The US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit Friday ruled that required bar dues for lawyers in Wisconsin are constitutional. Attorney Schuyler File sued the State Bar of Wisconsin over compulsory association membership and fees, arguing that the payments violate his First Amendment rights to free speech and freedom of association. File based his argument around two Supreme Court cases that seemingly contradict one another: Keller v. State Bar of California and Janus v. American Federation.

In 1990, the Supreme Court held in Keller that required membership in a state bar association is “justified by the State’s interest in regulating the legal profession and improving the quality of legal services.” However, the court added that a state bar association may not use required fees to “fund activities of an ideological nature.”

However, in 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in Janus that “States and public-sector unions may no longer extract agency fees from nonconsenting employees.” The Janus majority did not reference Keller, but Associate Justice Elena Kagan referenced the case twice in her dissent.

On Friday, the Seventh Circuit acknowledged that the Supreme Court seems to have “implicitly overruled” decisions like Keller. However, the court believes its role is not “to decide whether [Keller] remains good law. Only the Supreme Court can answer that question.” Therefore, the Seventh Circuit concluded that Keller is binding law and held that File’s First Amendment rights are not infringed by mandatory bar membership fees.