Law Day May 1

Blue text and an illustration of a red spoked circle on a white background

On February 3, 1958, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established Law Day by issuing a proclamation to set aside one day a year to celebrate the U.S. legal system. Every president since then has issued an annual Law Day Proclamation. Law Day was originally the idea of American Bar Association President, Charles Rhyne. On April 7, 1961, Congress passed a Joint Resolution designating May 1 as Law Day (Title 36, Section 113, U.S. Code). Every year the ABA designates a theme to highlight an important issue related to the legal system and publishes an annual Law Day Planning Guide with lesson plans and ideas for classroom programs for law schools and colleges to implement.