Renewing Our Vows: The Lawyer's Oath and Our Pledge to Democracy

Authors

Colin M. Black, Suffolk University Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Rutgers Journal of Law & Public Policy

Abstract

For centuries, lawyers have sworn to an oath as a prerequisite to admission. The oath, barely evolved from their historical roots, represents the guiding commitment lawyers make to democratic principles of honesty, integrity, fairness, and the rule of law. This commitment is in exchange for the power and privilege of belonging to the legal profession. However, the ethical landscape for legal practitioners has evolved, particularly in response to the alarming events of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. These events revealed significant lapses in the judgment and conduct among some lawyers, exposing the need for a recommitment to the democratic principles embedded in the oath. This article critically examines the historical development of the lawyer's oath and argues for its modernization to better reflect the ethical challenges of contemporary legal practice. It highlights the need for the oath to include explicit commitments to democratic principles, the rejection of bias, and the reinforcement of ethical responsibility. The article further explores how these modernized principles can be integrated into legal education and professional conduct to help avoid future lapses. In advocating for these reforms, the article asserts that a renewed and modernized oath is essential for the legal profession to reclaim its role as a defender of justice and public trust.

First Page

1

Last Page

66

Publication Date

Fall 2024

Recommended Citation

Colin M. Black, Renewing Our Vows: The Lawyer's Oath and Our Pledge to Democracy, 22 Rutgers J. L & Pub. Pol'y 1 (2024).

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License