On December 14 and 15, 988 new candidates were admitted to the Maryland Bar in the swearing-in ceremony at the Robert C. Murphy Court of Appeals Building in Annapolis. Members from MSBA’s Membership Committee, the Women’s Bar Association of Maryland and the Montgomery County Bar Association were on hand to greet them.

Volunteers, along with parents, grandparents, siblings and friends, were among the first to offer handshakes, and congratulations to the new Maryland lawyers. Volunteers from the MSBA Membership Committee distributed copies of the Maryland Lawyer’s Manual as well as MSBA membership information to the new admits.

Along with Chief Judge Robert Bell, Courts of Appeal Judges, Irma Raker, Dale R. Cathell, Lynne A. Battaglia, Clayton Greene, Jr., Glenn T. Harrell, Jr., and Alan Wilner responded to the motions for admissions. For each ceremony a distinguished member of the Bar is chosen to make introductory remarks and to move the admission of candidates who have been recommended by the Maryland Board of Law Examiners. MSBA President Neil Helfrich was among those who performed this duty.