Commentary: Attorney to State Bar of Wisconsin: ‘Your logic swallows itself’

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Published April 10 2024 at 9:43 a.m. CDT

By Wisconsin Attorney, Kevin M. Connelly, Connelly Legal Services, Inc.

Open Letter to State Bar of Wisconsin President Dean Dietrich

With your new “broad” definition of diversity and statement that the program is open to “all first-year law students” then what is a non-diverse student? Using your new diversity words, and elementary Set Theory, such a student would have ‘no differing characteristics and no differing experiences and no differing interests and no differing viewpoints’ = a rare student indeed. By being rare that makes them eligible for your program does it not?  Your logic swallows itself.  (Criticisim of leadership REDACTED)

It’s your duty as the leader of the bar to make sure such terms are defined in an objective manner as would be the case with any new law which would include a definition section.  Otherwise it is illusory meaning the words mean whatever the selection committee wants the words to mean on any given day.

Editor’s note:

As previously reported by the Wisconsin law Journal, a University of Wisconsin Law School Professor encouraged law students not to participate in the State Bar of Wisconsin’s “sh*tty program.” The professor noted only one black student was admitted to the program last year. Click here to read that article.

Also as previously reported, the recent Federal lawsuit against the State Bar reached a partial settlement, however, both parties do not agree on the spirit of the settlement agreement.  WILL has said they are considering filling a second lawsuit against the State Bar of Wisconsin to enforce the settlement agreement from the previous lawsuit.