Type Legal society Location United States | Headquarters Washington, DC Membership 65,000 in 2016 | |
Website | ||
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 President in Kevin Judd.
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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 are admitted to practice for less than 10 years or under 40 years old. The association has several affiliate chapters located throughout the United States. Some affiliate chapters of the association are The Cook County Bar Association, The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia, the California Association of Black Lawyers, the Washington Bar Association, the Virgil Hawkins Florida Chapter National Bar Association [1], the Garden State Bar Association and the Metropolitan Black Bar Association.
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—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, George H. Woodson, S. Joe Brown, James B. Morris, and Charles P. Howard, Sr. were denied membership in the American Bar Association. Its first president was George H. Woodson of Des Moines, Iowa. Arnette Hubbard became its 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." In 2010, the NBA partnered with the U.S. Census Bureau to work toward a complete and accurate count of the nation's population through various outreach activities.