Adventures of An Older New Attorney
Having accomplished my goal of passing the North Carolina bar exam while qualified for Medicare, the time has come to continue this series of posts under a new title. While it is true that I have practiced law before, I have not done so in more than thirty years and have never done so in this state. I therefore feel justified in describing myself as a “new attorney.”
My license to practice law was issued by the Board of Law Examiners on September 4th, and I received my license certificate two weeks later. North Carolina requires licensed attorneys to take their oath of office administered by a judge in order to be admitted to practice. I will be sworn in on October 25th at a ceremony sponsored by the Durham County Bar Association, the Sixteenth Circuit Bar, and ironically in my case, the Young Lawyers Division. My friend and Director of the Law Library at North Carolina Central University, Nichelle Perry, will present me to Judge Josephine K. Davis.
The oath of office is a simple one. I will swear to support the Constitution of the United States. I will swear to be faithful and bear true allegiance to the State of North Carolina and to the Constitutional powers and authorities established for its government, and will support, maintain and defend that Constitution, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States. Finally, I will swear to truly and honestly demean myself in the practice of an Attorney.
While this oath is simple and straightforward, and it is similar to the oath attorneys take across the country, every day we see that some attorneys have great difficulty adhering to the oath they once took. I sincerely hope that I will always keep the pledge that I will give the court next week.