It still beats taking the bar exam

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It took a little longer than expected, but 103 Marquette Law School graduates eventually became Wisconsin attorneys on Monday, May 19. A fire alarm interrupted the first of four swearing-in ceremonies and forced the State Capitol to be evacuated. The brief delay did little to dampen the spirits of family, friends and fellow attorneys who attended the event.

Justice N. Patrick Crooks, who spoke to each group of graduates, jokingly asked the other justices to refrain from making additional comments in an effort to “catch-up.”

Nevertheless, each session lasted about an hour as Board of Bar Examiners Director John E. Kosobucki, Marquette Law School Dean Joseph D. Kearney and State Bar of Wisconsin President Thomas J. Basting, Sr. all had words of wisdom for the new attorneys.

Absent from the proceedings were Chief Justice Shirley S. Abrahamson, who was attending American Law Institute meetings in Washington D.C., Justice Ann Walsh Bradley and Justice Louis B. Butler, who had prior commitments.