Seeks to serve its members, improve the legal profession, eliminate bias and enhance diversity, and advance the rule of law. HQ in Chicago with significant DC office.
http://www.americanbar.org/
Primary geographic focus: NATIONAL
Organization type(s): Bar/Pro Bono
Acronym or short name: ABA
The American Bar Association is one of the world’s largest voluntary professional organizations, with nearly 400,000 members and more than 3,500 entities. It is committed to doing what only a national association of attorneys can do: serving our members, improving the legal profession, eliminating bias and enhancing diversity, and advancing the rule of law throughout the United States and around the world.
Founded in 1878, the ABA is committed to supporting the legal profession with practical resources for legal professionals while improving the administration of justice, accrediting law schools, establishing model ethical codes, and more. Membership is open to lawyers, law students, and others interested in the law and the legal profession.
Our national headquarters are in Chicago, and we maintain a significant office in Washington D.C.
CONTENT MENTIONING/INVOLVING THIS SOURCE
News StoryABA Task Force: Bring Law School Costs Down
Karen SloanNational Law Journal
June 19, 2015
Story about an ABA task force's recommendations for affordability of a legal education.
News Story
American Bar Association President Pushes Online Models for Civil Disputes
Bill DriesMemphis Daily News
June 22, 2015
The president of the American Bar Association says the traditional method of providing pro bono legal services in civil matters to those who can’t afford to pay for an attorney isn’t working despite best efforts.
News Story
Major Law Firms Give Little to Legal Aid, Study Finds
Elizabeth OlsonNew York Times (NYT)
June 29, 2015
While major law firms are enjoying record revenues — more than $100 billion last year — they are donating only a tenth of 1 percent of their proceeds for legal aid to low-income people.
News Story
Boston Law Schools Launch Joint Practice Incubator
Karen SloanNational Law Journal
July 16, 2015
Three Boston law schools are teaming up to launch a practice incubator that will serve low- and modest-income clients.
News Story
Divided ABA Adopts Resolution on Nonlawyer Legal Services
Susan BeckALM
February 8, 2016
The American Bar Association's House of Delegates on Monday voted to adopt a resolution that gives states a framework to consider the regulation of "nontraditional legal service providers”.
Audio , News Story
For Tenants in Housing Court, Study Finds ‘Navigators’ Can Be Good Alternatives to Lawyers
Beth FertigWNYC (NY)
December 13, 2016
A new study points to a program in Brooklyn housing court that pilots one possible solution: court navigators.
News Story
Unrepresented Civil Litigants Fare Better With Nonlawyers, Study Shows
Corinne RameyWall Street Journal (WSJ)
December 13, 2016
Trained legal helpers can aid with paperwork or answer questions from a judge but can’t argue in court.
News Story
Trump Budget Would Gut Legal Aid For Veterans, Domestic Abuse Victims And Disaster Survivors
Ryan ReillyHuffington Post
March 16, 2017
If the Trump administration gets its way, the Legal Services Corporation is getting the axe.
News Story
Legal Services Corp., Under Trump, Faces New Threat to Existence
Marcia CoyleNational Law Journal
March 16, 2017
The Legal Services Corp., created in 1974 under the signature of President Richard Nixon, is once again on the chopping block as another Republican president—Donald Trump— proposes to zero out its funding in his first budget.
News Story
Proposed cuts would reduce legal aid for poor
Shannon EblenCourier-Post (NJ)
March 23, 2017
Cuts to funding for legal services for the poor could force thousands of New Jersey residents to go without representation in civil cases, advocates warn.
News Story
Trump budget hits legal aid and public service sectors
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
May 24, 2017
Conversely, the LSC is confident Congress would continue to allocate funding as it has for the last 42 years.
Op-Ed
Law schools are letting down their students and society—here are three steps they can take to fix things
Gillian HadfieldQuartz
September 20, 2017
This is bad news for students. But it is even worse news for the rest of us.
News Story
Maine school moves to reverse shortage of rural lawyers
Noel K. GallagherPortland Press Herald (Maine)
October 22, 2017
A new program puts aspiring young lawyers in country practices in hopes of increasing access to justice in underserved areas.
News Story
Human trafficking survivors get a highly qualified legal advocate
Kristina DavisSan Diego Union-Tribune
November 3, 2017
When Jamie Quient first asked how she, a civil litigation attorney, could help victims of human trafficking, a federal prosecutor advised her: We need lawyers.
Column
Defending the Family: The Need for Legal Representation in Child-Welfare Proceedings
Rachel BlustainNation, The
January 16, 2018
More than half of Mississippi parents who walk into family court don’t have a lawyer.
News Story
Amid another call for defunding, LSC asking for an increase
Marilyn OdendahlIndiana Lawyer
February 20, 2018
LSC leaders are confident of continued support from both sides of the aisle on Capitol Hill but the organization is asking for more money even though it may still get a funding cut in fiscal year 2018.
Editorial
Encouragement and Aspirations for the #LegalAidDefenders
Connecticut Law TribuneMarch 2, 2018
Within the swirl of political activity of 2017 lay yet another attack on the Legal Services Corp., the federal agency that serves as the single largest funder of civil legal aid for low-income Americans.
News Story
A Blank Check for Legal Aid Gets Harder to Cash
Jack KarpLaw360
November 26, 2018
IOLTA programs across the country have been a major source of dollars for civil legal aid programs for decades, but anemic interest rates since the financial crash in 2008 have largely drained what was once a much deeper pond.
News Story
Will Congress Heed Trump’s Call To Nix Legal Aid Funder?
RJ VogtLaw360
March 24, 2019
For the third year in a row, President Trump’s budget calls for eliminating LSC, but advocates for America’s main funder of civil legal aid remain hopeful that lawmakers will again rebuff that recommendation.
News Story
Why Partnerships Can Help Maximize In-House Pro Bono
Michele GormanLaw360
November 3, 2019
It’s partnerships like Chubb’s that have helped legal departments and companies establish and grow successful pro bono programs to give back to their communities through free legal representation, according to Takacs and other panelists.
Column
American Bar Assn. President Criticizes U.S. Legal System As Backward, Resistant to Change
Patricia BarnesForbes
February 3, 2020
“We need new ideas,” said Martinez. “We are one-fifth into the 21st century, yet we continue to rely on 20th-century processes, procedures and regulations. We need to retain 20th-century values but advance them using 21st-century approaches that can increase access to justice.”
News Story
ABA Approves Innovation Resolution, With Revisions to Limit Regulatory Changes
Brenda Sapino JeffreysLaw.com
February 17, 2020
The American Bar Association’s House of Delegates passed a resolution to push for new approaches to the practice of law that would improve access to justice, but not before adding a disclaimer to address concerns raised by some state bar associations about outside investment in law firms.
News Story
USA’s top law group hopes to limit legal harm to the poor
Willoughby MarianoAtlanta Journal Constitution (AJC)
March 16, 2020
News Story
Virus Lights Fire Under Eviction Right To Counsel Movement
Natalie RodriguezLaw360
August 16, 2020
News Story
ABA President Calls for Reform to Meet Legal Needs of the Low-Income
Jeff ManningOregonian
October 13, 2014
If reform isn't done, the Justice Gap will continue to grow, says ABA President William Hubbard. More and more people in the middle class are now being affected as well.
Blog Post
Language Access Projects Crucial to Making Legal Services Accessible
Lonnie A. PowersHuffington Post
May 22, 2014
Language access is crucial explains Lonnie Powers, as many people with limited English skills struggle to navigate the justice system.
News Story
Self-help centers could better serve consumers by helping them find lawyers, survey indicates
G.M. FiliskoABA Journal
February 1, 2015
According to But Bonnie Hough, a new national survey reveals another gap: consumers who can afford legal services but still aren't getting them.
News Story
Task Force Backs Changes in Legal Education System
Tamar LewinNew York Times (NYT)
September 20, 2013
Among changes recommended by a draft ABA task force report is training nonlawyers to provide limited legal services, as in Washington State.
News Story
A Call for Drastic Changes in Educating New Lawyers
Ethan BronnerNew York Times (NYT)
February 10, 2013
The legal profession is contemplating radical changes to legal educational amid broad agreement that the current system is broken.
Letter to Editor
Legal Help for the Poor: The View From the A.B.A.
William T. Robinson IIINew York Times (NYT)
August 30, 2011
To address justice gap, increase LSC funding and pro bono work instead of opening the practice of law to unschooled, unregulated nonlawyers.
This page last modified: Wed, April 8, 2015 -- 5:31 pm ET