The Latest ‘Bar Wars’ Wrinkles: a Final Judgment and a Cert Petition

Three lawyers who oppose mandatory membership in the State Bar of Texas have made their way to the U.S. Supreme Court, even as a lower federal court judge issued a “final judgment” that may give the State Bar a window to continue certain activities aimed at improving the legal profession.

Tony McDonald, Joshua Hammer and Mark Pulliam are plaintiffs in a cert petition filed at the Supreme Court on November 24, framing the issue with this question: “Does the First Amendment prohibit a state from compelling attorneys to join and fund a state bar association that engages in extensive political and ideological activities?” Jeffrey Harris, a partner at Consovoy McCarthy, the Virginia law firm representing the Texas plaintiffs. Harris said he had no comment. 

On December 2, the State Bar filed a routine waiver with the Supreme Court stating it would not respond to the McDonald petition unless the Supreme Court requests a response. If the Supreme Court does so, that would signal that the case, captioned McDonald v. Firth, could be docketed for argument.