Nov. 9, 2009
850 New Attorneys Admitted to the Bar in Ceremonies at the Ohio Theatre
Ceremonies to be broadcast on the Ohio Channel
About 850 new attorneys were sworn in today during special public sessions of the Supreme Court of Ohio at the historic Ohio Theatre in downtown Columbus.
Justice Maureen O’Connor served as the keynote speaker at both ceremonies and welcomed the newly admitted attorneys to the practice of law. Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton led the new attorneys in the professional oath.
The group represented the laws schools of the University of Akron, Capital University, Case Western Reserve University, the University of Cincinnati, Cleveland State University, the University of Dayton, Northern Kentucky University, Ohio Northern University, The Ohio State University, the University of Toledo and out-of-state law schools.
Michael P. Morrison, chairman of the Board of Bar Examiners, presented a motion to admit the successful applicants. Also present at the ceremony were Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer and Justices Paul E. Pfeifer, Terrence O’Donnell, Judith Ann Lanzinger and Robert R. Cupp.
Barbara Howard, president of the Ohio State Bar Association, and Dennis Honabach, dean of the Salmon P. Chase College of Law at Northern Kentucky University, offered remarks.
The attorneys being sworn in passed the July 2009 bar examination and satisfied all of the Supreme Court’s other requirements for admission. Out of the 1,177 applicants who sat for the exam, 957 (81.3 percent) received passing scores; out of 1,046 first-time applicants, 87.8 percent received passing scores.
Following the ceremony, new attorneys visited the Ohio Judicial Center, including the Supreme Court Courtroom and the Law Library. In addition, staff from the Office of Attorney Services helped new attorneys register.
Archived video of the oath of office sessions is available on the Supreme Court’s Web site (www.supremecourtofohio.gov) as well as the Ohio Channel (www.ohiochannel.org). In addition, the sessions will be broadcast statewide on the Ohio Channel’s local public broadcasting stations at 2:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 22 and at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 23.
Contact: Chris Davey or Bret Crow at 614.387.9250.