National Bar Association
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The National Bar Association (NBA) was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly
African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...
attorneys and judges. It represents the interests of approximately 65,000 lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students. The NBA is organized around 23 substantive law sections, 9 divisions, 12 regions, and 80 affiliate chapters throughout the United States and around the world. The current and 75th president is Juan R. Thomas of Aurora, Illinois.


Structure and activities

The National Bar Association (NBA) is governed by a Board of Governors, mostly elected from the membership but also including NBA's officers and representatives of groups such as the NBA's Divisions. The National Bar Association Young Lawyers Division, chaired by Khyla Craine, represents the new members of the legal profession, and membership is open to NBA members who have been admitted to practice for less than 10 years or are under 40 years old. The association has several affiliate chapters located throughout the United States, including The Cook County Bar Association,
The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia, Incorporated is a minority bar association located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which represents African-American attorneys. The association was established in 1950. The Barristers' Association of ...
, the California Association of Black Lawyers, the
Washington Bar Association The Washington Bar Association (WBA) is a voluntary bar association located in the Washington, District of Columbia area, whose members are predominantly African-American attorneys. The Washington Bar Association was founded in 1925 by a group o ...
, the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter National Bar Association, the Garden State Bar Association and the
Metropolitan Black Bar Association The Metropolitan Black Bar Association (MBBA) is an association of African-American and other minority attorneys in New York City. As of 2012-2013, the president is Nadine Fontaine. History The MBBA was founded on July 5, 1984, replacing two pree ...
. The National Bar Institute (NBI) is the philanthropic arm of the NBA, founded in 1982. The association has established an annual award in honor of the late Louisiana State Representative Pinkie C. Wilkerson of
Grambling Grambling State University (GSU, Grambling, or Grambling State) is a public historically black university in Grambling, Louisiana. Grambling State is home of the Eddie G. Robinson Museum and is listed on the Louisiana African American Heritag ...
β€”the "Pinkie C. Wilkerson Outstanding State Legislator of the Year Award". The NBA offers a job listing service as well as advertising in its magazine to assist employers seeking to conduct affirmative action outreach toward minority job applicants.


History

The National Bar Association was established in 1925 as the "Negro Bar Association" after
Gertrude Rush Gertrude Elzora Durden Rush (August 5, 1880 – September 5, 1962) was the first African-American female lawyer in Iowa, admitted to the Iowa bar in 1918.J. Clay Smith, Jr., Thurgood Marshall (1999). ''Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer, ...
, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and
Charles P. Howard, Sr. Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was " ...
, were denied membership in 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 ...
. The young
Charles Hamilton Houston Charles Hamilton Houston (September 3, 1895 – April 22, 1950) was a prominent African-American lawyer, Dean of Howard University Law School, and NAACP first special counsel, or Litigation Director. A graduate of Amherst College and Harvard Law ...
, future dean of
Howard University Law School Howard University School of Law (Howard Law or HUSL) is the law school of Howard University, a private, federally chartered historically black research university in Washington, D.C. It is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the old ...
, also helped with the founding.NAACP History: "Charles Hamilton Houston"
, NAACP; accessed 14 May 2017
Its first president was George H. Woodson of
Des Moines Des Moines () is the capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Iowa. It is also the county seat of Polk County. A small part of the city extends into Warren County. It was incorporated on September 22, 1851, as Fort Des Moines, ...
,
Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...
. Arnette Hubbard became the NBA's first female president in 1981. In 1940, the NBA attempted to establish "free legal clinics in all cities with a colored population of 5,000 or more." Its members supported litigation that achieved a US Supreme Court ruling that defendants had to be provided with legal counsel. In 2010, the NBA partnered with the
U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...
to work toward a complete and accurate count of the nation's population through various outreach activities.


Affiliates


Alabama

* Birmingham: Brazil Bar Association * Montgomery: Alabama Lawyers Association


Arkansas

* Little Rock: W. Harold Flowers Society


California

* Los Angeles: Black Women Lawyers Association of Los Angeles * Los Angeles: John M. Langston Bar Association * Mill Valley: CA Association of Black Lawyers * Oakland: Charles Houston Bar Association * Sacramento: Wiley M. Manuel Bar Association * San Diego: Earl B. Gilliam Bar Association * Santa Clara: Black Women Lawyers Association of Northern CA


District of Columbia

* Washington: Morocco * Washington: Washington Bar Association * Washington: GWAC


Delaware

* Wilmington: Delaware Barristers Association


Florida

* Apopka: Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter


Georgia

* Atlanta: Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys * Atlanta: Gate City Bar Association * Carrollton


Illinois

* Chicago: Cook County Bar Association


Indiana

* Indianapolis: Marion County Bar Association


Kentucky

* Lexington: John Rowe Chapter * Louisville: Louisville Black Lawyers Association


Louisiana

* Baton Rouge: Louis A. Martinet – Baton Rouge


Massachusetts

* Boston: Mass. Black Lawyers Association


Maryland

* Baltimore: Alliance of Black Women Attorneys * Baltimore: Monumental City Bar Association * Greenbelt: J. Franklyn Bourne Bar Association


Michigan

* Detroit: Wolverine Bar Association * Lansing: Davis-Dunning Affiliate Chapter * Troy: D. Augustus Straker Bar Association


Minnesota

* Minneapolis: Minnesota Association of Black Lawyers


Missouri

* Kansas City: Jackson County Bar Association * St. Louis: Mound City Bar Association ()


Mississippi

* Jackson: Magnolia Bar Association


New Jersey

* Trenton: Garden State Bar Association


New Mexico

* Albuquerque: New Mexico Black Lawyers Association


Nevada

* Las Vegas: Las Vegas Chapter


New York

* New York: Metropolitan Black Bar Association * New York: Association of Black Women Attorneys * Rochester: Rochester Black Bar Association * Wheatley Heights: Amistad Long Island Black Bar


Ohio

* Cincinnati: Black Lawyers Association of Cincinnati * Cleveland: Norman S. Minor Bar Association * Columbus: John Mercer Langston Bar Association


Pennsylvania

* Philadelphia: Barristers Association of Philadelphia


Tennessee

* Memphis: Ben F. Jones Chapter * Nashville: Napier-Looby Chapter


Texas

* Austin: Austin Black Lawyers Association * Dallas: J.L. Turner Legal Association * Dallas: AA Lawyers of TX State Bar * Fort Worth: L. Clifford Davis Legal Association * Houston: Houston Lawyers Association


Virginia

* Richmond: Old Dominion Bar Association


Washington

* Seattle: Loren Miller Bar Associationlmba.net


See also

* Discrimination in bar exam *
Union Internationale des Avocats The Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA) or International Association of Lawyers is an international non-governmental organisation, created in 1927, that brings together more than 2,200 legal professionals from all over the world. Historical ...


References


External links


Official page
{{Authority control American bar associations African-American professional organizations Organizations established in 1925 1925 establishments in the United States