District of Columbia Bar

District of Columbia Bar
Type	Legal Society
Headquarters	Washington, DC
Location	United States
Membership	88,000+ ^[1]
Website	http://www.dcbar.org

The District of Columbia Bar (DCB) is the mandatory bar association of the District of Columbia.^[2] It administers the admissions, licensing, and discipline functions for lawyers licensed to practice in the District.

It is to be distinguished from the Bar Association of the District of Columbia,^[3] which is a voluntary bar.

History

Congress first established judicial courts for the District of Columbia in an act of February 27, 1801, but it wasn't until 1871 that the Bar Association of the District of Columbia formed as a voluntary association to support lawyers practicing in those courts. Membership in that organization was restricted to whites, so non-white lawyers formed the otherwise similar Washington Bar Association. The BADC was integrated in the mid-1950s but the two organizations remain separate, and membership in either remained voluntary.

Until 1970, the U.S. District Court maintained admissions and discipline through its Committee on Admissions and Grievances; it was not heavily funded, criticized for laxity and known for not disbarring lawyers for misconduct.^[4] In 1956, the Judicial Conference of the D.C. Circuit recommended the establishment of a unified bar in the District of Columbia, but this required an Act of Congress for which there was insufficient support.

Calls for establishing a mandatory bar, as a means of curbing unethical lawyering, was stalled by conservative opposition in Congress, until the Nixon Administration decided to support a general reorganization of the DC courts, to reduce the power of judges the Administration considered too liberal. Removing lawyer discipline from the direct purview of the courts and vesting it in a mandatory bar association was a feature of the District of Columbia Court Reform and Criminal Procedure Act of 1970 (84 Stat. 473). Following that Act, the District of Columbia Court of Appeals assumed jurisdiction over licensing and discipline from the District Court, and appointed a committee to establish the District of Columbia Bar. The Bar came into existence on January 1, 1973^[5] and elected E. Barrett Prettyman Jr. as its First President. In 2012, its membership of over 88,000 made it the second largest unified bar association in the United States, after California's.

Functioning

The Bar is governed by a Board of Governors composed of 20 lawyers selected by the active membership and three members of the public appointed by the Bar itself as nonvoting members.

The D.C. Bar registers lawyers, operates a lawyer disciplinary system, maintains a Clients’ Security Fund, and performs other administrative, educational and public service programs.

References

↑ "About WSBA/Governance". Retrieved 2012-07-18.
↑ "District of Columbia Bar". District of Columbia Bar. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
↑ "Bar Association of the District of Columbia". Bar Association of the District of Columbia. Retrieved July 17, 2012.
↑ "The Founding of the D.C. Bar". District of Columbia Bar Association. Retrieved July 18, 2012.
↑ "District of Columbia Court of Appeals/Attorney Discipline". District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Retrieved July 17, 2012.

External links

Official website: http://www.dcbar.org/

State bar associations

Unified State Bars	Alabama State Bar Alaska Bar Association State Bar of Arizona State Bar of California District of Columbia Bar The Florida Bar State Bar of Georgia Hawaii State Bar Association Idaho State Bar Kentucky Bar Association Louisiana State Bar Association State Bar of Michigan The Mississippi Bar The Missouri Bar State Bar of Montana Nebraska State Bar Association State Bar of Nevada New Hampshire Bar Association State Bar of New Mexico North Carolina State Bar State Bar Association of North Dakota Oklahoma Bar Association Oregon State Bar Rhode Island Bar Association South Carolina Bar State Bar of South Dakota State Bar of Texas Utah State Bar Virginia State Bar Washington State Bar Association State Bar of Wisconsin Wyoming State Bar

Voluntary State Bars	Arkansas Bar Association Colorado Bar Association Connecticut Bar Association Delaware State Bar Association Illinois State Bar Association Indiana State Bar Association Iowa State Bar Association Kansas Bar Association Maine State Bar Association Maryland State Bar Association Massachusetts Bar Association Minnesota State Bar Association New Jersey State Bar Association New York State Bar Association North Carolina Bar Association Ohio State Bar Association Pennsylvania Bar Association Tennessee Bar Association Vermont Bar Association Virginia Bar Association

U.S. Commonwealth Bar Associations	American Samoa Bar Association Guam Bar Association Northern Mariana Islands Bar Association Bar Association of Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Bar Association

National Minority Bar Associations	National Native American Bar Association Hispanic National Bar Association National Asian Pacific American Bar Association National Bar Association Puerto Rican Bar Association

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