American Bar Association

American Bar Association
Name	American Bar Association
Caption	Official seal
Formation	August 21, 1878
Headquarters	Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Membership	~200,000
President	Mary Smith
Website	www.americanbar.org

American Bar Association. Founded in 1878 in Saratoga Springs, New York, it is one of the world's largest voluntary professional organizations. Its mission is to serve its members, improve the legal profession, eliminate bias, and advance the rule of law. With headquarters in Chicago and a major office in Washington, D.C., it plays a central role in legal education, ethics, and public policy.

History

The organization was established by 100 lawyers from 21 states, meeting at the Saratoga Springs resort, with an initial goal of setting academic standards for the profession. Early leaders included its first president, James Overton Broadhead of Missouri, and figures like Simcon Eben Baldwin, who later became Governor of Connecticut. For much of its early history, membership was restricted, but it began integrating more fully following a 1943 report urging change. Landmark moments include its 1918 founding of the American Bar Foundation for research and its influential opposition to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Judicial Procedures Reform Bill of 1937. In 2016, it moved its headquarters to Chicago's Loop neighborhood.

Organization and governance

The association is governed by a Board of Governors and led by an elected president, such as recent leader Mary Smith. Its work is carried out through numerous sections, divisions, and forums, such as the Section of Civil Rights and Social Justice and the Business Law Section. Key entities include the American Bar Foundation, its independent research arm, and the ABA House of Delegates, its primary policy-making body. The Center for Professional Responsibility oversees ethical standards, while operations are managed from its Chicago and Washington, D.C. offices.

Activities and programs

It conducts a wide array of programs, including continuing legal education through the ABA Center for Professional Development and public service initiatives like Free Legal Answers. It sponsors competitions such as the National Appellate Advocacy Competition and runs diversity programs like the Commission on Women in the Profession. Other significant activities include the ABA Military Pro Bono Project, law school accreditation reviews, and the work of the Commission on Homelessness & Poverty. It also hosts the annual ABA Meeting in various cities like San Francisco and Chicago.

Accreditation of law schools

The ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar is the recognized accreditor for J.D. programs by the U.S. Department of Education. This accreditation process, which includes rigorous standards on faculty, curriculum, and facilities, is essential for graduates to sit for the bar examination in most jurisdictions. The section operates under the guidance of the Council of the Section of Legal Education, which includes law school deans like Erwin Chemerinsky of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law. Its decisions can be reviewed by the United States Department of Education.

Model ethical codes

It is renowned for developing model codes of conduct that guide the legal profession, most notably the Model Rules of Professional Conduct, first adopted in 1983. These rules have been substantially incorporated into the ethics rules of most state supreme courts, including those in California and New York. Earlier influential models include the 1908 Canons of Professional Ethics and the 1969 Model Code of Professional Responsibility. The Center for Professional Responsibility drafts and interprets these standards, which are frequently cited in opinions by courts like the Supreme Court of the United States.

Advocacy and public policy

Through its Government Affairs Office in Washington, D.C., it advocates on issues ranging from judicial independence to legal aid funding. Its policy positions, set by the House of Delegates, have addressed matters such as the USA PATRIOT Act, gun control, and immigration reform. It rates the qualifications of nominees to the federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court of the United States, through its Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary. It also files amicus curiae briefs in landmark cases before courts like the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

Publications and media

It is a major legal publisher, producing the flagship ABA Journal magazine, scholarly periodicals like the Administrative Law Review, and numerous treatises through ABA Publishing. Its sections produce specialized publications, such as the Business Lawyer from the Business Law Section. Other notable media includes the ABA Journal Podcast and daily news coverage via ABA Journal Now. It also publishes authoritative works on legal ethics and the annual ABA Standards for Criminal Justice.

Category:Professional associations based in the United States Category:Legal organizations based in Illinois Category:1878 establishments in New York (state)