Seven CAL members—Carrie Legus, Cheryl Nield, Harold Rauzi, Christine Samsel, Michael Shea, Renee Snow and John Stanton—were admitted before the bar of the United States Supreme Court on Monday, January 10, 2005. Jerrold Ganzfried, of Howrey Simon Arnold and White (and CAL's Program Committee), presented the motion for admission. Because Chief Justice Rehnquist was absent, Justice Stevens, who as senior justice was presiding, granted the motion, and the Clerk then swore in the new members. The ceremony complete, the Court proceeded to hear the day's arguments.

With the basic reporting (who, what, where, when) out of the way, I will share my thoughts as one who took part in the admission ceremony. Why not just "mail it in," send your application to the clerk's office, and receive your admission certificate by return mail, as most do? Why take the time and incur the expense of a trip to Washington for a five-minute ceremony?

For me (a confessed appeals nerd), VIP seating at both of that day's arguments, alone, made the trip worthwhile. By luck-of-the-draw, the first case we sat in on was an original jurisdiction matter, a rare exception to the Court's appellate jurisdiction. Because in the second case the Respondent's argument was divided, between the two cases, we had the opportunity to observe five advocates for whom that courtroom was familiar terrain, including the Acting Solicitor General, a former Solicitor General, one present, and two former Assistants to the Solicitor General.

For me, it was great fun. CAL's leadership plans to sponsor group admissions annually, I encourage members to participate.

The Clerk of the Supreme Court, William K. Suter and his staff were not only professional, but friendly.

Thank you, Jerry Ganzfried, for organizing the ceremony and the luncheon/panel discussion that followed. (Lincoln Davies's report on the panel discussion also appears in this issue of Appellate Issues.)

It was a memorable, educational and enjoyable day. Again, I encourage CAL members to take advantage of future group admissions opportunities.