The State Bar of Georgia is the governing body of the legal profession in the State of Georgia, operating under the supervision of the Supreme Court of Georgia. Membership is a condition of admission to practice law in Georgia.
The State Bar was established in 1964 as the successor of the prior voluntary Georgia Bar Association which was founded in 1884. The stated purpose of the State Bar of Georgia is to foster among the members of the Bar of this state the principles of duty and service to the public; to improve the administration of justice; and to advance the science of law.
The Bar's codes of ethics and discipline are enforced by the Supreme Court of Georgia through the State Bar's Office of the General Counsel.
Membership By order of the Supreme Court of Georgia (219 GA 873 and subsequent amendments), one is required before engaging in the practice of law to register with the State Bar and to pay the prescribed dues.
Following are statistics regarding State Bar of Georgia members as of March 2, 2015: Active members in good standing: 37,031 Inactive members in good standing: 8,562 Emeritus members: 1,645 Affiliate members: 20 Student members: 148 Foreign law consultants: 7 Overall Membership: 47,143
Programs The Bar offers a variety of programs:
BASICS Committee to Promote Inclusion in the Profession Consumer Assistance Program Continuing Legal Education Cornerstones of Freedom Program Fee Arbitration Georgia Diversity Program Judicial District Professionalism Program Law-Related Education Law Practice Management Program Lawyer Assistance Program Legislative Program Military Legal Assistance Program Pro Bono Resource Center SOLACE Program Transition Into Law Practice Program Unlicensed Practice of Law Young Lawyers Division
Ethics Georgia lawyers are bound by strict rules of ethics in all of their professional dealings. The Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct help define a lawyer's obligations to clients, to the judicial system, and to the public.
Although the Supreme Court of Georgia retains ultimate authority to regulate the legal profession, the State Bar of Georgia's Office of the General Counsel serves as the Court's arm to investigate and prosecute claims that a lawyer has violated the ethics rules.
The Rules of Professional Conduct are found at Part IV, Chapter 1 of the Bar Rules. Part IV, Chapter 2 contains the procedural rules for disciplinary actions against lawyers. In addition to the Rules, the Bar and the Supreme Court periodically have issued Formal Advisory Opinions that clarify a lawyer's obligations in certain situations. A complete list of Formal Advisory Opinions follows Part IV, Chapter 3 of the Bar Rules.
Lawyers who would like to discuss an ethics dilemma with a member of the Office of the General Counsel staff should contact the Lawyer Helpline at 404-527-8720 or 800-334-6865. Members of the public who believe that a Georgia lawyer has violated the rules of ethics should contact the Bar's Consumer Assistance Program at 800-334-6865.
Sections Forty-five sections provide service to the legal profession and public. A conduit for information in particular areas of law, sections provide newsletters, programs and the chance to exchange ideas with other practitioners. The sections include:
Administrative Law Agriculture Law Animal Law Antitrust Law Appellate Practice Aviation Law Bankruptcy Law Business Law Child Protection & Advocacy Constitutional Law Consumer Law Corporate Counsel Law Creditors' Rights Criminal Law Dispute Resolution E-Discovery and the Use of Technology Elder Law Eminent Domain Employee Benefits Law Entertainment & Sports Law Environmental Law Equine Law Family Law Fiduciary Law Franchise & Distribution Law General Practice & Trial Law Government Attorneys Health Law Immigration Law Individual Rights Law Intellectual Property Law International Law Judicial Labor & Employment Law Law & Economics Legal Economics Law Local Government Law Military/Veterans Law Nonprofit Law Product Liability Law Professional Liability Real Property Law School & College Law Senior Lawyers Taxation Law Technology Law Tort & Insurance Practice Workers' Compensation Law
Leadership Day-to-day operations of the State Bar of Georgia are directed by an executive director.
The State Bar of Georgia officers include a president, president-elect, treasurer, secretary, immediate past president, Young Lawyers Division (YLD) president, YLD president-elect and YLD immediate past president.
The board of governors is the 160-member policy-making authority of the State Bar, with representation from each of Georgia's judicial circuits. The board holds regular meetings five times per year. It elects six of its members to serving on the executive committee with the organization's officers. The executive committee meets monthly and exercises the power of the board of governors when the board is not in session.
Offices
The State Bar of Georgia has three offices: in Atlanta, Savannah and Tifton.
The headquarters of State Bar of Georgia, known as the Bar Center, is located at 104 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303. Phone 404-527-8700.
The South Georgia Office is located at 244 E. Second Street, Tifton, GA 31793. Phone 229-387-0446.
The Coastal Georgia Office is located at 7402 Hodgson Memorial Dr #105, Savannah, GA 31406. Phone 912-239-9910.
Headquarters building
The headquarters building was originally the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta which opened in 1918.
Young Lawyers Division
All newly admitted members of the State Bar automatically become members of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD). Membership in the YLD terminates at the end of the fiscal year after (1) the lawyer's 36th birthday or (2) the fifth anniversary of the lawyer's first admission to practice, whichever is later.
It has had guidance over the years from the State Bar of Georgia, its Executive Committee and Board of Directors, the Supreme Court. In keeping with its motto of "working for the profession and the public," the YLD has 27 committees that provide service to the public, the profession, and the Bar through an array of projects and programs. The YLD has also gained national recognition by winning several American Bar Association awards for its projects and publications.
History
In 1878, the American Bar Association was founded at Saratoga Springs, NY. It soon began to encourage its members to form organizations of the legal profession in their respective states.
In June 1883, Woodrow Wilson left his failing law practice on Spring Street in Atlanta. In September of the same year, the General Assembly, meeting at a building that combined the Atlanta city hall and Fulton County courthouse, appropriated one million dollars to build a new state capitol building on the same site.
The next year, 1884, there was a meeting in Atlanta to form the Georgia Bar Association. The initial members of the Georgia Bar Association were all the Georgia members of the ABA. They chose as the first state bar president L. N. Whittle, who was commander of the Macon Militia during the Civil War.
Macon headquarters In the late 19th century, Macon was the population center of Georgia and was easily accessible to the rest of the state. When the state's legal community formed the Georgia Bar Association in 1883, Macon was chosen as its headquarters location, and it remained so for the next 90 years. L.N. Whittle was the first of 10 Macon lawyers to serve as president of the Georgia Bar Association during its eight decades of existence. He and Walter B. Hill, who served as the first secretary/treasurer, were among 11 petitioners from around the state listed on the association's corporate charter when it was granted by the Superior Court of Bibb County on July 19, 1884.
Although membership remained strictly voluntary, the Georgia Bar Association gradually expanded its activities and organizational efforts throughout the state. In 1942, the association set up an office in downtown Macon, utilizing space in the Persons Building offered by the law firm of John B. Harris.
Unified Bar
Efforts to bring about a unified bar in Georgia began in the late 1920s and continued almost without interruption. In 1963, soon after his inauguration, Governor Carl Sanders was visited by Atlanta lawyers Gus Cleveland and Harry Baxter, who had been delegated by the voluntary Georgia Bar Association to approach the Governor about supporting legislation to create a unified State Bar. It turned out to be an easier task than they expected, as the 37-year-old new lawyer-Governor immediately saw the advantages of an organized Bar capable of enforcing academic and professional standards for would-be lawyers along with a disciplinary process to protect the public from lawyer misconduct.
Sanders later recalled that, "Up until that time, while a fairly rigorous written Bar exam was required of every applicant, it was not nearly as comprehensive and onerous as the one we have today, and there was no multistate component. Also, the Bar association at the time was a toothless tiger, unorganized, with no right to discipline its members." The governor told Baxter and Cleveland (who later served as State Bar president in 1971-72) that his administration would indeed support the unified Bar proposal. He directed his House of Representatives floor leader, future Attorney General Arthur Bolton, and the lieutenant governor, future Supreme Court Justice George T. Smith, to head up the legislative effort.
The harder task was actually passing the bill. "Any time you seek to change something that has been in existence for that many years, it's going to be difficult," Sanders said. "Like many other lawyers, I knew there were going to be some who would not be able to meet the requirements." He recalls there was vigorous opposition to the proposal under the Gold Dome. "I remember Johnnie Caldwell (who later served as the state's insurance commissioner) making a long speech in the House about Abraham Lincoln having read the law by candlelight in a log cabin in Illinois," Sanders said. "He said if that was good enough for Abe Lincoln, it was good enough for Georgia."
In 1963 the General Assembly passed an Act (Ga. L. 1963, p. 70) stating that ". . . the Supreme Court of this State shall be authorized, upon a petition presented by the Georgia Bar Association, to establish, as an administrative arm of the court, a unified self-governing bar association to be known as the 'State Bar of Georgia' composed of all persons now or hereafter licensed to practice law in this State." This Act recited that it gave the Supreme Court authority, upon recommendation of the Georgia Bar Association, to adopt rules and regulations for the organization of a unified bar and to define the rights, duties and obligations of members, including payment of a reasonable license fee, and to otherwise regulate and govern the practice of law in Georgia.
A committee of 22 lawyers was charged with taking the next steps, which included the preparation and filing of a petition with the Supreme Court of Georgia, asking for the Court's approval. Although some opposition was voiced at a hearing in October, the Court issued an order on Dec. 6, 1963, establishing the State Bar of Georgia.Pursuant to this grant of authority, the Supreme Court of Georgia created and established the State Bar of Georgia by court order on December 6, 1963.Minutes of the Supreme Court at Volume 34, page 107 Thus, the State Bar of Georgia was created pursuant to the authority of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Act of the Georgia General Assembly approved by the Governor on March 11, 1963 (Georgia Laws 1963, page 70).