Massachusetts issues a certificate to attorneys when they are admitted to the Massachusetts bar. It's something like a diploma, and thus contains antiquated language. My college diploma (from California) has some old language such as, "rights thereto pertaining," but that's nothing compared to my law school diploma which is entirely in Latin. The translation is ridiculously over the top. They retro-translated modern words ("Boston" becomes "Bostoniensis") the way a high school Spanish tries to change one's name to its Spanish equivalent. (I went to Spain, and my name didn't miraculously change to "Andres".)

I haven�t yet seen the Massachusetts bar certificate, but I do know from the bar letter that Massachusetts attorneys have a choice as to whether they want the phrase �in the year of our Lord� to appear on the certificate. I think it�s great that people have this choice here, and I wonder whether a red state like Texas offers this option.