Early-nineteenth-century bar exams were social formalities, not gatekeeping

Evidence

Gustave Koerner, who began his practice in Illinois during the 1830s, described his exam as lasting only half an hour, in which a few desultory questions were asked; then everyone adjourned for rum toddies. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 642

Categorization

• CANDY: The rum-toddies bar exam is a fun, tweetable anecdote about how lax legal entry once was.
• XREF: connects to: Bar openness coexisted with class stratification even in the nineteenth century — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1821; The early nineteenth-century bar had low entry barriers and embraced all work — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1223; Colonial civil-service exams evaluated moral character alongside technical skill — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 402

Broader Connections

• The early nineteenth-century bar had low entry barriers and embraced all work #corroborates (0.90) — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law, 1223
• Bar openness coexisted with class stratification even in the nineteenth century #complicates (0.78) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1821
• Colonial civil-service exams evaluated moral character alongside technical skill #qualifies (0.72) — Ann Laura Stoler, Along the Archival Grain_ Epistemic…, 402