The Oklahoma Bar Journal November 2024

F rom the P resident

bar passage accomplishment would evaporate, as anyone could practice law. Judges would be burdened to police courtrooms with untrained advocates, and clients would not be assured of a minimum level of competence. The public justice and efficiency of the judicial system would be greatly diminished. If Oklahoma adopted another model where there is a state regulator but a separate associa tion for everything else, members would lose much value. Members would lose critical resources like the Ethics Counsel, access to A Chance to Change (Lawyers Helping Lawyers services) and lower rates from vendors. More importantly, it would gut the regu latory model where the regulator actually seeks to improve the pro fession, not just enforce rules. Additionally, the support for attorney collegiality would be greatly diminished. For example, OBA sections are comprised of 12,039 members. The OBA has a little more than 18,000 members, approximately 6,000 of which reside out of state. These sections are supported by OBA staff and infrastructure and would likely not exist or would cost a great deal more without the OBA’s support. Your OBA membership is more valuable than you may realize. In numerous ways, every attorney’s practice of law is improved by the OBA. I hope everyone can see the big picture. ENDNOTES 1. Anton-Hermann Chroust, “Legal Profession in Ancient Imperial Rome,” 30 Notre Dame L. Rev . 521 (1955), at 578-579. 2. Philip J. Wickser, “Bar Associations,” 15 Cornell L. Rev . 390 (1930), at Note 4 (p. 392) (“The Inns of Court are of great antiquity. They originated as companies or quasi corporations of lawyers who owned and resided in the four Inns

(continued from page 4)

of Court. They were patterned after the French College of Advocates and were part of the general mediaeval guild movement. Henry III in 1235 prohibited the study of law in any other place in London than the Inns of Court. They assumed somewhat their present form in the reign of Edward III in 1327.”). 3. Friedman, Sarah, “The History of the U.S. Bar Exam, Part I – The Law’s Gatekeeper,” Library of Congress Blogs , Feb. 14, 2024 (available at https://bit.ly/4eQxsTP); citing Susan Katcher, “Legal Training in the United States: A Brief History,” 24 Wis. L. Rev . 335, 339 (2006). “Each colony had its own standards for entry, usually requiring several years of experience in a law practice. Due to the expansion of the profession as the country grew, bar associations began to form in the 18th century as well and thus began to dictate the rules of legal education” (internal citations omitted). 4. It should also be noted that those who benefit from the existence of the regulating authority, like attorneys, often fund the regulator. For example, banks pay dues or assessments to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and other regulators.

enforce the rules, the OBA should be helping its members comply with them. I am sure an enforce ment-only approach would not provide this type of support. Members also benefit from the fellowship supported by the OBA. Take sections and committees for instance. They publish materi als, put on seminars and recog nize worthy practitioners with awards. I am sure that members of sections, like the Family Law Section, believe their practices (and practice areas) have greatly benefited from the section. This has been my experience. I am a member of and previously chaired the Financial Institutions and Commercial Law Section. The materials and seminars were very valuable to my development and continue to help me as general counsel for a bank. More impor tantly, however, are the relation ships I made. I have many friends and colleagues that I can call upon to provide advice. There are a multitude of other benefits OBA members also receive. There are quality educational mate rials like the Oklahoma Bar Journal and CLE programs. Last year, the CLE Department provided more than 12,608 credit hours for free, val ued at over $600,000. Partnerships with third parties deliver benefits, like Fastcase, that provide legal research to all OBA members. These types of products and services are more difficult to provide and costly for other organizations. I would like to conclude with a counterfactual: What if the OBA didn’t exist? If there was no legal licensure process, then the value of every member’s law degree and

NOVEMBER 2024 | 69

THE OKLAHOMA BAR JOURNAL