Colonial bar admission was fragmented and colony-specific before 1776

Evidence

Each colony had its own standards for admission to the bar. New Jersey tried to set up a graded profession, on the English plan. By a rule of 1755, the colony’s supreme court established the order of serjeants-​at-​law, a rank higher than ordinary “counselors.” Only the court could appoint to the higher rank, and the court later restricted the number of serjeants to twelve. The serjeants had the power and duty of conducting examinations for admission to the bar. In Virginia, a law of 1748 gave its high court control over licensing and admission to the bar. In Massachusetts, in the eighteenth century, each court admitted its own lawyers. In 1762, the chief justice of the Superior Court, Thomas Hutchison, instituted the rank of barrister; twenty-​five lawyers were called to this rank. In Rhode Island, any court could admit, but admission to one was admission to all. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 537

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Early colonies actively banned paid lawyers — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 507; Loose bar admission made law a channel of upward mobility — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1816