President’s Message: April 25, 2022
Have you ever wondered why entrance to our profession takes the path it does? The historical context for the current licensing system is largely traceable back 101 years to the 1921 Report of the Special Committee to the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association chaired by Elihu Root. That was a time when there was only a single transcontinental telephone line, most Americans were still getting their first phone, Route 66 was just being planned, and the primary form of mass transportation was via train or ocean liner. As such, legal problems and customs were naturally more colloquial, and the rules, consequently, presumed that a lawyer would practice law only in and about one state. Accordingly, there was likely little discussion about uniformity in standards or reciprocity in admissions.
