National “What” Day!?
Perhaps one of the more obscure profession-related holidays, Mexico’s nationally recognized Lawyer’s Day was decreed by former president Adolfo López Mateos. Lawyer’s Day is meant to be a day to celebrate lawyers and others in the legal profession, and was recognized as per a request made by the Diario de México.
Celebrated on July 12th, the reason for celebratory day can be traced back almost 500 years. On July 12th in 1553, the first chair for the Teaching of Law was established in the Viceroyalty of New Spain, a territory that is in part now present-day Mexico. To recognize this forward momentum in the study of Law, López established July 12th as Lawyer’s Day.
Currently, Mexico has around 452,000 practicing lawyers and in the United States the total percentage of minority students is increasing. 2022 saw 16,005 Hispanic students enrolled in law school across the United States compared to around 15,400 in 2021. This can be attributed to any number of things, but it is undeniable the effect that Mexico’s Lawyer’s Day had on the profession.
A Presidential History
The first half of the 20th century was a time of change for Mexico, during which more than 31% of the privatized land was owned by fewer than 0.5% of landowners. To combat this, López sought to modernize the structure of agriculture in Mexico through the process of agrarian reform and redistribution of lands to those with less land and small holdings.
During his presidency from 1958 to 1964, López reinvigorated the Mexican economy and expanded the industrial development of Mexico through agrarian reform. López started his career as an assignment to the United Nations, and later was elected as a federal senator.
Before his presidency, López was appointed to be the secretary-general of the Partido Revolucionario Institucional. As a member of the PRI, his six-year long term was clouded by corruption, however his policies undeniably impacted the world of rural Mexican culture, including public health and agriculture.
López is best remembered for his policies that sought to address the imbalance in rural and urban Mexico. The Mexican government distributed more than twelve-million hectares of land to ejidos and small-scale family farmers to promote cultivation, particularly in southern Mexico.
The Mexican Institute of Social Security was put in place to assist public health and social security. The introduction of healthcare in the more rural areas of Mexico resulted in a reduction in tuberculosis, poliomyelitis, and malaria.