The President: The next in order is the report of the Committee on Legal Education. Mr. Gilbert H. Stewart, Columbus: The Committee on Legal Education has held one meeting, and in view of the fact that a special Committee was appointed last year to consider the question and submit the same to the Supreme Court, as to the amendment of Rule XIV as to admission to the bar, the Committee authorize me to say that they have no report to make. The President: I think the Committee did enough in that matter. That is a great triumph of the Association. The next thing in order is the report of the Committee on Grievances. Mr. Chase Stewart, Springfield: The Committee on Grievances takes occasion to make a report similar to that on previous occasions, viz: No report to make. The President: That is the best report that could be made. It will stand approved without any formal action. The next in order is the report of the Committee on Legal Biography. Mr. Harris, Chairman, is not here, but sends a telegram that the train missed the boat, and that he would be on hand the next boat. I suggest that by common consent we have his report tomorrow afternoon. There are some special committees whose reports will now be in order. The first is the Committee on Railroads and Transportation. Is there any report from that Committee? Mr. H. B. Arnold: Mr. Parks is in Toledo. In his behalf I will say that he procured a rate of one and one-third fare, without the necessity of securing certificates at the meeting. It is an open rate, obtained from the railroads at their offices, and if any members have not obtained the rate of one and one-third fare for the round trip, they can obtain it from their agents. It is simply because the local agents have not been authorized by the companies. The President: The next business in order is the report of the Special Committee to Present Rules to Supreme Court for Examination and Admission to the Bar. Gilbert H. Stewart, Columbus: In the absence of Mr. Lawrence Maxwell, Jr., the Chairman of the Committee, I desire to present the report of the Committee: To the President of the State Bar Association: The Special Committee appointed at the last annual meeting of the Association to present to the Supreme Court the views of the Association relating to admission to the bar, respectfully report that after several conferences they drafted, and, on November 11, 1897, presented to the Supreme Court the revision of Rule XIV, (copy of which is hereto attached), submitting their recommendation with an argument in support thereof, to which the court gave a patient and attentive hearing. The Committee also files the rule subsequently, on December 17, 1897, adopted by the court. The Committee sought to secure the following reforms: 1. A more permanent tenure for the Standing Committee. 2. The public registration of law students. 3. Uniform examinations and more definite standing. 4. Reasonably high and definite standard of general education as a condition of admission to the examinations. It will be seen that the court adopted all of the suggestions of the Committee, excepting that it did not fix the standard of general education as high as the Committee had proposed. However, a step has been taken in the right direction, and it is hoped that the court may hereafter raise the standard of general education. LAWRENCE MAXWELL, JR., M. R. PATTERSON, Committee. RULE XIV-ADMISSION TO THE BAR. AS PROPOSED BY THE COMMITTEE. Section 1. Except as provided in section 560 of the Revised Statutes concerning persons who have been admitted and practiced in the highest court of another state, or in the Supreme Court of the United States for a period of five years, no person shall be admitted to the bar except upon an examination and certificate of the Standing Committee on Examinations. Section 2. There shall be appointed, to take effect on the first day of January, 1898, nine discreet and judicious attorneys and counselors at law to be known as the Standing Committee on Examinations. Three members of the Committee shall be appointed for one year; three for two years and three for three years. Their successors shall be appointed for the term of three years each. Section 3. The Standing Committee shall hold an examination of applicants for admission to the bar in the Supreme Court room on the second Tuesday of each June and October. The Committee may also appoint an examination to be held on either of said days at some other place or places in the state for the accommodation of the graduating classes of law schools. No other examinations will be held. Examinations must be conducted under the direction of at least five members of the Standing Committee, each of whom shall report in writing for or against the admission of each applicant. Section 4. No applicant shall be admitted to the oath of office unless a majority of the members conducting the examination shall certify that they find him to have a competent knowledge of the law and to have sufficient general learning to discharge the duties of an attorney and counselor at law, and shall recommend his admission. Such certificate shall not be made unless the applicant has sustained on his written answers to the printed questions of the examiners an average grade of 75 per cent. on an examination embracing the following subjects: The law of real and personal property, torts, contracts, evidence, pleading, partnership, bailments, negotiable instruments, agency, suretyship, domestic relations, wills, corporations, equity, criminal law, constitutional law, federal procedure and legal ethics. Unless the applicant produces a diploma or certificate showing that he is a graduate or matriculate of a college or university, a graduate of a public high school, or of a private academy of equivalent standing, or the holder of a high school certificate issued by the Ohio State Board of School Examiners, the examination shall also embrace the following subjects: English composition, arithmetic, algebra to quadratic equations, plane geometry, the outlines of English and American History, and first year's Latin, or as a substitute for Latin, French or German. The printed interrogatories and the answers of the applicants thereto, shall be submitted to the court with the report of the examiners, and, together with all certificates and papers required under this rule, shall be filed with the clerk and preserved. Section 5. Every resident of this state who commences the study of law on and after January 1, 1898, either under the tuition of an attorney-at-law, or at a law school, whether located in this state or elsewhere, shall file with the clerk the certificate of such attorney or of the chief officer of such law school, as the case may be, showing his name, age and residence and the date when he commenced the study of law, which certificate shall be accompanied by a fee of $1.00. As to all such persons the three years' study of law required by section 560 of the Revised Statutes shall date from the filing of such certificate. Section 6. Every resident of this state who shall have commenced the study of law prior to January 1, 1898, shall on or before the first day of March, 1898, file with the clerk a certificate of his preceptor, or of the chief officer of his law school, showing his name, age and residence, and the time when and the place where, and under whom he commenced the study of law, which certificate shall be accompanied by a fee of $1.00. Section 7. Every person who shall commence the study of law while a non-resident of this state, and who has not been regularly admitted as an attorney-at-law in some court of record within the United States, shall, on coming into this state to reside, file with the clerk an affidavit showing that he has come into the state for the purpose of making it his permanent residence, and stating his name, age, and present and former residence, and also the certificate of his preceptor, or of the chief officer of his law school, showing the time when, and the place, or places, where and under whom he has studied law, which papers shall be accompanied by a fee of $1.00. |