Bar association

A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence.^[1] The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing (bar) to separate the area in which court or legal profession business is done from the viewing area for the general public or students of the law.^[2]

Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both. In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the bar association comprises lawyers who are qualified as barristers or advocates in particular, versus solicitors (see bar council). Membership in bar associations may be mandatory (necessary to practice law) or optional (voluntary) for practicing attorneys, depending on jurisdiction.

The use of the term

The Canadian Bar Association (and its provincial and territorial branches) is a professional association of barristers, solicitors and advocates that serves the roles of advocates for the profession, provides continuing legal education and member benefits. It does not play a part in the regulation of the profession, however.

In

There is no formal requirement for further membership of any Bar Association. However, Advocates do become members of various local or national bar associations for reasons of recognition and facilities which these associations offer. Some well-known Bar Associations in India include the Supreme Court Bar Association, Delhi High Court Bar Association, Bombay Bar Association, Delhi Bar Association, National Bar Association of India, All India Bar Association, etc.

In

In Sri Lanka, a person becomes an Attorney-at-Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka after completing passing law exams at the Sri Lanka Law College which are administered by the Council of Legal Education and spending a period of six months under a practicing attorney of at least eight years standing as an articled clerk. Attorneys may opt to become a member of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka.

Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions.

—Benjamin N. Cardozo, In re Rouss, 221 N.Y. 81, 84 (1917)

In the United States, admission to the bar is permission granted by a particular court system to a lawyer to practice law in that system. This is to be distinguished from membership in a bar association. In the United States,^[4] some states require membership in the state bar association for all attorneys, while others do not.

Although bar associations historically existed as unincorporated voluntary associations, nearly all bar associations have since been organized (or reorganized) as corporations. Furthermore, membership in some of them (see the next section below) is no longer voluntary, which is why some of them have omitted the word "association" and merely call themselves the "state bar" to indicate that they are the incorporated body that constitutes the entire admitted legal profession of a state.

Some states require membership in a regulatory agency often called the state's bar association in order to permit them to practice law in that state. Such an organization is called a mandatory, integrated, or unified bar,^[5][6] and is a type of government-granted monopoly. They exist at present in a majority of U.S. states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington State, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

The

The first state to have an integrated bar association was North Dakota in 1921.[7]

Although the names may be confusing, a voluntary bar association is a private organization of lawyers and often other legal professionals. These associations focus on issues including social, educational, and lobbying functions. In states where the functions of the disciplinary bar entity is separate from the statewide voluntary bar association, the voluntary association does not, however, formally regulate the practice of law, admit lawyers to practice or discipline lawyers for ethical violations. For example, the "State Bar of California" is the mandatory, regulatory agency whereas the California Lawyers Association is a voluntary educational and networking group.^[8] A statewide voluntary bar association exists in every state that has no mandatory or integrated bar association.

In addition to state-wide organizations, there are many voluntary bar associations organized by city, county, or other affiliate community. Such associations are often focused on common professional interests (such as

As all attorney regulation is performed on the state level (while federal courts also regulate the attorney's that appear before them, those attorneys' generally must be already qualified by the states). There is no mandatory federal bar association. The Federal Bar Association is a private, voluntary group.

There are also a number of subject-specific private associations, which are not denominated as bar associations by name but which serve similar functions in terms of providing their members with useful publications, networking opportunities, and continuing legal education. The largest association of defense counsel is the Defense Research Institute, which describes itself as "The Voice of the Defense Bar", while the largest association of plaintiffs' counsel is the American Association for Justice (formerly the Association of Trial Lawyers of America). The American Bar Association (ABA) is the largest voluntary bar association in the United States with members from both defense, plaintiff, civil, criminal and other specialities. The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) is an association of progressive attorneys and legal workers, founded as the first national association for lawyers whose membership was open to all races and religions.

Most American law schools have a

• Bar (law)
• Disbarment
• Law firm network