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The District of Columbia Bar (DCB) is the mandatory
bar association A bar association is a professional association of lawyers as generally organized in countries following the Anglo-American types of jurisprudence. The word bar is derived from the old English/European custom of using a physical railing to sepa ...
of the
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. 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, 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. 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 The District of Columbia Court of Appeals is the highest court of the District of Columbia, in the United States. Established in 1970, it is equivalent to a state supreme court, except that its authority is derived from the United States Con ...
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 and elected
E. Barrett Prettyman Jr. Elijah Barrett Prettyman Jr. (June 1, 1925 – November 4, 2016) was an American lawyer. Early life and education Prettyman was born in Washington, D.C. His father was United States federal judge E. Barrett Prettyman.''E. Barrett Prettyman J ...
as its First President.


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


External links


Official website: http://www.dcbar.org/
{{Authority control American municipal bar associations American state bar associations Organizations established in 1973 1973 establishments in Washington, D.C.