AUSTIN – There may be some good news for Texas attorneys who no longer wish to fund the state Bar’s ideological agenda, as a challenge to mandatory Oklahoma Bar dues has been reinstated.
Yesterday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit revived a lawsuit brought by Oklahoma attorney Mark Schell, who sought to invalidate the state’s requirement to join the Bar and pay dues.
Justices found a federal district judge erred in dismissing Schell’s freedom of association claim based on mandatory Bar membership and remanded the case for further discovery.
What exactly the ruling means for Texas should be answered sooner rather than later, as a similar challenge is currently before the Fifth Circuit.
In March 2019, Texas attorneys Tony McDonald, Joshua Hammer and Mark Pulliam sued the Bar’s Board of Directors, alleging First Amendment rights violations under Janus v. AFSCME – a 2018 Supreme Court decision that found that millions of public servants no longer have to pay a government union as a condition of employment.
The attorneys argue they shouldn’t be forced to fund the Bar in order to work in their chosen profession, especially when considering that the Bar goes beyond its regulatory function by engaging in “extensive political and ideological activities,” such as diversity initiatives and legislative programs.
However, the Board was granted summary judgment last May, prompting the appeal to the Fifth Circuit.
The case even caught the attention Attorney General Ken Paxton, who threw his support behind the trio of Texas attorneys, filing an amicus brief that states the Bar has “no legitimate interest” in forcing lawyers to financially support its “divisive ideological agenda.”
Court records show oral arguments were heard back in March.
On May 28, the attorneys submitted a letter to the Fifth Circuit stating that Bar dues were due in June and that they would pay under protest.