Montana Cases October 05, 2021: In re Lansing

Case Description

ORDER

Alwyn T. Lansing has petitioned for 1) waiver of the three-year test requirement for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), and 2) for temporary admission pending Lansing`s taking of the February 2022 Bar Exam.

Lansing is seeking to work as an Assistant Montana Attorney General in the office of the Solicitor General, and is currently working as a law clerk to the Solicitor General. Lansing requests waiver of the three-year test requirement for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). By rule, applicants for admission upon examination must provide evidence of the requisite score on an MPRE taken within three years of sitting for the Montana bar exam. Rule VII. A.3, Rules of Admission. According to the petition, Lansing passed the MPRE in 2017 and has remained an active attorney in good standing in California and the District of Columbia, and "at no time has Petitioner faced any disciplinary or ethical issues." Lansing has established good cause for waiver.

We have granted temporary or provisional admission to qualified applicants pending their passage of the bar exam. As we explained in Petition of Gosch, "[t]emporary admission until sitting for the bar exam may be appropriate in circumstances where a candidate does not qualify for admission on motion or for transfer of a UBE score." Petition of Goscfu 07-0303, March 7, 2016. As Lansing notes, we have granted temporary admission in similar circumstances. In the Matter of the Temporary Admission to Practice of Dale Schovengerdt, 07-00303. October 29, 2014. The petition states that Lansing will work under the direct supervision of the Solicitor General during the pendency of her temporary admission. Therefore, IT IS ORDERED that the request for waiver of the three-year test requirement for submission of a prior MPRE score in conjunction with Petitioner's admission by examination is GRANTED.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the request for temporary admission to the State Bar of Montana pending Petitioner's taking of the bar exam in February 2022 is GRANTED. The Clerk of this Court will administer the usual oath and issue a temporary certificate granting Petitioner permission to practice law. This admission applies only while Petitioner is employed with the Office of the Attorney General, which shall notify the Court if Petitioner ceases to be employed by that office. The Clerk is directed to provide copies of this order to Petitioner and to the State Bar of Montana.