Order of the Coif

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]

Order of the Coif
Founded	1902; 122 years ago (1902) University of Illinois College of Law
Type	Honor society
Affiliation	Independent, ACHS (former)
Emphasis	law graduates
Scope	National
Colors	Maroon and   Black
Symbol	Serjeant-at-law with Wig and Coif
Chapters	87
Members	25,000 lifetime
Headquarters	West Virginia University College of Law 101 Law School Drive Morgantown, WV 26506 US
Website	Official website

History

 

Medieval coif as worn by Aaron of Sur, 1500-1550

The University of Illinois College of Law established 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]

Charter date	Institution	Location	Status	References
1902	University of Illinois College of Law	Champaign, Illinois	Active
1904	University of Nebraska College of Law	Lincoln, Nebraska	Active
1906	University of Missouri School of Law	Columbia, Missouri	Active
1907	Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Active
1908	University of Wisconsin Law School	Madison, Wisconsin	Active
1909	University of Virginia School of Law	Charlottesville, Virginia	Active
1911	University of Iowa College of Law	Iowa City, Iowa	Active
1911	University of Michigan Law School	Ann Arbor, Michigan	Active
1912	Case Western Reserve University School of Law	Cleveland, Ohio	Active
1912	University of Chicago Law School	Chicago, Illinois	Active
1912	University of Pennsylvania Law School	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
1912	University of Pittsburgh School of Law	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Active
1912	Stanford Law School	Stanford, California	Active
1915	Cornell Law School	Ithaca, New York	Active
1915	University of Minnesota Law School	Minneapolis, Minnesota	Active
1915	Ohio State University Moritz College of Law	Columbus, Ohio	Active
1919	Yale Law School	New Haven, Connecticut	Active
1924	University of Kansas School of Law	Lawrence, Kansas	Active
1924	University of Washington School of Law	Seattle, Washington	Active
1924	Washington University School of Law	St. Louis, Missouri.	Active
1925	Indiana University Maurer School of Law	Bloomington, Indiana	Active
1925	University of North Dakota School of Law	Grand Forks, North Dakota	Active
1925	University of Oklahoma College of Law	Norman, Oklahoma	Active
1925	West Virginia University College of Law	Morgantown, West Virginia	Active	^[14]
1926	George Washington University Law School	Washington, D.C.	Active
1926	University of Texas School of Law	Austin, Texas	Active
1927	University of California-Berkeley School of Law	Berkeley, California	Active	^[15]
1928	University of Cincinnati College of Law	Cincinnati, Ohio	Active
1928	University of North Carolina School of Law	Chapel Hill, North Carolina	Active
1929	University of Southern California Gould School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Active
1931	University of Kentucky College of Law	Lexington, Kentucky	Active
1931	Tulane University Law School	New Orleans, Louisiana	Active
1933	Duke University School of Law	Durham, North Carolina	Active
1934	University of Oregon School of Law	Eugene, Oregon	Active
1938	University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law	Baltimore, Maryland	Active
1942	University of Colorado Law School	Boulder, Colorado	Active
1942	Paul M. Hebert Law Center	Baton Rouge, Louisiana	Active
1948	Vanderbilt University Law School	Nashville, Tennessee	Active	^[16]
1950	Washington and Lee University School of Law	Lexington, Virginia	Active
1951	University of Tennessee College of Law	Knoxville, Tennessee	Active
1952	Drake University Law School	Des Moines, Iowa	Active
1952	Syracuse University College of Law	Syracuse, New York	Active
1953	University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law	Salt Lake City, Utah	Active
1954	University of California Hastings College of Law	San Francisco, California	Active
1954	University of California, Los Angeles School of Law	Los Angeles, California	Active
1955	University of Florida College of Law	Gainesville, Florida	Active
1959	New York University School of Law	Manhattan, New York City, New York	Active
1961	Villanova University School of Law	Villanova, Pennsylvania	Active
1964	Boston College Law School	Newton, Massachusetts	Active
1966	Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law	Dallas, Texas	Active
1969	University of Alabama School of Law	Tuscaloosa, Alabama	Active
1969	University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law	Tucson, Arizona	Active
1971	Emory University School of Law	Atlanta, Georgia	Active
1971	University of New Mexico School of Law	Albuquerque, New Mexico	Active	^[17]
1972	University of California, Davis School of Law	Davis, California	Active
1974	Texas Tech University School of Law	Lubbock, Texas	Active
1977	University of Georgia School of Law	Athens, Georgia	Active
1979	Florida State University College of Law	Tallahassee, Florida	Active
1981	William & Mary Law School	Williamsburg, Virginia	Active	^[18]
1982	University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law	Sacramento, California	Active
1982	University of South Carolina School of Law	Columbia, South Carolina	Active
1983	University of Houston Law Center	Houston, Texas	Active	^[19]
1984	Arizona State University College of Law	Phoenix, Arizona	Active
1984	Brigham Young University Law School	Provo, Utah	Active
1984	University of Toledo College of Law	Toledo, Ohio	Active
1984	Wayne State University Law School	Detroit, Michigan	Active
1985	University of Wyoming College of Law	Laramie, Wyoming	Active
1988	Georgetown University Law Center	Washington, D.C.	Active
1989	Chicago-Kent College of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Active
1989	University of Miami School of Law	Coral Gables, Florida	Active
1990	Loyola Law School	Los Angeles, California	Active
1992	DePaul University College of Law	Chicago, Illinois	Active
1994	American University Washington College of Law	Washington, D.C.	Active
1994	Fordham University School of Law	Manhattan, New York City, New York	Active
1996	University of San Diego School of Law	San Diego, California	Active
1997	Wake Forest University School of Law	Winston-Salem, North Carolina	Active
1999	Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law	New York City, New York	Active
2004	Santa Clara University School of Law	Santa Clara, California	Active
2004	Seton Hall University School of Law	Newark, New Jersey	Active
2008	Pepperdine University School of Law	Malibu, California	Active
2012	University of Richmond School of Law	Richmond, Virginia	Active
2014	University at Buffalo Law School	Amherst, New York	Active
2014	Temple University Beasley School of Law	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	Active
2016	University of Denver Sturm College of Law	Denver, Colorado	Active
2016	Georgia State University College of Law	Atlanta, Georgia	Active
2018	Rutgers Law School	Newark and Camden, New Jersey	Active
2019	Texas A&M University School of Law	Fort Worth, Texas	Active
2022	Penn State Law	University Park, Pennsylvania	Active

Notable members

Main article: List of Order of the Coif members

See also

• Professional fraterities and sororities
• Honor society

References

1. Gasaway, Laura N. "History". www.orderofthecoif.org. Retrieved 5 April 2018.
2. Anson, 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. ISBN 978-0963715906.
3. Order of the Coif Constitution 2003 [cited herein as Constitution]. Retrieved January 2, 2010.
4. "Member Schools". orderofthecoif.org. 14 December 2022. Retrieved 14 December 2022.
5. Constitution § 2.2.
6. 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 fraternity of the same name, Theta Kappa Nu, formed in 1924, which later would merge into Lambda Chi Alpha.
7. York, Kenneth H. (1952). "Legal Fraternities" (PDF). Michigan Law Review. The Michigan Law Review Association. 50 (7): 1047–56. doi:10.2307/1284939. JSTOR 1284939. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
8. Constitution §§ 5.1–5.2.
9. Constitution §§ 5.3–5.4(a).
10. Constitution § 5.4(b).
11. Order of the Coif, Honorary Members.
12. "ABA-Approved Law Schools". americanbar.org.
13. "Member Schools". The Order of the Coif. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
14. "Honors and Awards | Order of the Coif". College of Law West Virginia University. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
15. "Order of the Coif and Dean's List". Berkeley Law. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
16. Renshaw, Grace Renshaw (2023-11-17). "Members of the Class of 2023 Selected for Order of the Coif - Vanderbilt Law". Vanderbilt Law School. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
17. "Order of the Coif". School of Law The University of New Mexico. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
18. "Order of the Coif". William & Mary Law School. Retrieved 2023-12-31.
19. "The Order of the Coif - List of UH Chapter members". University of Houston Law Center. Retrieved 2023-12-31.

Further reading

• Michael Herz, , Cardozo Life (Spring 1999) (includes information on the order's history).
• Frank R. Strong, Order of the Coif: English Antecedents and American Adaptation, 63 A.B.A. J. 1725-1727 (1977).

External links

• Official website