The DOJ Steps Up for Military Families

By: Lauren Scribner

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), 50 U.S.C. § 4025a, grants military spouses portability of their professional licenses. That means when a military spouse moves with his or her servicemember to the servicemember’s assigned duty station in a new state, the spouse’s professional license essentially moves with them.[1]

In order to take advantage of this license portability benefit in the new state, the SCRA requires a military spouse to submit only three documents:  (1) proof of military orders documenting the assigned duty station in the new state; (2) a marriage certificate; and (3) a notarized affidavit affirming a few key details, such as the applicant being in good standing in all other states of licensure.

The reasons the SCRA exists are obvious—talk to any military spouse long enough, and the hardships that accompany frequent relocations will always come up.

Adding to the fraught logistical rigors of frequently moving a family from one duty station to another, attempts to secure new, state-issued licenses are almost always time, effort, and cost intensive.  After enough moves, military spouses are often incentivized to begrudgingly give up on their careers. This implicates national security concerns when a spouse’s inability to secure meaningful employment ultimately drives his or her servicemember out of the military.

This is particularly true for military spouses who are attorneys.

Not only do attorneys rely on a state-specific licensing system to be able to practice law, but their earning potential is typically high enough to motivate servicemembers to leave the military when the attorney spouse is unable to work. Thus, portable licensing for attorney spouses is a pressing issue and one that has recently gained significant momentum nationwide.

Just six months ago, in December 2025, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued a letter addressed to state bars across the country explicitly indicating that the practice of law is included in the SCRA’s professional license portability requirements.[2] The letter went on to warn that “demanding anything more from an SCRA applicant than what is required by federal law is illegal.”[3] In other words, state bars that require anything more than the (1) military orders; (2) marriage certificate; and (3) affidavit described above to apply for a state bar license are breaking federal law.

Despite this explicit guidance from DOJ, many state bars are continuing to impose their own, state-specific bar application processes on attorney spouses. These processes are both extensive and expensive, and they almost always involve large amounts of very specific paperwork, from certified birth certificates to transcripts to certificates of good standing from each state the applicant is barred in. And the entire process may take months, despite the fact that an attorney spouse may only be with their servicemember in a particular state for a single year.

In addition to what the DOJ has named “illegal” application requirements, at least one state bar has outright refused licensure to military spouses.

Just a few weeks ago, on June 11, the DOJ filed a complaint against the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners, alleging they have refused to recognize the out-of-state law licenses of qualifying military spouses as valid in accordance with the SCRA’s licensing portability provision.[4]

The case arose after the New Mexico bar determined military spouse Liam Lees was not eligible to practice law in the state because he only had a LLM (his initial legal education was in the United Kingdom and he received a LLM from William and Mary Law School in 2024), and he therefore did not meet the New Mexico bar’s admission requirements.[5] The complaint further alleges that Mr. Lees underwent a more burdensome application process than what is required by federal law, including submitting transcripts and undergoing character and fitness investigations.[6] Mr. Lees is licensed to practice in Texas, Washington, and Maryland.[7] He relocated to New Mexico when his wife, a Major in the U.S. Air Force, was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base in the state.[8]

The complaint seeks declaratory relief and an injunction preventing the New Mexico defendants from failing to recognize military spouses’ professional licenses.[9] It also seeks monetary damages for affected military spouses and imposition of civil penalties to vindicate the public interest.[10]

The rulings in this case have the potential to create waves across the nation in the realm of state-issued licensing, both for attorneys and other professionals.

According to the Military Spouse J.D. Network (MSJDN), an organization that advocates for licensing accommodations for military spouses, the case against the New Mexico defendants “appears to be the first known federal enforcement action involving attorney licensure portability under the SCRA” and “represents a significant test of whether states may impost attorney admission requirements that effectively override the portability protections Congress established for servicemembers and military spouses.”[11]

As a military spouse who is also an attorney, for me, this issue is personal. I currently serve as Vice Chair of MSJDN’s Policy and Advocacy Committee, which is actively working to promote compliance with the SCRA’s license portability requirements across the country. I felt compelled into advocacy for military spouse attorneys after struggling with my own licensure and employment-related hurdles. Currently, I am incredibly privileged to be employed by and have the support of Ifrah, PLLC—a veteran-owned law firm. Our founder, Jeff Ifrah, served as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG) in the earliest days of his career and is intimately familiar with the unique demands of military life on families.

Military spouse attorneys like me will be anxiously watching the DOJ’s action in New Mexico. Every day, military spouses face barriers to meaningful employment. This case is an opportunity to produce concrete rulings that enforce the SCRA’s license portability and application requirements and serve as a catalyst for other state bars to revise their admission and application processes to make this one aspect of military life a bit easier. In the words of the DOJ, “[a]n attorney should not have to sacrifice their career because their spouse is serving in the military.”[12]

[1] Specifically, the SCRA provides that if a military spouse “has a covered license and relocates residence because [his or her] servicemember receives military orders for military service in a State other than the State of the licensing authority that issued the covered license, such covered license shall be considered valid for the scope of practice in the State of the new residence.”  See § 4025a(a). The SCRA also requires issuance of a temporary license if the licensing authority cannot process the military spouse’s application within 30 days. See § 4025a(b). This provision is designed to prevent employment delays while waiting on a license.

[2] Office of the Assistant Attorney General, Notification Letter: New Law on Attorney License Portability for Servicemembers and Their Spouses, U.S. Dep’t of Justice (Dec. 22, 2025), https://www.justice.gov/servicemembers/media/1421596/dl?inline.

[3] Id. (emphasis added).

[4] U.S. Dep’t of Justice, Justice Department Sues New Mexico Supreme Court and Board of Bar Examiners for Violating the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (June 11, 2026), https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justice-department-sues-new-mexico-supreme-court-and-board-bar-examiners-violating; see U.S. v. N.M. Supreme Court, et al., No. 1:26-cv-01898 (D.N.M. June 11, 2026) (Complaint).

[5] See Compl. at ¶¶20-21, 30; Robert, Amanda, DOJ sues New Mexico Supreme Court, bar examiners board over refusal to admit military spouse, ABA Journal (June 17, 2026), https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/doj-sues-new-mexico-supreme-court-board-of-bar-examiners-over-refusal-to-admit-military-spouse (last accessed: June 25, 2026)

[6] See Compl. at ¶41.

[7] Id. at ¶18.

[8] Id. at ¶¶27-28.

[9] Id. “Prayer for Relief” at ¶¶1-2.

[10] Id. “Prayer for Relief” at ¶¶3-4.

[11] Military Spouse J.D. Network, DOJ files SCRA Lawsuit Against New Mexico Supreme Court and Board of Bar Examiners (June 12, 2026), https://msjdn.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/US-v-NMSC-Press-Release-12-June-2026.pdf.

[12] Notification Letter, supra.