Attorneys reaffirm oath of office during second annual Law Day rally

More than 200 attorneys gathered outside the Birch Bayh Federal Building and U.S. Courthouse on Thursday to reaffirm their responsibility to the rule of law during the Indianapolis Bar Association’s annual Law Day Rally.  

The tradition, which was started last year amid growing hostility toward the legal profession and questions over President Donald Trump’s approach to due process, encourages attorneys to reflect on their duty to uphold the U.S. and Indiana constitutions each day in courthouses, office buildings and their communities.  

The rally was held in collaboration with the Indiana State Bar Association, the Indianapolis Bar Association and several other legal organizations.  

Those in attendance heard from several leaders in the legal community, including Derrick Wilson, president-elect for the Indiana State Bar Association, who reflected on the structure of physical courthouses as symbols of justice for the community.  

“Every courthouse has them, stone steps worn smooth by decades, if not centuries, of use,” he said. “They are not ornamental, they are not accidental, they are deliberate. Those steps mark a boundary between disorder and order. On one side is the noise of life, conflict, emotion, urgency, power, inequality. On the other side is something rare in human history, an agreement that disputes will be resolved by rules, evidence and process rather than violence.”

Wilson explained how courthouse steps remind us that the rule of law lives in the physical space, inviting citizens to enter a system that “promises fairness, even when no one is guaranteed victory.”

He went on to explain how the courthouses themselves, inspired by Roman Empire structures, hold their own meaning.

“Many federal courthouses borrow that the column suggests strength and stability,” he said. “The symmetry symbolizes balance and fairness. The stone, often made of Indiana limestone, implies permanence and structure. All of this reinforces the idea that the justice system is meant to be steady, impartial and above everyday politics.” 

The legal system existed well before the attorneys in attendance and will exist long after, he said. But the laws of this country rest on lawyers who are loyal to the rule of law, not to individual powers.  

James R. Sweeney II, chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, led attorneys in reciting the Indiana Oath of Attorneys, emphasizing how the oath is a promise to be a counselor of law, zealously representing clients while simultaneously acting as a peacemaker and maintaining professional competence.  

The Indiana Oath of Attorneys reads:  

“I do solemnly swear or affirm that: I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Indiana; I will maintain the respect due to court of justice and judicial officers; I will not counsel or maintain any action, proceeding, or defense which shall not prevent me from defending a person charged with crime in any case; I will employ for the purpose of maintaining the causes confided to me, such means only as are consistent with truth, never seek to mislead the court or jury by any artifice or false statement of fact or law; I will maintain the confidence and preserve inviolate the secrets of my client at every peril to myself; I will abstain from offensive personality and advance no fact prejudicial to the honor or reputation of a party or witness, unless required by the justice of the cause with which I am charged; I will not encourage either the commencement or the continuance of any action or proceeding from any motive of passion or interest; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless, the oppressed or those who cannot afford adequate legal assistance; so help me God.” 

Harkening back to Wilson’s sentiments, Indiana Supreme Court Chief Justice Loretta Rush ended the rally by re-emphasizing how statutes and laws alone do not uphold the legal system. Instead, it rests on the professionals who abide by it. 

“You’re the ones to ensure the law is not intuitively powerful, but a shield for the vulnerable,” she said. “You are the ones who give meaning to due process, who insist that every voice be heard and who defend the notion that justice must be blind to status, wealth and influence. … We have to model civility in this time of division. We have to elevate truth in a time of misinformation and we must remain committed to fairness even when faced with hostility or doubt.”