According to “An Act Concerning Attorneys and Counselors at Law” which was approved on Oct. 24, 1861 by the Colorado Territory, men who were 21 years old and of “good moral character” may practice as an attorney in probate courts. This act has a note stating “applicants for a license to practice law are relieved from the necessity of studying law for at least one year with another lawyer in their territory. No license is required for practicing law in probate court.”
It wasn’t until over a decade later, in 1879, Belva Lockwood became the first woman admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court. According to information from the U.S. Supreme Court, she was the first woman to argue a case before the justices. This became possible because former President Rutherford B. Hayes signed a bill titled “an act to relieve certain legal disabilities of women” which was known as the “Lockwood Bill.”
Information from the U.S. Supreme Court explained the first case before the court that Lockwood appeared in was in 1880 in Kaiser v. Stickney. The case involved a $16,000 debt owed by Lockwood’s client Caroline Kaiser. Another of Lockwood’s arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court was in 1906 in United States v. Cherokee Nation resulting in $5 million paid to the tribe. This was considered one of the largest payments owed to a Native American tribe for land ceded to the government at that time.
According to the U.S. Supreme Court’s information, in the 1990s a worker in the Office of the Clerk started keeping a list of women admitted to the Supreme Court Bar. Beginning with Lockwood, the list contains 97 names who were eligible to argue before the courts through 1920. To see the full list click here.
In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor became the first woman to take a seat on the U.S. Supreme Court bench.
But it wasn’t enough to practice law and let your practical experience and independent study speak for itself. Around 1916, “continuing legal education” activity started to occur. According to the St. John’s Law Review, the “Association of the Bar of the City of New York began offering a series of lectures by lawyers with expertise in particular areas for the benefit of the general practitioner. The lectures were successful and, except for a hiatus during World War I, continued into the 1930’s.”
According to the St. John’s Law Review, with the introduction of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure in 1938, it pushed forward the continuing legal education (CLE) movement. In 1966, the American Bar Association created the National Institute program to respond to various sections that wanted to sponsor their own CLE programs. ABA National Institutes are “substantive or informational programs…composed of lectures, panels, demonstrations, or workshops, lasting at least one full day.”
The ABA took a leadership role in expanding CLE’s and in 1975 its Task Force on Advanced Judicial and Legal Education recommended the continuation of this involvement, the St. John’s Law Review review said.
Colorado requires mandatory continuing legal education for all active and licensed attorneys, including 45 credit hours of continued legal education.
To learn more about CLE requirements, compliance and accreditation in Colorado, click here.