Black lawyer rejected for Pa. bar in 1847 admitted
Headline News
As a scholar, poet and abolitionist, George B. Vashon broke barriers in the 1800s: he was the first black to graduate from Oberlin College, the first black lawyer in New York state and the first black professor at Howard University.
But in his home state of Pennsylvania, where Vashon grew up and studied law, he was twice rejected from practicing law because he was black.
On Tuesday, more than 160 years after Vashon applied to be admitted to the Allegheny County bar, the state Supreme Court ordered that he be posthumously admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania. Vashon's relatives and a Pittsburgh attorney who heard about Vashon's story had asked the court earlier this year to do just that.
"I think it's very important not just as a family matter, it goes far beyond family," said Nolan N. Atkinson Jr., Vashon's great grandson and a lawyer in Philadelphia. "It's very important for all lawyers who are entering this profession to know that there were significant achievements made by African Americans in the 19th century."
Vashon was born in Carlisle in 1824, and his family later moved to Pittsburgh, where he grew up. At 16, he was admitted to Oberlin College and graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in 1844.
Related listings
-
Goldman Sachs Sued By New York Law Firm
Headline News 05/04/2010Law firm Wolf Popper, LLP announced Monday it has filed a class action lawsuit against investment bank Goldman Sachs on behalf of investors who purchased securities, options or common stock between August 2009 and April 2010. The suit claims Goldman ...
-
Florida Probing Law Firm in Foreclosures
Headline News 04/30/2010The Florida attorney general's office is investigating possible misconduct by a large law firm that files foreclosures for banks, according to a posting on its Web site.The Web site said the office is looking at whether Florida Default Law Group, bas...
-
Law firm uses e-mail to increase efficiency, new biz opps
Headline News 04/29/2010Midsize law firm Pryor Cashman is making the most of its routine news and communications, using e-mail to help create new sales opportunities. The company, which has 125 attorneys and 90 practice areas, has been using e-mail marketing for about five ...
Grounds for Divorce in Ohio - Sylkatis Law, LLC
A divorce in Ohio is filed when there is typically “fault” by one of the parties and party not at “fault” seeks to end the marriage. A court in Ohio may grant a divorce for the following reasons:
• Willful absence of the adverse party for one year
• Adultery
• Extreme cruelty
• Fraudulent contract
• Any gross neglect of duty
• Habitual drunkenness
• Imprisonment in a correctional institution at the time of filing the complaint
• Procurement of a divorce outside this state by the other party
Additionally, there are two “no-fault” basis for which a court may grant a divorce:
• When the parties have, without interruption for one year, lived separate and apart without cohabitation
• Incompatibility, unless denied by either party
However, whether or not the the court grants the divorce for “fault” or not, in Ohio the party not at “fault” will not get a bigger slice of the marital property.