In re Admission to Bar

• Decision Date: 18 December 1900
• Citation: 61 Neb. 58,84 N.W. 611
• Parties: IN RE ADMISSION TO BAR.
• Court: Nebraska Supreme Court

61 Neb. 58

84 N.W. 611

IN RE ADMISSION TO BAR.

Supreme Court of Nebraska.

Dec. 18, 1900.

Syllabus by the Court.

1. Since the passage of the act of 1895 (chapter 6) the power to license to practice in the courts of Nebraska has been taken from the district courts, and lodged exclusively in the supreme court.

2. No one but a citizen of the United States and a resident of the state of Nebraska can be admitted to practice generally in the courts of said state.

3. A practicing attorney in good standing in the courts of record of a sister state, a territory, or a foreign country, and having an interest in a cause pending in any of the courts of this state, may, in the discretion of such courts, and as a matter of courtesy, be permitted to appear in said court for some of the purposes of such cause.

4. To entitle a person to apply for admission to the bar of this court under the provisions of section 2 of chapter 7 of the Compiled Statutes, he must, at the time of making his application, have attained to the age of 21 years.

5. Under the provisions of said section 2, attentive study of the law in the office of a practicing attorney for the full period of two years, or regular graduation from the College of Law of the University of Nebraska, is absolutely required; and study in any other law school, or otherwise than in such office, will not be considered.

6. The “practicing attorney” in whose office the statute requires the studies of the applicant to be duly pursued is one who resides and practices in this state.

Report of committee appointed to pass upon and report the qualifications of applicants for admission to the bar.

PER CURIAM.

Upon the report of the commission appointed at the present term pursuant to the requirements of a rule of this court to pass upon and report the qualifications of applicants for admission as attorneys and counselors, some questions have arisen, which it is necessary for us now to determine.

1. In 1895 the legislature passed an act (chapter 6) to regulate the admission of attorneys at law. Prior thereto they had been licensed to practice in the several courts of this state upon such investigation into the character and qualifications of the applicants as each court deemed proper to prescribe. The act above referred to did not, in express terms, repeal sections 3 and 9 of chapter 7 of the Compiled Statutes, entitled “Attorneys,” and it appears that some of the district courts are still assuming the power to admit to practice generally persons who present certificates of admission from the courts of other states and of territories, and that thereafter such persons apply to this court for admission on a motion made as a matter of course. Such action upon the part of a districtcourt is wholly without authority of law, and such admissions, together with any action taken in reliance thereon, are wholly void. The plain intention of the legislative power, and the necessary effect of the act above referred to, was to vest the power to admit persons to practice as attorneys and counselors of the courts of this state solely in the supreme court. The act is complete in itself, and results in repealing sections 3 and 9, above referred to.

2. A necessary qualification for admission to practice generally is that the applicant must be a citizen of the United States and a resident of this state. An alien cannot well take the oath required of attorneys and counselors by section 4 of said chapter 7. Furthermore, such persons, and practicing attorneys who reside in other states or any of the territories, are as a rule...