The Boston Bar Association (BBA) is a volunteer non-governmental organization in
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
,
, United States. With headquarters located at 16
Beacon Street
Beacon Street is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts and its western suburbs Brookline and Newton. It passes through many of Boston's central and western neighborhoods, including Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway–Kenmore, the Boston Uni ...
in the historic
Chester Harding House, across from the
Massachusetts State House
The Massachusetts State House, also known as the Massachusetts Statehouse or the New State House, is the List of state capitols in the United States, state capitol and seat of government for the Massachusetts, Commonwealth of Massachusetts, lo ...
on
Beacon Hill, the BBA has 13,000 members drawn from private practice, corporations, government agencies,
legal aid
Legal aid is the provision of assistance to people who are unable to afford legal representation and access to the court system. Legal aid is regarded as central in providing access to justice by ensuring equality before the law, the right to co ...
organizations, the courts and law schools.
The Association traces its origins to the pre-Revolutionary period. The elite of the Boston bar included
Jeremiah Gridley
Jeremiah Gridley or Jeremy Gridley (1702–1767) was a lawyer, editor, colonial legislator, and attorney general in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 18th century. He served as "Grand Master of the Masons in North America" around the 1760s, and wa ...
,
James Otis Jr.
James Otis Jr. (February 5, 1725 – May 23, 1783) was an American lawyer, political activist, colonial legislator, and early supporter of patriotic causes in Massachusetts at the beginning of the Revolutionary Era. Otis was a fervent opponent ...
, Benjamin Pratt,
Benjamin Kent
Benjamin Kent (1708–1788) was Massachusetts Attorney General (1776–1777) and then acting Attorney General during much of Robert Treat Paine's tenure (1777–1785). He was appointed seven successive terms. Prior to the American Revolution, Ken ...
, and Oxenbridge Thacher. These elite British lawyers served as the role model for
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
, the lawyer who provided ''
pro bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
'' representation to the British soldiers prosecuted for the
Boston Massacre
The Boston Massacre (known in Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain as the Incident on King Street) was a confrontation in Boston on March 5, 1770, in which a group of nine British soldiers shot five people out of a crowd of three or four hu ...
and went on to become the second president of the United States.
Governed by a Council of 30 members, the Boston Bar Association has 24 sections and more than 100 committees dedicated to substantive areas of law as well as issues such as access to justice and the administration of justice.
Public policy
The Association makes its policy positions known ''via'' the filing of
''amicus'' briefs, the drafting of legislation and official comments on proposed government actions. Recent public policy positions taken by the Boston Bar Association include:
''March 2012'': The Boston Bar Association Task Force on the Civil Right to Counsel released "The Importance of Representation in Eviction Cases and Homelessness Prevention which recommended pilot projects to learn more about the mechanisms for providing counsel, the effect of creating a right to counsel, the costs involved, and the potential cost savings to the Commonwealth.
''October 2011'': The association released the Report of the Boston Bar Association Task Force on the Future of the Profession in response to the 2008 recession and its effects on the legal market.
''May 2011'': The association released a report, Justice on the Road to Ruin, on the Massachusetts State Trial Court’s state budget. The report states that continued inadequate court funding will inflict pain on real people.
''March 2010'': The association's Task Force on the FY 2011 Judiciary Budget released their report. The Report warns that further cuts to the Judiciary would have severe consequences for the administration of justice in the Commonwealth.
''November 2006'': The Boston Bar Association, with the
New York City Bar Association
The New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a ...
, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the
Los Angeles County Bar Association
The Los Angeles County Bar Association (LACBA) is a voluntary bar association with more than 21,000 members throughout Los Angeles County, California, and the world. Founded in 1878, LACBA's goal has been to meet the professional needs of lawye ...
and the
Bar Association of San Francisco, filed an ''amicus'' brief in ''
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...
, Et Al. v.
National Security Agency
The National Security Agency (NSA) is a national-level intelligence agency of the United States Department of Defense, under the authority of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The NSA is responsible for global monitoring, collecti ...
, et al.'', a case now pending before the
U.S. Court of Appeals
The United States courts of appeals are the intermediate appellate courts of the United States federal judiciary. The courts of appeals are divided into 11 numbered circuits that cover geographic areas of the United States and hear appeals fr ...
for the Sixth Circuit. The brief urges the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to affirm a lower court ruling that permanently enjoined the National Security Administration's warrantless surveillance program.
''September 2005'': The association was one of a number of organizations which signed on to an ''amicus'' brief in ''United States v. Darryl Green''. In addition, the BBA drafted a petition to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts urging the Court to revise its jury plan to remedy the under-representation of minorities in the federal jury pool.
''June 2005'': The association's President-Elect Edward P. Leibensperger testified before the Massachusetts Legislature's Joint Committee on the Judiciary, urging the defeat of all bills related to reinstating
capital punishment
Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty, is the state-sanctioned practice of deliberately killing a person as a punishment for an actual or supposed crime, usually following an authorized, rule-governed process to conclude that t ...
in Massachusetts.
''September 2002'': The association filed an ''amicus'' brief in ''
Goodridge v. Department of Public Health
''Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health'', 798 N.E.2d 941 ( Mass. 2003), is a landmark Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court case in which the Court held that the Massachusetts Constitution requires the state to legally recognize same-sex marriage ...
'' in support of gay marriage as a
civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...
issue stating that discrimination against gays and lesbians is unacceptable and unconstitutional.
Periodicals
Four times a year (winter, spring, summer, fall) the Boston Bar Association publishes a magazine called the ''Boston Bar Journal''. The ''Journal'' is an online publication managed by a volunteer Board of Editors that presents information, analysis, and opinions in articles written by attorneys, judges, and others interested in the development of the law. The ''Journal'' is free to all Association members, and available as well to paid subscribers.
The association also publishes ''BBA Week'', a weekly e-newsletter that provides information on pro bono and public service opportunities, updates from law firms and the state and federal courts, previews of upcoming legal education programs and special events, and photo albums.
In addition, the association's Sections and Committees publish online newsletters.
Public service
The Boston Bar Association has established public service programs utilizing lawyer volunteers. Among these programs are:
* The M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program - co-sponsored by the
U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts – designed to teach high school students about budgeting, making sound credit choices and avoiding bankruptcy.
* The Boston Bar Association Summer Jobs Program – conducted in partnership with the
Boston Public Schools
Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest public school district in the state of Massachusetts.
Leadership
The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the ...
, the
Boston Youth Fund, and the Boston Private Industry Council, it places juniors and seniors from Boston's public high schools in paid summer internships at Boston law firms, corporate law departments, and law-related public agencies.
* The Lawyer-for-the-Day Project at the Boston Housing Court – provides pro bono lawyers to assist unrepresented tenants and landlords on summary process day.
['']The Boston Globe
''The Boston Globe'' is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes, and has a total circulation of close to 300,000 print and digital subscribers. ''The Boston Glob ...
''
"Few chances for lawyers to develop trial skills"
/ref>
* The Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association – provides ''pro bono'' civil legal assistance to low-income clients.
Past presidents
Notable past presidents include:
* John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Befor ...
(1761-1766) – second President of the United States
* Ebenezer R. Hoar
Ebenezer Rockwood Hoar (February 21, 1816 – January 31, 1895) was an American politician, lawyer, and jurist from Massachusetts. He served as U.S. Attorney General from 1869 to 1870, and was the first head of the newly created Department of Jus ...
(1879) -- United States Attorney General, 1869-1870
* William Gaston
William J. Gaston (September 19, 1778 – January 23, 1844) was a jurist and United States Representative from North Carolina. Gaston is the author of the official state song of North Carolina, "The Old North State". Gaston County, North Carolin ...
(1880-1881) - Governor of , 1875-1876
* Moorfield Storey
Moorfield Storey (March 19, 1845 – October 24, 1929) was an American lawyer, anti-imperial activist, and civil rights leader based in Boston, Massachusetts. According to Storey's biographer, William B. Hixson, Jr., he had a worldview that embod ...
(1909-1913) – President of the American Bar Association
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. Founded in 1878, the ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of acad ...
; first President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E. ...
* Robert W. Meserve (1963-1965) – President of the American Bar Association
* John G. Brooks (1972-1974) - President of the National Legal Aid & Defender Association
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoted to advocating equal justice for all Americans and was established in 1911.
History
The Fourteenth Amendment ...
and a director of the Legal Services Corporation
The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) is a publicly funded, 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation established by the United States Congress. It seeks to ensure equal access to justice under the law for all Americans by providing funding for civil legal ...
* John J. Curtin, Jr. (1979-1981) – President of the American Bar Association
* Gene D. Dahmen (1987-1988) – first woman to serve as President of the Boston Bar Association
* Rudolph F. Pierce (1989-1990) – first African American to serve as President of the Boston Bar Association
* Hon. Sandra L. Lynch (1992-1993) – first woman to serve as chief judge of the United States Court of Appeals
United may refer to:
Places
* United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community
* United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community
Arts and entertainment Films
* ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film
* ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...
for the First Circuit
* Hon. Margaret H. Marshall (1991-1992) – first woman Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court
The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is the court of last resort, highest court in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Although the claim is disputed by the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the SJC claims the di ...
* Joan A. Lukey (2000-2001) - first woman President of the American College of Trial Lawyers
The American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) is a professional association of trial lawyers from the United States and Canada. Founded in 1950, the College is dedicated to maintaining and improving the standards of trial practice, especially tria ...
References
External links
Boston Bar Association website
BBA President James D. Smeallie biography
at Holland & Knight
Holland & Knight LLP is an American multinational law firm with more than 1,700 lawyers and other professionals in 35 offices in the United States, Europe, Latin America, and North Africa. Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, the firm provides repre ...
{{Authority control
Massachusetts law
School accreditors
American municipal bar associations
Trade associations based in the United States
1761 establishments in Massachusetts
Cultural history of Boston