The United States Justice Department on Thursday filed a lawsuit against New Mexico’s top court and the body that licenses lawyers in the state for allegedly violating federal law by not granting law licenses to the spouses of military servicemembers transferred to New Mexico.

The lawsuit against the New Mexico Supreme Court and the New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners centers around Liam Lees, whose wife, an Air Force major, was transferred to Holloman Air Force Base from Virginia in April of 2024.

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Lees, who is licensed to practice law in Texas, Washington and Maryland, applied for a law license in New Mexico after being hired as a trial attorney at the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office. The New Mexico Board of Bar Examiners told him he did not qualify for a license, because he only held a Master of Laws degree from William and Mary Law School in Virginia.

State rules require a juris doctorate or equivalent and specify that a Master of Laws, a postgraduate degree, does not by itself make an applicant eligible to practice law in the state.

Lees sought a waiver to that rule from the Supreme Court, which denied him on a 3-2 vote. As a result, he became a law clerk at the district attorney’s office, earning a much lower salary, according to the lawsuit.

Lees could not be reached for comment. An automatic reply to his email address at the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office noted that he had stopped working at the office in late March.

Later, Lees learned that he could receive a separate waiver as the spouse of a military member transferred to New Mexico, based on a 2024 change to the federal Servicemembers Civil Relief Act intended to help attorney spouses of military members maintain employment amid regular transfers between bases.

But the lawsuit alleges New Mexico’s Board of Bar Examiners and Supreme Court failed to honor that waiver and grant him a license, even after the United States Attorney’s Office weighed in via several letters on Lees’ behalf.

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The lawsuit alleges that New Mexico failed to adhere to federal law in Lees’ case and also that the state has a “pattern and practice” of imposing unnecessary and illegal burdens on military spouses, including transcripts and test scores.

The lawsuit does not specify how many other military spouses may have illegally been denied licenses.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison, in a statement Thursday announcing the lawsuit, noted that New Mexico houses four major military bases and more than 14,000 servicemembers. Keeping them here requires accommodating their spouses, he said.

“Spousal unemployment is a leading cause of servicemembers leaving military service and is a significant readiness and retention issue,” he said. “This lawsuit highlights the fact that license portability is a critical tool for our military spouses to be able to earn a living in the manner of their choosing.”

But Mark Baker, the attorney representing New Mexico in the lawsuit, said in a statement to Source New Mexico that the DOJ is getting in the way of New Mexico’s right to determine who is fit to practice law in the state.

“This lawsuit by the federal government threatens to dismantle protections for the people of New Mexico that ensure they receive professional legal services from attorneys of good ethical and moral character,” he said.

He added that the Supreme Court “welcomes military spouses to practice law in our state,” and noted that one such military spouse has received a law license through the state’s existing process.

“We have full confidence that the federal judicial system will fairly resolve this dispute and determine that the lawsuit’s claims lack merit,” he said.