bar Examination is undeniably an "examination" under the ordinary meaning of that word. See, e.g., The American Heritage Dictionary of English Language 618 (4th ed. 2000) (defining "examination" as "[a] set of questions or exercises testing knowledge or skill"). So the question is whether Carothers was "admitted by" this examination "to membership in the bar [of the reciprocal state]." Because we must determine how Carothers was admitted to the Alabama Bar, we must look to the Rules Governing Admission to the Alabama State Bar ("Alabama Rules").⁵

3. The Alabama Rules .

Applicants may be admitted to the Alabama Bar without examination and by examination. As discussed below, under the Alabama Rules, Alabama's bar examination consists of the UBE, and applicants may take the UBE in Alabama or take the examination in a different jurisdiction and transfer the score they receive. The Georgia Board argues that using a transferred examination score is more akin to being admitted without examination, rather than by examination. But a review of the Alabama Rules refutes that argument.

(a) Admission to the Alabama Bar Without Examination .

Rule III of the Alabama Rules covers "Persons Entitled to Admission Without Examination." Applicants seeking admission under this rule must show, among other things, that they have been admitted to practice law in another state, territory, or the District of Columbia; that the jurisdiction where they have had their principal place of business for the practice of law or where they have been "domiciled and admitted" has reciprocity with Alabama; that they have been primarily engaged in the active practice of law for five of the last six years; that they have not taken and failed the Alabama bar exam within the last 10 years; and that they are a permanent resident of Alabama or intend to conduct their primary practice of law in Alabama. See Alabama Rules, Rule III, Section A. Although these applicants must prove that they have received a score of at least 75 on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination ("MPRE"), there is no timing requirement as to when they must have taken that ethics test. See Alabama Rules, Rule III, Section A (1)(j). Most important for our analysis, applicants for admission to the Alabama Bar without examination do not have to take the UBE, in Alabama or elsewhere.

(b) Admission to the Alabama Bar By Examination .

Rule IV of the Alabama Rules covers "Persons Entitled to Admission by Examination"; it says that a person who is at least 19 years old and has fulfilled certain other requirements, including education requirements, "is entitled to be examined for admission to the Alabama State Bar, at any examination held as prescribed by these Rules." Rule VI(B), which is titled "Bar Examination," then provides the rules governing the Alabama bar examination. Subsection C (6) of that rule, "Transfer of UBE Score," says in part:

An applicant who has taken the entire UBE in a single administration in another jurisdiction and earned a total UBE scaled score of 260 or above may transfer his or her UBE score and be excused from taking the UBE in Alabama, provided that the applicant otherwise satisfies the requirements of these Rules applicable to applicants seeking admission by examination. The transferred UBE score will be valid for a period of no longer than 25 months after the date of administration of the UBE that resulted in the transferred score.

(Emphasis added.) This rule plainly indicates that Alabama treats admission with a transferred UBE score as an "admission by examination," and expressly permits applicants to apply under this rule even if they do not take the UBE in Alabama.

In terms of the substantive requirements for admission by examination, both applicants seeking admission with a transferred UBE score and applicants taking the UBE in Alabama must score at least a 260 on the UBE, score at least a 75 on the MPRE within 25 months before or after taking the UBE,⁶ and complete a course on Alabama law. See Alabama Rules, Rule VI(B), Sections A. (2)-(3), C. (1), E.⁷

(c) Carothers's Admission to the Alabama Bar .

The application requirements set forth in Rules III, IV, and VI(B) of the Alabama Rules illustrate how different applicants prove their worthiness to be admitted as members of the Alabama Bar. Applicants seeking admission without examination establish their legal competency through their prior admission to the bar of another state, territory, or the District of Columbia and their multi-year experience in the active practice of law. Applicants transferring a UBE score or taking the UBE in Alabama, on the other hand, establish their legal competency through their performance on that bar examination. Under the Alabama Rules, applicants who are admitted to the Alabama Bar based on a transferred UBE score are "admitted by examination" just as much as those who take the UBE in Alabama, and those applicants are quite clearly not admitted under the rule for admission "without examination."

Neither Carothers nor the Georgia Bar contends that he met the criteria for admission to the Alabama Bar without examination. Instead, he followed the requirements for admission by examination: he took the UBE, which is the bar examination used by Alabama; he achieved a passing score under the Alabama Rules; he timely transferred that score to Alabama; and he successfully completed the other requirements for admission by examination. Thus, under the plain language of the Alabama Rules, Carothers was "admitted by examination" to the Alabama Bar.

4. The Board's Arguments .

The Board argues, however, that the above analysis is flawed because "admitted by examination" as that phrase is used in Part C, Section 2 (b) of the Georgia Rules should not be construed by considering the bar admission rules of the jurisdiction where the applicant was allegedly admitted by examination. Instead, the Board argues, this phrase should be defined by looking at certain provisions...