American Bar Association

Not to be confused with American Bar Foundation.
"Ankerwycke" redirects here. For the ancient yew tree, see Ankerwycke Yew.

American Bar Association
FoundedAugust 21, 1878; 146 years ago (1878-08-21)
TypeBar association
Headquarters321 North Clark Street
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
President
William R. Bay[1]
Executive director & COO
Alpha M. Brady
Websiteamericanbar.org

The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students; it is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. Founded in 1878,[2] the ABA's stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. As of fiscal year 2017, the ABA had 194,000 dues-paying members, constituting approximately 14.4% of American attorneys.[3] In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA.[4] In 2016, less than one third of the 1.3 million lawyers in the U.S. were included in the ABA membership of 400,000,[5] with figures largely unchanged in 2024.[6]

The organization's national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, with a branch office in Washington, D.C.

Legal education in the United States
Stages
Exams and licensure
Organizations
  1. ^ "Office of the President | President Reginald M. Turner". ABA.
  2. ^ ABA History Archived 2007-10-27 at the Wayback Machine; For a historical overview see Matzko, John A., "'The Best Men of the Bar': The Founding of the American Bar Association," in The New High Priests: Lawyers in Post-Civil War America, Gerard W. Gawalt (ed.), (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984), pp. 75-96.
  3. ^ Coe, Aebra (July 24, 2018). "ABA Decline: Why Are Fewer Lawyers Joining The Club?" (PDF). Law360.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference bloomberg was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Meese III, Edwin and Shackelford, Kelly J. "Free speech and faith will be stifled by American Bar Association" The Washington Times, August 17, 2016. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  6. ^ Sloan, Karen "Bar exam alternatives gain American Bar Association backing" Reuters, May 17, 2024. Retrieved October 2, 2024.