The Washington DC Committee on Admissions approved the admission of approximately 4000 lawyers to the practice of law in the District of Columbia last year, more than two thirds the number in the entire state of California.  The National Council of Bar Examiners just released the 2017 bar admissions data for all 50 states and DC and the data shows that DC admitted the third highest number of applicants, ahead of Texas and Florida, behind only New York and California.

This data represents a significant amount of work by the Committee on Admissions (CoA).  CoA has the vital responsibility of ensuring that anyone licensed to practice law in DC is qualified in terms of education, legal knowledge, character and general fitness to practice law.  Given the significant increase in the number of applicants and attorneys sworn in (all handled without any additional staff in the CoA office), this means that there will be more attorneys available to perform pro bono work and assist DC area residents who otherwise could not afford an attorney.

The DC Court of Appeals recently modified the swearing-in process and certified applicants are now able to be sworn in in any jurisdiction by “any judicial officer” or other individual authorized to administer oaths, including notaries. This modification will facilitate the final steps in being admitted to the DC Bar and CoA expects a significant increase in attorney admissions once this modified process is in full operation.

The 2017 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll was just released, which saw an 11% increase over the 2016 honor roll.  Attorneys seem to be responding to Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby’s and Chief Judge Morin’s calls to help address access to justice issues in the District.