Chap. 69.—An ACT to amend and re-enact section 3191, chapter 154, of the
Code, as amended by an act in force on and after February 2, 1892,
and by an act in force on and after July 1, 1896, and by an act ap-
proved March 14, 1910, relating to how a person is licensed to practice
law in the State of Virginia. (H. B. 178.)

Approved March 13, 1914.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
section three thousand one hundred and ninety-one of the Code of
Virginia, as amended and re-enacted by an act approved February
second, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, entitled an act to amend
and re-enact section three thousand one hundred and ninety-one of
the Code of Virginia, relating to the licensing of persons to prac-
tice law in this State, and as amended and re-enacted by an act
approved January eleventh, eighteen hundred and _ninety-six,
entitled an act to amend and re-enact section three thousand one
hundred and ninety-one of the Code of Virginia, relating to the
licensing of persons to practice law in this State, and as amended
and re-enacted by an act approved March fourteenth, nineteen hun-
dred and ten, entitled an act to amend and re-enact section three
thousand one hundred and ninety-one, chapter one hundred and
fifty-four, of the Code, as amended by an act in force on and after
February two, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and by an act in
force on and after July one, eighteen hundred and ninety-six,
relating to how a person is licensed to practice law in the State of
Virginia, be amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

Sec. 3191. The governor shall, from a list of fifteen competent
lawyers of this State, furnished by the supreme court of appeals
and selected as far as may be practicable from the five geographical
divisions of the State, appoint a board of examiners composed of
five competent lawyers of this State for the examination of appli-
eants for admission to the bar, whose term of office shall be as fol-
lows: One for one year, one for two years, one for three years, one
for four years and one for five years; thereafter each year the
governor on like recommendation shall appoint one member of the
board of examiners for the term of five years. Such board shall
meet at the capitol in the city of Richmond, once in each year, and
also in the city of Roanoke, Virginia, once in each year, and also
at other times and places in the State if the board of examiners
shall deem it necessary, for the purpose of examining male citizens
for admission to the bar as to their legal learning and general
qualifications to practice in the several courts of this State as
attorneys and counselors at law: and upon such examination being
had the board shall certify to the supreme court of appeals a list
of such applicants as shall pass the required examination, and
recommend their admission to the bar; whereupon the supreme
court of appeals may issue to such applicants a license to practice
law in this State, such license to be signed by three members of the
supreme court of appeals and made a matter of record upon the
order book of the said court, and such order may be made either
in term or in vacation.

The official stenographer of the supreme court of appeals shall
be ex-officio the secretary and treasurer of said examining board,
and said board shall make such rules and regulations, relative to
said examination, as to them may seem proper, which rules and
regulations, may from time to time be altered or amended.

The first president of said board shall be the member thereof
whose term of office soonest expires, and three members of said
board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.

The examination papers shall be kept on file in the office of the
secretary of said board at Richmond for one year after each exam-
ination, after which they may be destroyed, and any applicant fail-
ing to pass the examination may again apply at the next regular
examination by the board of examiners by showing to the board
that he has diligently pursued the study of the law since the former
examination.

The said board of examiners shall receive as compensation for
their services ten dollars per day for the time actually spent in the
discharge of their duties as members of the board, and the same
mileage now allowed by law to the judges of the courts of this
Commonwealth, to meet the necessary expenses incurred in going
to, holding and returning from the sessions of the board required
to be held under this act, and other incidental expenses, the per
diem and mileage of each member of the board to be fixed and cer-
tified by the secretary of the board; and the compensation of the
secretary and treasurer of the board shall be fixed by the said board;
provided, however, that all compensation for services and expenses
herein provided for shall not exceed the amount received as fees
from applicants for license to practice law, which shall be fixed by
the rules and regulations adopted by the said board as hereinbefore
provided relative to the examinations to be held by said boards;
provided further, that the total fees paid by applicants shall be
charged with the cost of the two or more examinations held each
year (the year to be taken as the period from February to Feb-
ruary), and any excess shall be returned proportionately to the
applicants within thirty days from the expiration of the last exam-
ination of that year; provided, further, that all licenses granted or
signed by any judge of the supreme court of appeals of this State
since the fourteenth day of January, eighteen hundred and sixty-
four, and all licenses heretofore legally granted, shall be as valid
as if granted under this act; and provided further, that the attorney
at law holding the same has already commenced the practice of his
profession, or shall commence the practice thereof within two years
from the date of the granting of said license; otherwise the said
attorney shall not practice in this State without first obtaining a
license as provided by this act.

2. All acts or parts of acts in conflict with this act are hereby
repealed.