Saturday, February 12

A Repost from March 12, 2007

Something I read in a blog the other day made me remember the day that my daughter was sworn into the NC Bar. She had missed the special day that was set aside for the nearly 400 people who had recently passed the bar exam to be sworn in, and had to make a special trip to the courthouse for that purpose. She tried to downplay it, and didn't really want her parents there (especially one toting a camera), but we insisted that we accompany her on this momentous (to us) occasion.
The swearing in was supposed to happen before the court convened for the day, and we expected the room to be mostly empty. Imagine our surprise when we opened the door to see every row filled to capacity, with standing room only! A great number of the people present had on the familiar orange jumpsuits which are given to the residents of our jail, and some even sported ankle chains. They were surrounded by their various supporters and family members; attorneys, paralegals, bailiffs, etc.

We were told to go into the judges' chambers, and he met us there while he was donning his robe. He asked our daughter some questions, mostly small talk, and told us to come into the court room, where he would administer the oath.

Following them out into the courtroom, we took up position along the side wall, since there was no place to sit. It turned out to be the best place in the room to view what was happening. After the judge announced the new attorney, he asked the audience to welcome her. He began to clap while beckoning them to do likewise. It was the funniest sight to me - a courtroom full of criminals, with big, toothy smiles; clapping loudly and waving - all for the new attorney. I guess they didn't realize that she could be the next one to haul them into court.

Note: she is not that kind of attorney, though, so they needn't have worried anyway.....LOL

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a great memory that is! How neat it must have been to witness that, and I bet you had to hold back the emotion of the moment so you wouldn't start bawling like a baby from the pride you felt.
It is so cool that your daughter and granddaughter will be in Europe the same time as we are. Sometimes, it is indeed a small world, isn't it?

Kay Dennison said...

Awesome!!! Hurray for your daughter!!! I bet you and Mr. K. were bustin' your buttons with pride!!!

I wanted to go to law school(and had passed the LSAT) but my mom was pretty much against it. Sigh. Oh well. Instead I dropprd out of college.

qandlequeen said...

Congrats to her (a few years late). Great story!

Celia said...

Great story, glad she wasn't wearing orange.

Gilly said...

How wonderful!! Much better an occasion than the other one!

Probably made a bit of a change too for the orange-coloured ones!! ;)

joared said...

Delightful! Sounds like quite a unique experience. Can understand your feelings of pride seeing her sworn in.

Granny Annie said...

I am applauding her as well and her wonderful parents.

Grannymar said...

That really made me smile! MUCH better than being one of the crowd!

Anonymous said...

Daughter-in-law received her law degree. Her husband, after having spent so much time helping her study, decided also to go into the field of law.
His graduating program also contained the name of our niece.

Their graduation was pretty drab compared to your daughters.

OldLady Of The Hills said...

What an amazing story, Judy...Such a very special "swearing in"....!

Arkansas Patti said...

You must have been so proud. Taking the oath along with 400 other lawyers would not have been nearly as memorable. Who wants to be one of 400.
Glad she had her own time with such a colorful audience. Neat story.

Pat said...

What a great occasion that must have been and the orange clad folk are the icing on the cake - for a writer like yourself:)