An attorney at law in the United States is a practitioner in a court of law who is legally qualified to prosecute and defend actions in court on the retainer of clients. Alternative terms include counselor and lawyer. As of April 2011, there were 1,225,452 licensed attorneys in the United States. A 2012 survey conducted by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell determined 58 million consumers in the U.S. sought an attorney in the last year and that 76 percent of consumers used the Internet to search for an attorney.
The American Bar Association (ABA), founded August 21, 1878, is a voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students, which is not specific to any jurisdiction in the United States. The ABA's most important stated activities are the setting of academic standards for law schools, and the formulation of model ethical codes related to the legal profession. As of fiscal year 2017, the ABA had 194,000 dues-paying members, constituting approximately 14.4% of U.S. attorneys. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA. The organization's national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois; it also maintains a significant branch office in Washington, D.C.
Charles Hamilton Houston 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 School, Houston played a significant role in dismantling Jim Crow laws, especially attacking segregation in schools and racial housing covenants. He earned the title "The Man Who Killed Jim Crow".
Carl E. Stewart is a United States federal judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, based in New Orleans, Louisiana. Appointed by Bill Clinton in 1994, Stewart previously sat on the Louisiana Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit in Shreveport. He has been honored multiple times for his commitment to community service.
The Virginia Bar Association (VBA) is a voluntary organization of lawyers, judges and law school faculty and students in Virginia, with offices in Richmond, Virginia. Key elements are advocacy, professionalism, service and collegiality. It provides services to its members such as assistance in law office management, promotes or opposes selected state legislation and the administration of justice, and publishes the VBA Journal. It is to be distinguished from the Virginia State Bar, which is the administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Virginia. Virginia is one of three states that has both a statewide voluntary and mandatory bar association.
The State Bar of Texas is an agency of the judiciary under the administrative control of the Texas Supreme Court. It is responsible for assisting the Texas Supreme Court in overseeing all attorneys licensed to practice law in Texas. It is the fifth largest organization of lawyers in the United States. Unlike the American Bar Association (ABA), the State Bar of Texas (SBOT) is a mandatory bar. The State Bar is headquartered in the Texas Law Center at 1414 Colorado Street in Austin.
The National Bar Association (NBA) was founded in 1925 and is the nation's oldest and largest national network of predominantly 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.
Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school affiliated with the Illinois Institute of Technology. It is the second oldest law school in the state of Illinois. It is ranked 91st among U.S. law schools, and its trial advocacy program is ranked in 2015 by U.S. News & World Report as the fourth best program in the U.S. According to Chicago-Kent's 2014 American Bar Association-required disclosures, 85% of the 2014 class secured a position six months after graduation. Of these 248 employed graduates, 172 were in positions requiring passage of the bar exam.
UIC John Marshall Law School is a public law school in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1899, the school offers programs for both part-time and full-time students, with both day and night classes available, and offers January enrollment.
Harry E. Johnson is a career lawyer, entrepreneur, public servant and partner at the Law Office of Glenn and Johnson in Houston, Texas. He served as City Attorney for Kendelton, Texas from 1996 to 1999, and taught at Texas Southern University in both the Thurgood Marshall School of Law and School of Public Affairs from 1994 to 1999. Johnson is a former National President of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, and is the President and CEO of the Washington, D.C. Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
Charles James Ogletree Jr. is an American attorney and law professor who is currently the Jesse Climenko Professor at Harvard Law School, the founder of the school's Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice, and the author of numerous books on legal topics.
Howard University School of Law is one of the professional graduate schools of Howard University. Located in Washington, D.C., it is one of the oldest law schools in the country and the oldest historically black college or university law school in the United States.
John Leonard Burris is an American civil rights attorney, based in Oakland, California, known for his work in police brutality cases representing plaintiffs. The John Burris law firm practices employment, criminal defense, DUI, personal injury, and landlord tenant law.
Lelia Josephine Robinson was the first woman to be admitted to the bar and practice in the courts of Massachusetts in 1882.
The Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts (WBA) The Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts, which also goes by the acronym "WBA," has over 1500 members and was founded in Boston, Massachusetts in 1978 with a goal to achieve the full and equal participation of women in the legal profession and in a just society. It is one of the oldest and largest women's bar associations in the country.
The New York County Lawyers Association (NYCLA) is a bar association located in New York City.
Inez Smith Reid is a former judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and former Corporation Counsel of the District of Columbia.
The Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia is a voluntary bar association in metropolitan Washington, D.C. The WBA has more than 800 members and was founded in 1917.
