Wisconsin Attorney’s Bar Membership, Dues Suit Clears Hurdle

A Wisconsin lawyer’s suit over claims that his mandatory dues to the State Bar of Wisconsin violates the First Amendment has largely survived a motion to dismiss.

A federal magistrate judge on Monday granted the dismissal motion with respect to the State Bar’s two affirmative defenses under the Eleventh Amendment, but denied the motion in all other respects.

“Because the Bar concedes it engages in some level of non-germane activity, and because the bounds of a freedom of association claim remain an open question in this circuit,” the associational claim can proceed, US Magistrate Judge Stephen C. Dries, of the ...