Dozens of law school graduates – joined by family and other well-wishers – took a ceremonial oath of office as members of the Pennsylvania bar in City Hall on Nov. 1.

Before administering the oath, the Hon. Pamela Pryor Dembe, president judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, predicted that some of the new attorneys will soon return to her courtroom to try cases.

Regardless of the career paths they follow, the graduates’ lives are “forever changed,” Dembe said.

“The fact that you are a lawyer is something you can carry proudly,” Dembe said. “The skills you have in analyzing and synthesizing information will be with you always.”

Class of 2011 member Diana Silva said she’s thrilled with her job with Manko, Gold, Katcher & Fox, LLP, a Bala Cynwyd-based environmental and energy law firm that’s enabling her to combine her skills in law with her prior experience in city planning.

The 46 graduates who took part in the ceremony represent just some of those who passed the Pennsylvania bar exam in July. Of 99 members of the Class of 2011 who took the exam, 86.9 percent passed.