Ohio Supreme Court...
Bar Admissions Ceremony
Nov. 7, 2011 

Anne Evans never thought this day would come. After waiting months to see if she passed the bar exam, Evans became a full-fledged attorney on Monday. 

“It was so exciting. It was really the culmination of so many years of work and then when you graduate, that’s special, but when you are actually admitted to the bar, that’s something that I’m going to remember for the rest of my life,” Evans said. 

Evans along with approximately 900 other new attorneys were sworn in on Nov. 7 during two separate bar admissions ceremonies at the Ohio Theatre. 

Supreme Court Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger served as the keynote speaker at both ceremonies. 

“Your status has changed. You are now a lawyer. You are now an attorney at law,” Justice Lanzinger said. “What you say and what you sign guarantees trust for as your oath said, ‘you are an officer of the court.’ You now officially belong in the land of the law.” 

Justice Evelyn Lundberg Stratton led the new attorneys in the professional oath. 

New attorney Michael Hurley said taking the oath made the bar admissions seem more real. 

“Up into that point I actually didn’t feel nervous or anything, but it kind of lays to rest the momentousness of the occasion when you are there doing it, so I was excited at that point as to all the expectation waiting up for it,” Hurley said. 

Evans and Hurley were part of the group that passed the July 2011 bar examination and satisfied all of the Supreme Court’s other admissions requirements. 

More than 81 percent of the 1,176 applicants who sat in the July 2011 exam received passing scores. 

Evans graduated from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law. She, like many others, is still looking for a job. 

“Just keep hitting the bricks. Send out a lot of resumes,” Evans said. “You just keep looking and more and more people are getting jobs, and I think that is what will happen for me.” 

Hurley found a job at a private practice in Cincinnati and is ready to begin the next step. 

“I’m looking forward to the next step of the process, which is moving on and practicing law instead of learning about it in the books all the time,” Hurley said. 

Both are just glad they can call themselves lawyers. 

“I’m just really excited to finally be a real lawyer,” Evans said. 

Following the ceremony, new attorneys attended a reception at the Ohio Judicial Center. At the event, which was hosted by the Ohio State Bar Association, the new attorneys were able to register to practice in the state of Ohio for the first time. 

Law school graduates from The Ohio State, Capital, Northern Kentucky, Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State and Ohio Northern universities as well as the University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, University of Akron, University of Toledo and those from out-of-state schools participated in the bar admissions ceremonies.