Mandatory Membership in State Bar of Wisconsin Constitutional

The First Amendment rights of Wisconsin lawyers aren’t violated by their mandatory membership in the state bar, the Seventh Circuit said Friday.

The U.S. Supreme Court specifically upheld mandatory bar dues and membership in Keller v. State Bar of California, the opinion by Chief Judge Diane S. Sykes said.

But Wisconsin attorney Schuyler File argued that Keller was implicitly overruled by Janus v. Am. Fed’n of State, Cty. & Mun. Emps. Council. Janus overruled Abood v. Detroit Bd. of Educ., upon which the holding in Keller was based, he said.

“The tension between Janus and Keller is ...