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SD Supreme Court appoints study committee on the bar admissions process

By Jody Heemstra Nov 23, 2022 | 9:16 AM

The South Dakota Supreme Court has entered an order appointing a diverse group of South Dakota attorneys to study the process for admitting attorneys to practice law in South Dakota. With technical assistance from the National Center for State Courts and Access Lex, the committee will conduct a comprehensive review of the current bar admissions process, including the assessment of the character and fitness of applicants seeking admission to the practice of law in South Dakota. The order also tasks the committee to develop recommendations to the Court for an admission process that continues to support South Dakota’s effort to recruit and retain licensed attorneys to serve the legal needs of all South Dakotans, while maintaining a credible process to gauge an applicant’s competence to practice law.

Chief Justice Steven R. Jensen explained the Court’s decision to appoint a study committee: “The Court has a high degree of confidence in the standardized bar examination, administered in 48 other states, that has been used to measure legal competence of applicants to the South Dakota Bar for nearly forty years. However, the Court recognizes the legal landscape continues to change in South Dakota and throughout the country. As such, it is time to review our admission process as we plan for the future of the legal profession in South Dakota. The Court’s overarching goal is to maintain an admission process that is fair, ensures attorneys are available to meet the future needs of individuals both in rural and urban communities, and most of all, protects the public by maintaining a process for determining minimum competence of every applicant to the South Dakota Bar.”

Chief Justice Jensen will chair the Committee. The committee membership will also consist of:

  • Dean Neil Fulton, Knudson School of Law, Vermillion

  • Jack Hieb, Attorney, Aberdeen

  • Sheridan Anderson, Chief of Legal Research, South Dakota Supreme Court, Pierre

  • Josey Blare, Attorney, Sioux Falls

  • Dennis Duncan, Attorney, Sioux Falls

  • Aaron Eiesland, Attorney, Rapid City

  • Denise Langley, Attorney, Access to Justice, Pierre

  • Lisa Marso, Attorney, South Dakota State Bar Association President, Sioux Falls

  • John Richter, Attorney, Pierre

  • Mark Vargo, Attorney General, Pierre

  • Eric Whitcher, Pennington County Public Defender, Rapid City

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