While most bar associations provide a dues
structure based on years in the profession, the Nashville
Bar Association and the Tennessee Bar Association are
using an equity, or income-based, dues structure with
growing success.
Charging members according to their salaries
provides a fairer measure of their ability to pay dues and
can attract practitioners in fields such as government/public
sector law and law school faculty which have traditionally
not joined the bar for financial reasons.
The Nashville bar is believed to be the first bar
association to analyze its membership data and adopt the
novel equity-based dues structure in 1992. At the time, bar
demographics revealed that starting salaries in major law
firms were in the mid-$50,000s. Members in their first year
of practice in these firms were earning more than other
small office practitioners in the field for 10 years or more,
according to Allan Ramsaur, executive director of the
2,300-member Nashville bar.
After membership data was collected, a new
structure based on salary ranges was calculated. Based on
an honor system, members can either select a tier which fits
their income level or opt for a presumptive dues rate. (The
presumptive rate is a flat fee that any lawyer can pay
regardless of annual earnings.) For example, members can:
- pay one of six tiers ranging from $60 dues for
annual earnings of less than $25,000 to $200 for earnings
of $150,001 or more.
- or pay a presumptive rate of $150. (Also those in
the $75,001 to $100,000 range pay the same $150). Under
this option, lawyers earning more than $150,000 could pay
$150, rather than the $200 maximum under the tiered
structure.
About 1,356 members pay within the $150 level,
while only 10 members pay in the two upper categories of
$175 and $200 dues. Offering income levels for dues along
with a presumptive rate allows all members to select their
best option to pay. This system is also based on honesty
since the member's income level is unknown to the bar.
"We believe that the members recognize the
fairness of the philosophy that as their income grows, they
will be assessed a larger dues amount," Ramsaur says.
Besides attracting some government lawyers to the
bar, this dues structure also revealed that gender- and race-related salary inequities are leveled out by the equity dues
structure, he says. Also, he adds, lawyers with part-time,
limited practices, or income from other sources can more
easily pay the dues and remain connected to the bar.
The idea for the equity bar dues came from then
president (1992) Steve Cobb, who based the idea on his
experience as a member of the American Sociological
Association. Cobb is both a lawyer and sociologist, and
former professor at Tennessee State University. Since
1996, he has belonged to ASA, which has an income-based
dues structure.
"We have had a long-term commitment of
encouraging membership; and income capacity to join
shouldn't limit anyone asking to join," says Felice Levine
of Washington, D.C., ASA executive director, who traces
the organization's equity dues back to 1974.
With this knowledge of ASA, Cobb believed the
income-based dues would work for the Nashville bar,
which needed more revenue and, at the same time, wanted
to provide relief to members with lower incomes.
"We felt an income based dues structure would
attract all kinds of lawyers," says Cobb, who now
specializes in immigration and government relations law.
Cobb hoped the plan would draw government and
in-house corporate counsel to the bar. Also, those who
couldn't deduct their dues as a business expense, such as
government lawyers, could at least pay a lower amount
which would be more manageable. The bar hasn't analyzed
the dues structure to determine whether it has succeeded in
increasing membership from these practitioners and law
school faculty.
Tennessee follows lead
Katie Edge, a former deputy commissioner with the
Tennessee Department of Financial Institutions, felt
strongly about income-based dues because of her
government experience and promoted the idea to the
Tennessee Bar Association. As treasurer (1993-1997) of
the voluntary state bar with 7,200 members, Edge also
believed that paying according to salary would attract more
government lawyers and make the bar more accessible to
solo and small-firm lawyers and new practitioners, who
also often have lower incomes.
"Our goal was to be more inclusive and to make bar
membership more accessible," says Edge, now a partner in
a Nashville firm.
The state bar began its income-based dues in 1995.
Bar dues start at $75 for lawyers earning less than $25,000
annually. Those earning between $75,000 to $100,000 pay
$180. Also, $180 is the presumptive rate, as well.
However, bar leaders over estimated dues income
during that first year under the new structure and lost about
$50,000, Edge says. "After that time, we were able to better
predict what would come in and to do more marketing to
attract more members," she says, adding that while
membership continues to grow each year, the dues structure
is still being monitored.
"We know there are people who can cheat, but we
don't check on it. We don't question their income level,"
notes Gilbert Campbell of Nashville, the bar's executive
director.
A study to formally track the success of income-based dues has not been done yet. However, Campbell
believes the bar has attracted a more diverse membership
with the equity fairness.
What others offer
State and local bar associations offer various tiers
for membership dues based on years and type of practice.
For example, 48 state and 120 local bars offer reduced dues
for a first-year member; 43 state and 120 local bars for
senior/retired lawyers, and nine state and 44 local bars for
government lawyers, according to the 1995 Bar Activities
Inventory, compiled by the American Bar Association
Division for Bar Services.
Nationally, 154 membership associations use total
income or salary as the dues base. Also, 980 professional
associations have a flat rate dues structure that all members
pay. This information comes from a 1995 survey of 1,400
associations from 1996 Policies and Procedures in
Association Management, published by the American
Society of Association Executives in Washington, D.C.
An organization that provides a dues structure
based both on income and number of individuals, or
employees, is the Food and Drug Law Institute in
Washington, D.C. The institute offers two dues categories:
law firms with lawyers who specialize in federal
regulations involving the Food and Drug Administration;
and manufacturers of pharmaceuticals and medical devices.
The manufacturing area has tiered levels based on
sales of the company ranging between $100 million and $6
billion annually. Dues range from $500 and $12,000
annually.
However, the association's law division is not based
on years in the profession or field of expertise. Instead,
dues are based on the number of lawyers in the firm who
specialize in food and drug regulations. For example, a firm
with less than three food and drug lawyers pays $1,100
annually. A firm with three to five lawyers pays $1,500;
and firms with six or more pay $2,000 annually. Solo
practitioners pay $275 annually.
"We changed over about six years ago after
reviewing our dues structure because of falling revenue,
and wanted people to pay their fair share," says Wes
Trochlil, director of membership and marketing for the
institute which includes 98 member firms.
Bar leaders are watching
The income-based dues structure has caught the
attention of other bar association executives who have
contacted the Tennessee bars to learn more about it.
Beth Keigher, executive director of the Monroe
County Bar Association in Rochester, N.Y., plans to
explore the idea with members. The bar will conduct a
general membership survey later this year and will ask
members if they are interested in income-based dues. Once
the results are reviewed, bar leaders will look at next year's
budget and examine their options.
"We're taking a good, hard look at income-based
dues because our dues are now based on years from the
(members') bar admission date, which is no longer relevant
based on the economy. We've also been asked by the
public sector lawyers to find alternative ways for them to
participate as members," Keigher says.
While intrigued by the dues structure, officials of
the Atlanta Bar Association have stopped short of adopting
it.
"No one is brave enough to do it here," notes
Executive Director Diane O'Steen, who had proposed the
idea to her board a few times. "They're afraid our money
will drop."
