The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary national bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States, and not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878,ABA History ; For a historical overview see Matzko, John A., "'The Best Men of the Bar': The Founding of the American Bar Association," in The New High Priests: Lawyers in Post-Civil War America, Gerard W. Gawalt (ed.), (Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1984), pp. 75-96. the ABA's 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 24.4% of American attorneys. In 1979, half of all lawyers in the U.S. were members of the ABA. In 2016, about one third of the 1.3 million practicing lawyers in the U.S. were included in the ABA membership of 400,000, with figures largely unchanged in 2024; Included are "about 150,000 paying members" for 2024–2025, according to Reuters."Law firms should let attorneys unplug with billable hour credit, ABA proposal says" Reuters, August 1, 2024. Retrieved June 19, 2025.
The organization's national headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois, with a branch office in Washington, D.C.. The association is affiliated with the law, legal, and professional research sponsoring organization the American Bar Foundation.
History
The ABA was founded on August 21, 1878, in Saratoga Springs, New York, by 75 lawyers from 20 states and the District of Columbia. According to the ABA website:
The purpose of the original organization, as set forth in its first constitution, was "the advancement of the science of jurisprudence, the promotion of the administration of justice and a uniformity of legislation throughout the country...."
In 1918, the first women were admitted to the ABA – Judge Mary Belle Grossman of Cleveland and Mary Florence Lathrop of Denver.
Prior to 1943, the ABA did not knowingly admit any African-American members and its discrimination led to the formation in 1937 of the National Lawyers Guild. The ABA denied admittance to Francis E. Rivers in 1943 and several prominent members threatened to quit as a result and the organization was finally integrated.
The ABA appointed Jill Wine-Banks as its first woman executive director, who served from 1987 to 1990."At the Bar; High bar official draws fire over dismissals, flamboyance and Dalmatians" David Margolick, The New York Times, March 31, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2022. Roberta Cooper Ramo was the first female president of the ABA from 1995 to 1996. On August 4, 2015, Paulette Brown became the first woman of color president of the ABA.
In 2016 ABA introduced a new ethics rule prohibiting attorneys from using sexist, racist and condescending terms. The rule also prohibits attorneys from engaging in discrimination based on age in the conduct of bar association activities.
On May 1, 2019, the ABA launched a new membership model aimed at reversing declining membership and revenue. As mentioned in "Criticisms", below, and despite ABA's own rule against age-discriminatory conduct, the "experience-based" component of the ABA dues structure is a proxy for age discrimination, imposing significantly higher dues on lawyers as their years in practice increase.
2025 federal lawsuit and member targeting by the Trump administration
In 2025, the ABA, as well as some members of the organization, became targets of the Trump administration. On February 11, with tens of millions of dollars in its USAID and U.S. State Department funding frozen by Executive Order 14169, issued on Trump's first day following re-election, the ABA and other plaintiffs filed a lawsuit which asserts that the administration's actions were arbitrary and a capricious violation of the Administrative Procedure Act.Monnay, Tatyana "Trump Attacks on ABA Threaten Group's Funding and Membership" Bloomberg Law, March 7, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025. The case, Global Health Council v. Trump, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and assigned to Judge Amir Ali. Two days later he issued a temporary restraining order, allowing some foreign assistance programs to resume.Cassens Weiss, Debra "Ruling in ABA lawsuit, federal judge blocks pause on foreign aid but does not order Trump to act" American Bar Association, February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025.
On February 14, Federal Trade Commission chair Andrew N. Ferguson ordered his roster of political appointees not to renew memberships in the ABA, hold any ABA position, or attend any ABA events.Blackman, Josh "FTC Bans Political Appointees From Being ABA Members" Reason, March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025.Schmidt, Michael S. "Trump’s Revenge on Law Firms Seen as Undermining Justice System" The New York Times, March 12, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025.
Following a February 25, 2025, memo revoking security clearances for the law firm that had assisted Special Counsel Jack Smith by the president, on February 28, Attorney General Pam Bondi sent a letter to the ABA saying that the diversity requirements of Standard 206 of the Standards of Rules and Procedure for Approval of Law Schools conflicts with Chief Justice John Roberts' 2023 decision that affirmative action in college admissions is unconstitutional under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard,"Supreme Court guts affirmative action in college admissions" Politico, June 29, 2023. Retrieved March 20, 2025. and violates civil law,"Letter from Attorney General Bondi to the American Bar Association's Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar, February 28, 2025" U.S. Department of Justice, February 28, 2025. Retrieved March 20, 2025. while threatening to rescind ABA accreditation authority of U.S. law schools."US Justice Dept bars its attorneys from participating in American Bar Association events" Reuters, April 9, 2025. Retrieved April 10, 2025.
The ABA released a statement on March 3, 2025, encouraging members to challenge Trump's actions that it perceives to undermine the courts and the legal profession, with more than 50 smaller bar associations joining the call for solidarity.Cassen Weiss, Debra "ABA, more than 50 bar associations condemn 'government actions that seek to twist the scales of justice'" ABA Journal, March 3, 2025. Retrieved April 10, 2025."The ABA rejects efforts to undermine the courts and the legal profession" American Bar Association, March 3, 2025. Retrieved April 10, 2025. While the ABA strongly condemned the Trump administration's actions;Martínez, A., Milton Guevara, Ally Schweitzer "American Bar Association president speaks out against attacks on judges and lawyers" NPR, March 11, 2025. Retrieved March 15, 2025. on March 25, Reuters reported that "President Donald Trump expanded his attacks on major U.S. law firms" in issuing his fourth executive order targeting a law firm in two months."Trump targets Jenner & Block in latest executive order aimed at law firms" Reuters, March 25, 2025. Retrieved March 30, 2025.
On June 16, 2025, Susman Godfrey, an EO-targeted firm that subsequently prevailed in court,Scarcella, Mike "American Bar Association sues to block Trump's attacks on law firms" Reuters, June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025. filed a lawsuit on behalf of the ABA alleging that executive orders issued against law firms, and other actions, reflect a "law firm intimidation policy" of the Trump administration, which aims "to intimidate and coerce law firms and lawyers to refrain from challenging the President or his Administration in court, or from even speaking publicly in support of policies or causes that the President does not like."Barrett, Devlin "American Bar Association Sues Trump Administration" The New York Times, June 16, 2025. Retrieved June 19, 2025. The ABA issued a statement, in which President Bay said, "There has never been a more urgent time for the ABA to defend its members, our profession and the rule of law itself". On August 11, 2025, the ABA adopted a resolution in opposition to White House efforts designed to punish "lawyers, law firms, or other organizations for representing or having represented any particular client or cause disfavored by the government."Scarcella, Mike; Sloan, Karen American Bar Association adopts resolution against Trump's law firm crackdown" Reuters, August 11, 2025. Retrieved August 30, 2025
On July 20, 2026, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) requested that the court disqualify Susman Godfrey from representation of the ABA, citing a conflict of interest due to the firm having been targeted by a Trump executive order #14263, which it had successfully challenged, potentially making its lawyers key witnesses. The DOJ also subpoenaed 14 law firms, including Susman Godfrey, that were each targeted by, or had reached agreements with, the White House in 2025, seeking documents and depositions in its defense of the Trump administration.
Leadership and governance The ABA adopts "policy" (organizational positions) on certain legislative and national issues, as voted on by its elected, 589-member House of Delegates. Its board of governors, with 44 members, has the authority to act for the ABA, consistent with previous action of the House of Delegates, when the House is not in session.
The ABA president, elected to a one-year term, is chief executive officer of the association, while the appointed, longer-serving executive director works as chief operating officer. The conclusion of the ABA annual meeting, in August, is when a new president takes office, as well as when the main sessions of the House of Delegates take place. The annual meeting also gives the general membership the opportunity to participate in educational programs and hear speakers address many issues.Fitzpatrick, Thomas M., editor. American Bar Association Centennial—A Century of Service, page 8 (American Bar Association, 1979)
In 2010, Jack L. Rives, formerly TJAG (The Judge Advocate General of the Air Force), was appointed executive director and chief operating officer (COO). Alpha M. BradyAlpha M. Brady ABA. was named ABA Executive Director/COO after Rives' retirement in March 2023. She joined the ABA staff in 1988 and rose through the ranks at the association before being named deputy executive director in 2022.
Accreditation of U.S. law schools since 1923 The United States Department of Education recognises the Council of the ABA Section on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar as a professional accrediting agency for law schools in the U.S. American law schools that are accredited by the council are termed "approved" by the ABA, which indicates the law school was found to be in compliance with ABA accreditation standards.
ABA accreditation is important not only because it affects the recognition of the law schools involved, but it also affects a graduate's ability to practice law in a particular state. Specifically, in most U.S. jurisdictions, graduation from an ABA-accredited law school is prerequisite towards being allowed to sit for that state's bar exam, and even for existing lawyers to be admitted to the bar of another state upon motion. Even states which recognize unaccredited schools within their borders will generally not recognize such schools from other jurisdictions for purposes of bar admission.See, e.g., Supreme Court Rule 7 (Tennessee), Rules Regarding Admission to Practice Law (California).
For law students attending ABA-accredited schools, memberships are available for free. Students attending non-ABA accredited law schools are permitted to join the ABA as associate members.