The Kentucky Bar Association (KBA) is the integrated (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 separ ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

History

In 1871, the first meeting of lawyers from across Kentucky was held in Louisville and created a voluntary association. In 1934 the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act creating an all-inclusive bar association which authorized the Court of Appeals (now Supreme Court) to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations defining the practice of law and to establish a code of professional responsibility to govern the discipline of members of the Bar.

Structure

The KBA governing body is its Board of Governors, an agent of the Court for the purpose of administering and enforcing the Rules. KBA's Chief Executive Officer is the President of the Bar. In 1984 KBA developed its ''Kentucky Law Update'' program, enabling members the opportunity to meet the annual

Continuing Legal Education Continuing legal education (CLE), also known as mandatory or minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) or, in some jurisdictions outside the United States, as continuing professional development, consists of professional education for attorneys t ...

requirement with no registration fee. The absence of a registration fee is mandated by the

Supreme Court of Kentucky The Kentucky Supreme Court was created by a 1975 constitutional amendment and is the state supreme court of the U.S. state of Kentucky. Prior to that the Kentucky Court of Appeals was the only appellate court in Kentucky. The Kentucky Court of ...

. In addition, the Supreme Court requires that the program be offered in each of the court's seven appellate districts; it is currently offered in nine different locations.

Sections

The KBA offers a total of 25 specialized sections. Of these, 23 are focused on a specific area of law. The Small Firm Practice Section is centered on the needs of members practicing solo and in small firms. The final section, the Young Lawyers Division, is open to all KBA members who are under 40 as of the start of the membership year (which begins on 1 July), and also to members who have been admitted to the bar for 10 years or less (also measured as of 1 July) regardless of age.

References

External links

Kentucky Bar Association website

Northern Kentucky Bar Association website
{{Authority control American state bar associations

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 separ ...

Kentucky law 1934 establishments in Kentucky Organizations established in 1934