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EspañolAMERICAN BAR ASSOCIATION
American Bar Association's Washington, DC office
The 'American Bar Association' ('ABA') is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. The ABA has 410,000 members.
Model ethical standards for lawyers
The most important role of the ABA is its creation and maintenance of a code of ethical standards for lawyers. The Model Code of Professional Responsibility (1969) and/or the newer Model Rules of Professional Conduct (1983) have been adopted in 49 state jurisdictions and the District of Columbia. The one exception is California, which has refused to adopt either (see State Bar of California), although a few sections of the California Rules of Professional Responsibility were clearly influenced by the ABA models.
Accreditation of law schools
According to the ABA, it "provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public. The Mission of the American Bar Association is to be the national representative of the legal profession, serving the public and the profession by promoting justice, professional excellence and respect for the law."
The United States has accused the ABA of violating Section 1 of the Sherman Act in its accreditation proceedings, resulting in a consent decree in 1995.[1]
Publications
The Association publishes a general magazine for all members, the ''ABA Journal''. ABA members may also join subject-specific "sections," and each section publishes a variety of newsletters and magazines for its members (such as ''Law Practice Magazine'' published by the Law Practice Management Section). The sections also hold their own meetings.
Each section will normally have a publication program that includes (1) books, usually oriented toward practitioners; (2) scholarly journals, such as ''Administrative Law Review'' (published by the ABA Section of Administrative Law & Regulatory Practice and The American University Washington College of Law) and ''The International Lawyer'' (published by the ABA Section of International Law and SMU Dedman School of Law); (3) newsletters, such as The International Law News (published by the ABA Section of International Law); (4) e-publications, such as a monthly message from the section chair, or updates on substantive law developments; and (5) committee publications, such as a committee newsletter published by one of the substantive law committees.
Governing bodies and leaders
The ABA has a House of Delegates which acts as the organization's primary body for adopting new policies and recommendations as part of the association's official position.
In 1995 Roberta Cooper Ramo became the first woman president of the American Bar Association since its inception in 1878.
Recent ABA Presidents
★ 1991-1992: Sandy D'Alemberte (future president of Florida State University)
★ 2003-2004: Dennis W. Archer (first African-American president)
★ 2004-2005: Robert J. Grey, Jr. of Richmond, Virginia
★ 2005-2006: Michael S. Greco of Boston, Massachusetts (first foreign-born president)
★ 2006-2007: Karen J. Mathis
★ 2007-2008: William H. Neukom (President-Elect)
Rating of judicial nominees
For decades, the ABA has participated in the federal judicial nomination process by vetting nominees and giving them a rating ranging from "not qualified" to "well qualified." The process has been accused by some (including the Federalist Society) of having a liberal bias.[1][2][3] For example, the ABA gave Ronald Reagan's judicial nominees Richard Posner and Frank H. Easterbrook low "qualified/not qualified" ratings; later, the ABA gave Bill Clinton judicial nominees with similar resumes "well qualified" ratings.[2] Meanwhile, Judges Posner and Easterbrook have gone on to become the two most highly-cited judges in the federal appellate judiciary.[4]
In 2001, the George W. Bush administration announced that it would cease cooperating with the ABA in advance of judicial nominations. The ABA continues to rate nominees. In 2005, the ABA gave John Roberts, George W. Bush's nomination for Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, a unanimous "well-qualified" rating. It also gave a unanimous "well qualified" rating to appellate court nominee Miguel Estrada, who never took his seat because his nomination was filibustered. However, it gave only a "qualified/not-qualified" rating to nominee Janice Rogers Brown.[5] In 2006, the ABA gave a unanimous "well-qualified" rating to Judge Samuel Alito, Bush's appointee for Sandra Day O'Connor's Associate Justice position.
ABA claimed President Bush violated the Constitution
In July 2006, an ABA task force under then President Michael S. Greco released a report that concluded that George W. Bush's use of "signing statements" violates the Constitution. These are documents attached by the President to bills he signs, in which he states that he will enforce the new law only to the extent that he feels the law conforms to his interpretation of the Constitution. The ABA has no authority to determine the constitutionality of any executive action or Congressional acts and the Supreme Court has not ruled on this particular issue. The ABA's report is further evidence to some that the organization leans to the left; whereas its counterpart, the Federalist Society leans to the right.[3]
Criticisms of the ABA
The ABA has been criticized for perceived elitism and overrepresentation of white male corporate defense lawyers among its membership; in 1925, African-American lawyers formed the National Bar Association at a time when ABA would not allow them to be members.
However, since the 1960s, the ABA has made great strides in increasing the diversity of its membership. Its membership has grown from less than 11 percent of all American lawyers to roughly 50 percent today. In recent years, the ABA has also drawn some criticism for taking liberal positions on controversial public policy topics such as abortion, capital punishment and gun rights[6]. The ABA's official position in favor of abortion led to the formation of a (much smaller) alternative organization for lawyers, the National Lawyers Association. Also, the leftward tilt of the ABA has helped the Federalist Society grow as the ABA's former neutrality in political issues faded. Now the Federalist Society sponsors a twice-a-year publication called "ABA Watch" that reports on the political activities of the ABA.
There are heated debates over requirements placed on law schools by the ABA. Many states and practitioners believe ABA requirements to be unnecessary and costly. Some legal professionals and academics feel these requirements promote the rising cost of tuition.
See also
★ Attorney-at-law
★ ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
★ ABA digital signature guidelines
International American Bar Associations
★ Armenian-American Bar Association
★ The Lithuanian-American Bar Association
★ The Ukrainian American Bar Association
Notes or references
1. ABA Retains Little Objectivity in Nomination Process
2. Yes, the ABA Rankings Are Biased James Lindgren
3. ABA Ratings of Judicial Nominees
4. Who Would Win a Tournament of Judges (Draft), , Stephen, Choi, Boalt Working Papers in Public Law,
5.
6. http://www.abanet.org/gunviol/abapolicyongunviolence/home.shtml
External links
★ Official website
★ List of ABA approved law schools
★ ABA Web store
★ ABA Law Student Division
★ ABA ''Student Lawyer'' magazine
★ ABA Health Law Section
★ Federalist Society ABA Watch
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