New attorneys to take state oath by videoconference

TOPEKA—Successful applicants to the February 2020 Kansas bar examination will be sworn in as Kansas attorneys today.

Because the Kansas Judicial Center is closed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the attorneys will be sworn in by videoconference.

Chief Justice Marla Luckert of the Supreme Court and Chief Judge Julie Robinson of the U.S. District Court, District of Kansas, congratulated the news attorneys by video message.

Starting at 9:30 a.m. today, Supreme Court Justices Carol Beier and Evelyn Wilson will initiate videoconferences with the new attorneys who chose to have their state oath delivered by a Supreme Court justice. Each attorney will be contacted individually.

"We know this is an important day for our new attorneys. Although we can't gather together in the Judicial Center, we want this to be a meaningful start to their new careers," Beier said.

New attorneys who did not choose to have the oath administered by videoconference can be sworn in by a judge of record in the United States. According to Supreme Court rule, the oath can be administered by any judge in the United States or a U.S. territory.

In a typical year, new attorneys and their guests are invited to appear in the Kansas Supreme Court Courtroom. The chief justice and justices of the Supreme Court and a representative of the U.S. District Court welcome them. Members of the Kansas Board of Law Examiners present the new attorneys to the court. The clerk of the Kansas appellate courts administers the state oath, and a representative of the U.S. District Court administers the federal oath.

New attorneys eligible to be sworn in, listed alphabetically by county, are: