Paying the Bar tab

Sometimes days, even weeks, pass by in which I completely forget I am a lawyer. I am reminded, however, each and every June when it comes time to write my check to the Florida Bar.

I took the bar exam in Florida the summer after law school, even though Fred and I were living in North Carolina at the time. I got my notice in the fall that I had passed both parts of the exam, and at that point the only thing standing between me and Bar membership was taking and passing the short ethics exam. I finally got around to doing that the following February, so it was March before I got my official invitation to join the Bar.

By that point I was 5 months pregnant with the baby who would be Mike, and I figured that by May I would be in no condition or mood for traveling to Florida for the mass swearing-in ceremonies that would be held at the Florida Supreme Court and the various District Courts of Appeal. Another option was to be sworn in in a different state by a notary public.

Fred just happened to be a South Carolina notary back then. And we just happened to be making a roadtrip for a friend's wedding a few weeks later. And THAT is how I came to take the oath for the Florida Bar in front of the giant Pedro at the tackiest place on earth--South of the Border: