SCOTUS Bar Countdown: Only 1094 days until CJ Roberts welcomes me to Supreme Court Bar!

October 16th, 2009

I’ve already downloaded my application for admittance to the United States Supreme Court Bar. In 3 years, I will be eligible, right in time for the October 2012 term!

I am seriously considering skipping the swearing ceremony in Richmond, but I will not miss my debut at 1 First St. NE.

Supreme Court Rule 5 provides, in part:

1. To qualify for admission to the Bar of this Court, an applicant must have been admitted to practice
in the highest court of a State, Commonwealth, Territory or Possession, or the District of Columbia for a
period of at least three years immediately before the date of application; must not have been the subject
of any adverse disciplinary action pronounced or in effect during that 3-year period; and must appear to
the Court to be of good moral and professional character.

2. Each applicant shall file with the Clerk (1) a certificate from the presiding judge, clerk, or other
authorized official of that court evidencing the applicant’s admission to practice there and the applicant’s
current good standing, and (2) a completely executed copy of the form approved by this Court and
furnished by the Clerk containing (a) the applicant’s personal statement, and (b) the statement of two
sponsors endorsing the correctness of the applicant’s statement, stating that the applicant possesses all
the qualifications required for admission, and affirming that the applicant is of good moral and professional
character. Both sponsors must be members of the Bar of this Court who personally know, but are not
related to, the applicant.

3. If the documents submitted demonstrate that the applicant possesses the necessary qualifications,
and if the applicant has signed the oath or affirmation and paid the required fee, the Clerk will notify the
applicant of acceptance by the Court as a member of the Bar and issue a certificate of admission. An
applicant who so wishes may be admitted in open court on oral motion by a member of the Bar of this
Court, provided that all other requirements for admission have been satisfied.

4. Each applicant shall sign the following oath or affirmation: I, ……………………………………………….. ,
do solemnly swear (or affirm) that as an attorney and as a counselor of this Court, I will conduct myself
uprightly and according to law, and that I will support the Constitution of the United States.