Boston Bar Association

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Boston Bar Association
Boston Bar Association

The Boston Bar Association (BBA) is a volunteer non-governmental organization that traces its origins to meetings convened by John Adams, the lawyer who provided pro bono representation to the British soldiers prosecuted for the Boston Massacre and went on to become the 2nd president of the United States. Located at 16 Beacon Street in Boston, Massachusetts, the Boston Bar Association has 9,500 members drawn from private practice, corporations, government agencies, legal aid organizations, the courts, and law schools.

Boston Bar Association, 16 Beacon St.
Boston Bar Association, 16 Beacon St.

Contents

[edit] Mission

The Boston Bar Association’s stated mission is: “To advance the highest standards of excellence for the legal profession, to facilitate access to justice, and to serve the community at large.”

John and Abigail Adams Room
John and Abigail Adams Room

[edit] Structure

Governed by an elected Council of 25 members, the Boston Bar Association has 20 sections and more than 100 committees dedicated to substantive areas of law as well as issues such as access to justice and the administration of justice.

[edit] Public policy

The Boston Bar Association makes its public policy positions known via the filing of amicus briefs, the drafting of legislation, and official comments on proposed government actions. Recent public policy positions taken by the Boston Bar Association include:

  • November 2006: The Boston Bar Association joined with The Association of the Bar of the City of New York, the Beverly Hills Bar Association, the Los Angeles County Bar Association and The Bar Association of San Francisco in filing an amicus brief in American Civil Liberties Union, Et Al. v. National Security Agency, Et Al, a case now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. The brief urges the Court of Appeals in Cincinnati to affirm a lower court ruling that permanently enjoined the National Security Administration’s warrantless surveillance program.[1]
  • September 2005: The Boston Bar Association was one of a number of organizations which signed on to an amicus brief in United States v. Darryl Green. In addition the BBA drafted a petition to the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts urging the Court to revise its jury plan to remedy the under-representation of minorities in the federal jury pool. [2]
  • June 2005: Boston Bar Association President-Elect Edward P. Leibensperger testified before the Massachusetts LegislatureJoint Committee on the Judiciary, urging the defeat of all bills related to reinstating capital punishment in Massachusetts.[3]


[edit] Publications

Five times a year the Boston Bar Association publishes a magazine called the Boston Bar Journal. The Journal is managed by a volunteer Board of Editors, and all articles are written by lawyers and judges; The Boston Bar Journal is free to all Boston Bar Association members, and available by as well to paid subscribers.

The Boston Bar Association also publishes BBA Week, an E-newsletter that lists upcoming events in the week ahead, and highlights the achievements of members. In addition, the Boston Bar Association’s sections and committees publish E-newsletters.

[edit] Task force publications

Other publications of the Boston Bar Association are produced by task forces, and include:

  • Desegregation: The Boston Orders and Their Origin (1975)
  • The Role of Gender in the Legal Profession (1988)
  • Drugs and Justice: A System Abandoned (1989)
  • Drugs in the Community: A Scourge Beyond the System (1990)
  • The Massachusetts Courts in Crisis: A Model for Reform (1991)
  • The Crisis in Corrections and Sentencing in Massachusetts (1991)
  • Parenting and the Legal Profession: A Model for the Nineties (1991)
  • A Call for Continued Excellence: Fair Compensation for Our Judges and Judicial Employees (1992)
  • Expectations, Reality and Recommendations for Change [dealing with the issue of professional fulfillment of lawyers] (1997)
  • Facing the Grail (1999) [dealing with the challenge of work-life balance for lawyers]
  • Appellate Administration of Justice: A Crisis in Massachusetts (2000)
  • Judicial Salaries in Massachusetts (2000)
  • Parole Practices in Massachusetts and Their Effect on Community Reintegration (2002)
  • The Parents’ How-to Guide to Children’s Mental Health Services in Massachusetts (2004) (with support from Children’s Hospital Boston)

[edit] Service to the community

The Boston Bar Association has established public service programs utilizing lawyer volunteers. Among these programs are:

  • The M. Ellen Carpenter Financial Literacy Program - co-sponsored by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for Massachusetts – designed to teach high school students about budgeting, making sound credit choices and avoiding bankruptcy.[5]
  • The Boston Bar Association Summer Jobs Program – conducted in partnership with the Boston Public Schools and the Boston Private Industry Council, it places juniors and seniors from Boston’s public high schools in paid summer internships at Boston law firms, corporate law departments, and law-related public agencies.
  • The Lawyer-for-the-Day Project at the Boston Housing Court – provides pro bono lawyers to assist unrepresented tenants and landlords on summary process day.[6]
  • The Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association – provides pro bono civil legal assistance to low-income clients.

[edit] Leaders

Boston Bar Association Past Presidents have included:

[edit] References

  1. ^ http://www.bostonbar.org/pp/amicus/aclu_v_nsa.pdf
  2. ^ http://www.bostonbar.org/pp/amicus/us_v_green.pdf
  3. ^ http://www.bostonbar.org/pp/deathpenalty071405.pdf
  4. ^ http://www.bostonbar.org/pp/amicus/goodridge_v_dph.pdf
  5. ^ The Boston Globe : "In 1992, young adults carried almost $1,500 on their credit cards. By 2001, their debt grew to nearly $3,000"
  6. ^ The Boston Globe: "Few chances for lawyers to develop trial skills"

[edit] External links