In Re Barce

in which RUCKER, J., joins.

Courts at all levels set the standard and a tone for the legal profession in the course of signaling what they consider important and what they consider trivial. The highest court of a state plays a special role in setting the bar on ethics and professionalism, acting as it does in the full view of the public.

Respondent Barce signed an affidavit under oath declaring that he was not en*734gaged in the practice of law, and tendered it to the Clerk of this Court. The result was that he exempted himself from paying the regular annual registration fees and registering for…