James Patrick Guy II The Virginia Bar Association President

Lawyers love to debate this question: Is the practice of law a profession or a business?

Unlike most of the things that lawyers do, this is a really silly exercise, because, of course, it is both.

At the VBA Annual Meeting in January, attendees joined in a recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance, led by Old Dominion Bar Association President Helevi Holland accompanied by Col. Lula B. Holland, USAF (Ret.). The lawyers in attendance renewed their professional oath of office, led by The Honorable Randolph A. Beales of the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

We know the word "profession" means that we follow an oath, that we have professed an oath. And we continue to be stewards.

At that meeting, it was my honor to take another oath: the oath of office of President of The Virginia Bar Association.

Our oaths limit us, but also empower us. Just as the limits imposed on our society by law create and preserve the freedoms that constitute American liberty.

Thy Liberty in Law