Law Day: A Lawyer’s Holiday[1. This article originally appeared in the May 2007 issue of Trial New, a publication of the Washington State Association for Justice (formerly the Washington State Trial Lawyers Association).]
I have always enjoyed Law Day. I always think of it as “our” little holiday. I always feel especially proud to be a lawyer on May 1st and look forward to the various Law Day celebrations and activities, especially WSTLA’s annual Law Day dinner. However, as I approached this Law Day, I realized that I didn’t know much about the origins and history of Law Day and decided to do some research to find out more about it.
Law Day was originated in 1957 in response to American Bar Association president, Charles Ryne’s vision of a special day to celebrate our legal system. A year later, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a proclamation establishing the annual event. In 2000 at a Law Day speech at the Law Library of Congress, Ryne described the origins of Law Day, as follows:
The immediate inspiration for a May 1 celebration of law was directly related to the Cold War. For many years the American news media gave front page headlines and pictures to the Soviet Union’s May Day parade of new war weapons. I was distressed that so much attention was given to war-making rather than peace-keeping.
My idea was to contrast the United States’ reliance on the rule of law with the Soviet Union’s rule by force. To that end, I drafted a U.S. Presidential Proclamation, which made its way from John Foster Dulles, Secretary of State, to Sherman Adams, Chief of Staff to President Eisenhower, and stopped there.
It had seemed such a sure thing that Dulles had affixed his signature, authenticating the President’s signature, before the Proclamation was presented to Eisenhower. Dulles then left on a trip. Because Dulles was so respected, not only by Eisenhower but by the world, I wanted his signature on the Proclamation rather than some assistant’s.
Time passed. May 1 was fast approaching and I had heard nothing, so I went to see Governor Adams. He pulled the Proclamation out of his desk and gave it back to me saying “the President will not sign a proclamation praising lawyers.”
I strode down to the Oval Office and handed it to President Eisenhower himself. As he stood there reading it, Adams burst in yelling “Do not sign that paper praising lawyers!”
The President held his hand up for silence until he had read the entire document. Then he said “Sherm, this Proclamation does not contain one word praising lawyers. It praises our constitutional system of government, our great heritage under the rule of law, and asks our people to stand up and praise what they have created. I like it and I am going to sign it.” And he did.
It has always seemed to me that Governor Adams thought I was urging, not recognition of Law Day, but recognition of a Lawyers Day, sort of like Mothers Day or Fathers Day. I am glad that President Eisenhower set him straight.[1. www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/2007/history/rhyne2000.shtml]
Beginning May 1, 1958, the media, bar associations and citizens throughout the country began celebrating the rule of law in the United States. Every year, lawyers speak in schools, sponsor essay contests and host banquets, not to focus attention on lawyers, but to strengthen awareness of “the great heritage of liberty, justice and equality under law which our forefathers bequeathed to us.”[2. www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/2007/history/1stproclamation.shtml]
In later years, Law Day observances spread throughout the world.
Although the American Bar Association continues to take the leading national role in promoting Law Day,[3. See the American Bar Association’s Law Day web pages for more information on ABA sponsored celebrations and Law Day history at www.abanet.org/publiced/lawday/2007/home.shtml.] WSTLA has taken the lead in Washington state for decades. Like the ABA, WSTLA’s celebration focuses not on lawyers, but on judges, citizens and journalists who preserve the civil justice system and protect the public.
