Solon Phillips v. Maryland Board of Law Examiners, et al.

The overall purpose of the character and fitness test is to protect the public from unscrupulous attorneys. The average age of newly admitted attorneys in the United States is 26 years old. Because past behavior is a strong indicator of future behavior, character committees investigate the past behavior of young attorneys to determine the potential future behavior of these same attorneys. The idea is that "good" young attorneys will continue to do good while "bad" young attorneys will continue to do bad. So, a designated committee investigates an attorney's past conduct to determine whether issuing a license to practice law will be in the public's best interest. This is not what happened with Solon Phillips. Solon Phillips has lived for nearly half of a century. During this time, there is no showing, no pattern, no history of unscrupulous or indiscreet behavior. On the contrary, there is a showing that spans over 25 years of a consistent pattern of selfless behavior geared towards serving the public. There was over 2 5-character reference letters from attorneys, professors, employers, a judge, and a forensic report that all described Solon as a man of high integrity and exemplary character. When the Maryland Board of Law Examiners found Solon to be too immorally unacceptable to be issued a licensed to practice law, questions abounded. Before this Court now are questions that only this Court can address: