Bar association
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A bar association is a professional body of lawyers. 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 (collectively known as "the bar", or "members of the bar"), while the "law society" comprises solicitors. These bodies are sometimes mutually exclusive. In other jurisdictions, the "bar" may refer to the entire community of persons engaged in the practice of law.
United States
- Membership in the bar is a privilege burdened with conditions.
- :-Benjamin N. Cardozo, In re Rouss, 221 N.Y. 81, 84 (1917)
Mandatory, integrated or unified bar associations
Some states require membership in the state's bar association to practice law there. Such an organization is called a mandatory, integrated, or unified bar. They exist at present in a slight majority of U.S. states, including Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. The District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands also have unified bars.In some states, like Wisconsin, the mandatory membership requirement is implemented through an order of the state supreme court, which can be revoked or cancelled at any time at the court's discretion. In others, like Oregon, the state legislature passed a law and created a new government agency. California went farther than any other state and wrote the State Bar of California into its constitution.
The first state to have an integrated bar association was North Dakota in 1921.Lawrence M. Friedman, American Law in the Twentieth Century (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2002), 41.
Voluntary bar associations
A voluntary bar association is a private organization of lawyers. Each chooses its own purposes (e.g. social, educational, and lobbying functions), but does not regulate the practice of law or admit lawyers to practice.
There is a statewide voluntary bar association in every state that has no mandatory or integrated bar association. There are also many voluntary bar associations organized by city, county, or by other community. Such associations are often focused on common professional interests (such as bankruptcy lawyers or in-house counsel) or common ethnic interests (such as gender, race, religion, or national heritage), such as the [Hispanic National Bar Association]. The American Bar Association is the voluntary bar association with the largest membership. Such associations often advocate for law reform and provide information, referral or pro bono services to the general public.
There is no mandatory federal bar association; the Federal Bar Association is a private, voluntary group.
Most American law schools have a Student Bar Association that fulfills various functions including serving as the student government.
Commonwealth
- See Bar council
In Pakistan, one becomes a member of the bar after fullfiling certain requirements. They must have a valid law degree from a recognized university, and they offer certain undertakings and pay the Bar Association fees. If a person does not hold an LL.M Degree then they must first complete six months pupillage with a practising Advocate, whom they must have assisted on at least ten cases during their six-month pupillage period.
History
Judges may or may not be members of the bar (see below). Rather, they sit "on the bench", and the cases which come before them are "at bar" or "at bench". These terms evolved from the English Inns of Court, where a bar separated the seats of the benchers or readers from the body of the hall, which was occupied by students. When one officially becomes a lawyer, he or she crosses this symbolic physical barrier and is "admitted to the bar". In modern courtrooms, a railing may still be in place to enclose the space which is occupied by legal counsel as well as the criminal defendants and civil litigants who have business pending before the court. Many states in the United States require that some or all judges be members of the bar, but limit or completely prohibit the judges from practicing law while serving as a judge.
The U.S. Constitution contains no express requirement that Federal district court or appeals court judges and Supreme Court justices be members of the bar. As a practical political matter, however, bar membership is a requirement for such positions.
References
See also
Generally
- Disbarment
- Student Bar Association
- Barristers in England and Wales
Selected voluntary bar associations
- American Bar Association
- Canadian Bar Association
- Commonwealth Lawyers Association
- New Zealand Bar Association
Selected mandatory bar associations
Bar association equivalents
External links
- [List of Bar Associations], courtesy Hieros Gamos
United States
- [Alabama State Bar]
- [Massachusetts Bar Association]
- [Pennsylvania Bar Association]
- [State Bar of Texas]
- [Washington State Bar Association]
Commonwealth of Nations
- [The Hong Kong Bar Association]
- [The Law Society of Hong Kong]
- [The Bar Council of England and Wales]
- [The Law Society of England and Wales]
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