Recently I had the pleasure of attending both the college
graduation and the ROTC commissioning ceremony of my GF’s son, Alex. I had been at his high school graduation
(Bergen Catholic) four years earlier and witnessed him progressing through four
years at Rutgers (the state university of New Jersey, main campus located in
New Brunswick), and three of his four Air Force ROTC awards ceremonies.
We had a
special treat, as the commencement speaker for Rutgers was none other than
Barack Obama, the President of the United States, and Alex’s school
commencement speaker – the subsequent ceremony where each student is called by
name (diplomas sent by text message) – was Bill Moyers, the White House Press
Secretary for Kennedy and LBJ. I did not
know that Rutgers predates the American Revolution (1766), but back then it was
called Queen’s College; King’s College is now known as Columbia University. Nor did I know that Henry Rutgers himself, the
Revolutionary War hero and early benefactor, and after whom the school was
renamed in 1830, owned slaves. (“True
story.”)
A few
days later, Alex got his gold bar of 2LT, making him an officer in the US Air
Force, or as I call it, the American Luftwaffe.
Although he won’t be a pilot, he does have a bright future ahead of him
in the service, so we’re all very proud of him and hopeful on his behalf.
This makes me look back on my own track record.
Grammar
School. 8th Grade, Marymount, Paris, France, June
1982. This was a small, private Catholic school in
Neuilly. Our class was 4 guys and about
12 girls. There was no special speaker
that I recall, but I think I still have my little blue “diploma”.
High
School. American School
of Paris, June 1986. Thanks to the good
weather, the ceremony was held at the Lafayette Escadrille Memorial just down
the road from St. Cloud. Here is the one picture where my hair is unfashionably long – and never since. I don’t recall the commencement speaker.
College. University of Maryland, College Park,
December 1990. Because I took summer
classes rounding up my senior year and technically graduated in August 1990, I
attended the December ceremony. I
skipped the general commencement ceremony – I don’t recall who the speaker was –
and only attended the specific ceremonies for the Behavior And Social Sciences
(BSOS) school (GVPT major) and a few hours later for the undergraduate business
school (BMGT major). I can’t recall either
speaker, but neither was someone famous.
They handed out posters and not actual diplomas.
Law
School. George Mason
University, May 1993. This was at the Center
for the Arts at the main campus in Fairfax, Virginia, and our speaker was Ruth
Bader Ginsburg, at the time still on the US Court of Appeals, but very shortly
would become a US Supreme Court Justice.
I don’t recall her speech. What I
do recall is being surprised at receiving my actual diploma on the spot.
Unfortunately, getting a Juris Doctor (JD) does NOT give
you much except the right to apply to take the bar exam. I then had to take those exams in July 1993.
Bar Admission. As Alex had his commissioning ceremony, one
of eight cadets to do so, I had my bar admission ceremonies. These are full of pomp and vigor, and
typically involve much more than 8 lawyers at once.
Maryland,
December 1993. I passed the July 1993 exam and earned the
right to be admitted in December. I took a full day professionalism course in
Baltimore. The ceremony was at the
actual Court of Appeals (Supreme Court) in Annapolis. They staggered the applicants in groups small
enough to fill the fairly small chambers (plus guests).
Since
this was my first, it was the most important.
Now I was an attorney! Granted,
I could only practice in Maryland, but I could call myself a lawyer. Three years of law school and several months
of studying for the bar exam, plus a trip to Timonium (just north of Baltimore)
for the bar exam itself, paid off.
Virginia,
June 1994. While I passed
the July MD bar, I failed Virginia’s, by mere points. The Bar Examiners refused my request for a
recount, so I had no choice but to study harder and try again in February
1994. To make matters worse, they upped
the application fee from $200 to $600 and added an obnoxious character inquisition
which was previously fairly cursory, though no worse than what I endured for
Maryland the prior summer. Finally, and this was the most difficult, they completely changed the format of the exam from short essay (easiest) to long, detailed essay and fill-in-the-blank, so the bar review people had to say, "we got nothing, just study as hard as you can and hope for the best." The February exam was in Norfolk, so I met my buddy Greenside for lunch. John had graduated from GMU with me the prior
May, but he had passed the July exam and swore in already.
Upon
returning from Norfolk, my boss informed me that he was laying me off. He gave
me March 1994 off as severance.
Somewhat despondent, I didn’t realize what the small letter was from the
Virginia Board of Bar Examiners was in my mailbox in April. Having been burned on my last call to the
Virginia Lawyers’ Weekly in October, I didn’t bother asking them this time, so
it was that letter which let me know… I had passed! I went down to Richmond in June, for a ceremony
held not at the Supreme Court, but just in a hotel ballroom. Either way, I was now licensed in Virginia as
well as Maryland. Woohoo! This became more important the following
December when my prior boss hired me back again. From then until May 1998 I was actively
working as an attorney in Virginia (60%) and Maryland (40%) mainly doing traffic,
criminal, business planning, and divorces.
**
Note: the Virginia Bar requires you to
wear a suit and tie when taking the bar exam.
D.C.,
October 2012. This
came several years later, waiving in, as opposed to taking and passing the bar exam. Some jurisdictions allow immediate
reciprocity (waiving in from other states), some require 5 years active
practice in another jurisdiction which has similar reciprocity (DC & NY),
and some others like Louisiana and New Jersey have NO waive in at all: you HAVE to take and pass their bar
exam.
Due to some issues concerning
a prior attorney, my bar record was no longer pristine, but a small panel of DC
lawyers decided to cut me a break. I
swore in before the DC Superior Court and became licensed in three
jurisdictions. However, my DC practice has
been practically nil, and currently I’m inactive.
New
York, June 2015. NY
also allowed veteran lawyers to waive in.
That same spotted past caused even more problems with New York. I had to go up to Albany in December 2013 for
an informal three attorney panel, which rejected my application. I appealed and received a formal hearing in
December 2014, also in Albany. That
panel – three completely different lawyers – found “no cardinal sins” and
recommended admission, and the NY courts agreed. So in June 2015 I went to Albany a third
time, this time accompanied by my very proud and patient girlfriend.
New York also has a special place for me, as my father’s
side of the family comes from there – Brooklyn.
My uncle was a government attorney, but to my knowledge was licensed in
Virginia, not New York.
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