Page 19 - Pierce County Lawyer - July August 2025

CELEBRATE
LAW DAY
A LITTLE LATE
BY JOHN WEAVER
Law Day was first declared by President Eisenhower in
1957. In 1961 Congress designated May 1 as a day to
honor the “principles of a government under law.”1 The
American Bar Association tells lawyers to celebrate Law Day
by encouraging respect for the rule of law and helping non-
lawyers to understand how our system of government under
the law guarantees our freedoms. How our Association did is
told in the next article by Tacoma Municipal Court Judge Dee
Sonntag.
This year, Law Day had a special
meaning; lawyers and judges
across the country have been
under attack for doing what
they have sworn to do…
uphold our Constitution
and the rule of law.
US Supreme Court
Chief Justice John
Roberts, in his
2025 Year End
1 There’s a lot
of history about
Law Day; but I
don’t want to
distract you so
this will be my
only footnote.
I have also
omitted
citations.
You can
find them
easily
enough.
Report on the Courts, decried the call to impeach a judge over
her rulings. He went on to quote former Chief Justice William
Rehnquist, in his 2004 Year End Report: “[t]he Constitution
protects judicial independence not to benefit judges, but
to promote the rule of law.” Roberts further noted that this
principle arose even before the Constitution when:
"[q]uoting the French political philosopher
Montesquieu, Hamilton endorsed in Federalist
No. 78 the principle that 'there is no liberty, if
the power of judging be not separated from
the legislative and executive powers.'”
It is not only courts that have faced attacks; one of our state’s
most respected law firms brought suit (as lawyers should
when faced with attacks) against Executive Orders that would
hamstring their ability to represent their clients. The district
court judge who ruled in their favor pointed out that:
"[T]he importance of independent lawyers
to ensuring the American judicial system’s
fair and impartial administration of justice
has been recognized in this country since its
founding era. In 1770 John Adams made the
singularly unpopular decision to represent
eight British soldiers charged with murder for
their roles in the Boston Massacre [and is said
to have lost half his practice]."
The preamble to the Washington State Rules of Professional
Conduct states: “An independent legal profession is an
important force in preserving government under law, for abuse
of legal authority is more readily challenged by a profession
whose members are not dependent on government for the
right to practice”.
When we became lawyers the first thing we swore to was to
support the Constitutions of the State of Washington and the
United States. We can only do that with an independent legal
profession and judiciary.
This year, lawyers across our state celebrated Law Day by
reaffirming the oath that they took when they became lawyers.
This happened in Olympia, Spokane and Seattle. We had no
organized event here, but now you each have a chance to
reaffirm your own commitment to the rule of law.
Get together with some lawyer friends, make copies of the oath
of attorneys that you swore or affirmed when you were first
admitted. Stand up with each other and recite that oath. And
then maybe toast each other and the legal profession.
John Weaver, Professor Emeritus, Seattle
University School of Law, began teaching at UPS
School of Law in 1972. He has been a lawyer
for more than 50 years-- beginning his practice
during the Nixon Administration. He is an
honorary life-time member of the Tacoma-Pierce
County Bar Association. He is a resident of
Tacoma and serves as the Law School Liaison to
the Tacoma-Pierce County Bar Association.
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