UC Hastings Graduates Sworn Into the California Bar

The State of California Admission Ceremony took place at UC Hastings on Friday, December 9, 2011. Close to 200 recent graduates were sworn into the Bar.

The ceremony was held in conjunction with an unveiling of a new bronze bust of former Dean David E. Snodgrass.

Chair of the Board of Directors, Donald Bradley ’68, delivered opening remarks. “It’s an important day, and the day you will become lawyers,” he said, adding that among his vivid memories was the day he walked out of the Bar. “It’s an honorable profession, and I hope you’ll take the values of that profession seriously,” Bradley told graduates. He said that UC Hastings is one of the finest law schools and reflected on the obligation, going forward, to give back to the community and the profession.

Chancellor & Dean Frank H. Wu next welcomed recent graduates, their families and others in attendance. “Dean Snodgrass put this school on the map; he made it a national law school,” Dean Wu said. “Every law school will teach you how to argue,” he said, “and we are among the best law schools. Swearing-In is a great moment, a turning point.”

Before The Honorable Marvin Baxter ’66, Justice, California Supreme Court, formally administered the State Oath, he thanked Dean Wu for his outstanding leadership at UC Hastings. “The most important thing—as young professionals entering the law—is to not be overwhelmed by it,” Baxter said. He urged the new lawyers to create a balance in their lives.

After a motion was made for admission to practice before the Federal District Court, the Honorable Susan Illston, Judge, U.S. District Court, Northern District, recited the Federal District Court Oath, swearing in those who passed the Bar. In her 16 years as a judge, she said she has had many interns and externs. “Your program at this school for externships is the very best.”

The Honorable William A. Fletcher, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit, bestowed admission before the Federal Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit. A former Civil Procedures professor at UC Hastings, Fletcher spoke about the “wonderful school that we love so much.” He said that the law and lawyers are for both the good times and the rough times. “The habits that you form in the good times will inform you. Be sure to lean back on your experience.”

The ceremony concluded with closing remarks by Dean Wu.