The Order of the Coif (/ˈkɔɪf/) is an American honor society for law school graduates. The Order was founded in 1902 at the University of Illinois College of Law.[1][2] The name is a reference to the ancient English order of advocates, the serjeants-at-law, whose courtroom attire included a coif—a white lawn or silk skullcap, which came to be represented by a round piece of white lace worn on top of the advocate's wig. A student who earns a Juris Doctor degree and graduates in the top ten percent of their class is eligible for membership if the student's law school has a chapter of the Order.[3]
History
Medieval coif as worn by Aaron of Sur, 1500-1550
The University of Illinois College of Law established what would become the Order of the Coif in 1902.[4] According to the organization's constitution, "The purpose of The Order is to encourage excellence in legal education by fostering a spirit of careful study, recognizing those who as law students attained a high grade of scholarship, and honoring those who as lawyers, judges and teachers attained high distinction for their scholarly or professional accomplishments."[5][2]
In the late 19th century, several leading American law schools had established honors fraternities to recognize scholarship and distinction within the ranks of Juris Doctors in the United States. One of these, at the University of Illinois, was originally named Theta Kappa Nu.[6] It inspired several additional chapters in Nebraska, Missouri, and Wisconsin. A local legal honor society had formed in 1907 at Northwestern University, adopting the name Order of the Coif, but three years later, in 1910, would accept a charter from Theta Kappa Nu. Even with this charter the Northwestern group retained use of the earlier name, which was one of the factors which necessitated a discussion and eventual negotiation of a merger, and not just an absorption.
Also, in 1910 chapters at Iowa and Michigan were formed. Rapid expansion and divergent practices at these early schools led to calls for a national convention. At this meeting, in 1911, it was determined to adopt the original name of the Northwestern group, the Order of the Coif, along with a revised constitution that was fully ratified in 1912. Thus the American Order of the Coif dates to its earliest group, in Illinois, from 1902, and adopted its name from both the Northwestern group and its institutional inspiration, the English Order.[1][2][7]
Symbols
The symbolism of the Order of the Coif is far older, having evolved from the legal traditions of the Middle Ages in England. The Coif itself originated as a tight-fitting headpiece once used by both men and women. A version of this, in the form a close-fitting hood that covered all but the face, was adopted as a symbol for those barristers who had been recognized as serjeants-at-law and thus formed the narrow pool of legal practitioners who could be appointed judges of the Court of Common Pleas or, later, of the King's Bench. With this distinctive apparel, the serjeants-at-law became known as "serjeants of the coif" and their group within society as the original Order of the Coif; this predecessor inspired the name and markings of the American Order, although beyond inspiration there is no legal connection between the two. White wigs were so often sewn onto the coif that their usage became conjoined.[1]
One of the earliest known (English) serjeants of the coif was a man named Geoffrey Ridel, named so in the year 1117. The early writer, Geoffrey Chaucer made mention of Serjeants at Law in the preface to his novel, The Canterbury Tales. Through the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, important English jurists were so recognized: Bacon, Blackburn, Blackstone, Campbell, Cavendish, Coke, Coleridge, Fortesque, Glanville, and Littleton, these may be the best known. But in the 18th century, rumblings of dissatisfaction with this arrangement grew. The English Order's privileged hold on the court was finally ended when a Crown Warrant was issued in 1839 which commanded Common Pleas to permit "gentlemen of the bar generally" to be allowed to practice before it. Objections were litigated briefly, but by the following year, the matter had been settled with the power of the Order broken. Its last meeting was held in 1877.[1]
The wig and coif remain standard courtroom attire today in England and Commonwealth countries.[1]
Membership
The induction process varies by law school, but students are generally notified of their membership after the final class ranks at their schools are announced. A new member receives a certificate of membership, a badge of membership for wear during academic ceremonies, a Coif key, and in some cases an actual coif or a representation of one.
The basic requirement for membership is ranking in the top 10% of a member school's graduating class. If a member law school graduates fewer than 30 students, it may induct its top three students. A school can decide not to allow an otherwise eligible student to receive the honor and may impose additional requirements for membership beyond the organization's national requirement of being in the top 10% of the class.[8]
Each member school may also induct a faculty member and one honorary member each year.[9] The national organization's executive committee may also elect a limited number of honorary members.[10] Those chosen for honorary membership are usually U.S. Supreme Court justices and other preeminent members of the legal profession.[11][7]
Chapters
As of December 2022[update], 87 of 203 United States law schools accredited by the American Bar Association to award the Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree had Order of the Coif chapters.[12][4] Following is a list of chapters of Order of the Coif.[13]
Within each U.S. law school, key credentials include:
Law review/Law journal membership or editorial position (based either on grades or write-on competition or both). This is important for at least three reasons. First, because it is determined by either grades or writing ability, membership is an indicator of strong academic performance.[20] This leads to the second reason, which is that potential employers sometimes use law review membership in their hiring criteria.[20] Third, work on law review exposes a student to legal scholarship and editing, and often allows the student to publish a significant piece of legal scholarship on his or her own.[20] Most law schools have a "flagship" journal usually called "School name Law Review" (for example, the Harvard Law Review—although some schools call their flagship journal "School name Law Journal"; see Yale Law Journal) that publishes articles on all areas of law, and one or more other specialty law journals that publish articles concerning only a particular area of the law (for example, the Harvard Journal of Law & Technology).
Moot court membership or award (based on oral and written argument). Success in moot court can distinguish one as an outstanding oral advocate and provides a degree of practical legal training that is often absent from law review membership.[21] Moot court and related activities, such as Trial Advocacy and Dispute Resolution, may appeal especially to employers hiring for litigation positions, such as a district attorney's office.
Mock trial membership and awards (based on trial level advocacy skills) also can distinguish one as an outstanding trial advocate and help develop "real world" skills that are often valuable to employers hiring for litigation positions.
Order of the Coif membership (based on grade point average). This is often coupled with Latin honors (summa and magna cum laude, though often not cum laude). However, a slight majority of law schools in the U.S. do not have Order of the Coif chapters[citation needed].
Phi Delta Phi honor society membership (based on class ranking of the top one-third.)[22] This prestigious society is organized around student chapters called "Inns", and the society has inducted many historic figures including five U.S. presidents, two U.S. vice presidents, 14 Supreme Court justices, and numerous members of Congress, Cabinet members, and ambassadors. [citation needed].
On the basis of a student's credentials, as well as favorable faculty recommendations, some students obtain a one or two-year clerkship with a judge after graduation.[23] While the majority of judges traditionally choose incoming clerks while they are still in law school, or as they complete another clerkship, in the 2020s; some judges seek out clerks with some private law practice experience.[24][25]
Clerkships may be with state or federal judges, and are meant to provide the recent law school graduate with experience working for a judge. Often, clerks engage in significant legal research and writing for the judge, writing memos to assist a judge in coming to a legal conclusion in some cases, and writing drafts of opinions based on the judge's decisions. Appellate court clerkships, although generally more prestigious, do not necessarily give one a great deal of practical experience in the day-to-day life of a lawyer in private practice. The average litigator might get much more out of a clerkship at the trial court level, where they will be learning about motions practices, dealing with lawyers, and generally learning how a trial court works from the inside.[citation needed]
Court clerkships may also provide other valuable assets to a young lawyer; judges often become mentors to their clerks, providing the fledgling attorney with an experienced individual from whom to seek advice. Fellow clerks may also become enduring connections. Law schools encourage graduates to engage in a clerkship to broaden their professional experiences. However, there fewer clerkships than there are academically eligible graduates.[citation needed]
United States Supreme Court clerkship
Some law school graduates are able to clerk for one of the Justices on the Supreme Court (each Justice takes two to four clerks per year). Often, these clerks are graduates of elite law schools, with Harvard, Yale, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, Columbia, the University of Virginia, and Stanford being among the most highly represented schools.[26] Justice Clarence Thomas is the major exception to the rule that Justices hire clerks from elite schools; he takes pride in selecting clerks from non-top-tier schools, and publicly noted that his clerks have been attacked on the Internet as "third tier trash".[27]
Most Supreme Court clerks have clerked in a lower court, often for a year with a highly selective federal circuit court judge (such as Judges Alex Kozinski, Michael Luttig, J. Harvie Wilkinson, David Tatel, Richard Posner) known as a "feeder judge". It is perhaps the most highly selective and prestigious position a recently graduated lawyer can have, and Supreme Court clerks are often highly sought after by law firms, the government, and law schools. Law firms give Supreme Court clerks as much as a $400,000 bonus for signing with their firm. The vast majority of Supreme Court clerks either become academics at elite law schools, enter private practice as appellate attorneys, or take highly selective government positions.
^ abcdeGasaway, Laura N. "History". www.orderofthecoif.org. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
^ abcAnson, Jack L.; Marchenasi, Robert F., eds. (1991) [1879]. Baird's Manual of American Fraternities (20th ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Baird's Manual Foundation, Inc. p. VI-127-128. ISBN978-0963715906.
^This name, briefly used by a few early chapters between 1902 and 1911 was retired after the growing fraternity determined in 1911 to adopt the earlier name that was used by its Northwestern chapter. Thus was created the American Order of the Coif. There is no connection between the legal honor society and a later developed national academic/social fraternity of the same name, Theta Kappa Nu, formed in 1924, which later would merge into Lambda Chi Alpha.
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