ABA Division for Bar Services Information Center

Division for Bar Services Information Center

This information center is a portal to an array of information on bar association leadership, governance, and other key topics impacting the organized bar community.

Resource Pages Prepared by the Division for Bar Services

ABA Resources: Looking for a road guide to better navigate the many services, programs, and publications offered by the American Bar Association? The ABA Resources Page highlights the many different ways this association's entities reach out to state, local, and specialty bar associations.
IRS Form 990: There's no need to sweat over the new IRS Form 990! The 990 resource page provides sample policies from bar associations, professional advice, and links to useful governance materials.
Leading During Difficult Times: Resources on the Economy for Bar Associations: The economic downturn has had a profound effect on the legal profession. This economic resource page shows how the bar association community is reacting to these challenges to better serve their members and the greater community.
Leadership Resources: Presidents, officers, board members and staff all have an important role in leading the association. The following leadership resources will help bar leaders to explore and refine their leadership styles, and learn from the best practices and experiences of others in both the nonprofit and for profit sectors.
Governance Guide: Effective leadership thrives when good governance practices are in place. This governance guide serves as a quick guide for bar leaders who are looking for statistical data, financial questions, and many other governance hurdles.
Membership Resources: Looking for ways to boost or better manage your bar association's membership? This membership guide helps bar association leaders quickly learn about the latest in membership trends, technology, and how to target specific lawyer populations.
Disaster Planning & Recovery Guide: Disaster planning is a constant concern to bar association staff and members. The diaster planning and recovery guide contains disaster response plans, tips on data backup, and much more advice on how to best prepare your organization.
Diversity Materials for Bar Leaders: Useful statistics, past Bar Leader articles, bar association awards, research studies by the ABA and state, local, and specialty bar associations, and more are found in this guide to diversity resources.
Writing Effective President Pages: Crafting an effective president page is one of the most trying tasks of a bar president's year. This president page guide provides examples of past president pages along with some useful writing tips.
The Future of the Legal Profession: This collection of articles, studies, and other materials on the legal profession attempts to organize what major legal publications, organizations, and bloggers predict about the future of the legal profession.

Resources & Reports for the Bar Association Community

Resource Kit on Fair and Impartial Courts
The ABA Standing Committee on Judicial Independence prepared this resource kit for use by bar leaders and other concerned citizens. This work-in-progress contains sample op-ed pieces, and speeches.
Toolkit for Supporting America's Judiciary
The legal profession has never been immune to criticism, but in recent years disdain for lawyers and judges has bordered on the hysterical, as they have increasingly been held up as scapegoats or caught in the crosscurrents of debates over the hot-button social issues of our time. The American Bar Association has responded with the following items, which we encourage you to use in response to unjust attacks on the judiciary, courts and the legal profession.
Supporting Justice II: A Report on the Pro Bono Work of America's Lawyers
Pro bono work by America's lawyers is on the rise with nearly three-fourths of lawyers providing free legal services to the poor or to the organizations that serve them. That's one of the significant findings of a new study done by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service

Division for Bar Services Studies & White Papers

Voluntary State and Metro Bar Association Membership Trends, 1995-2000
Advertising Survey & White Paper
Meeting Attendance Survey & Summary

Bar Leader Toolkit

The American Bar Association's Bar Leader Toolkit provides state and local bar associations with a sample op-ed piece, links to ABA resources to use in speaking, writing and editorializing within your communities. The publication focuses on a different issue for each of its monthly publications.

Quick Links

Division for Bar Services: Consulting Services Program Receive assistance with strategic planning, board training/leadership development, and other association governance concerns
DBS Clearinghouse & Library Search BarCat or submit an information request

BoardLink: Your Connection to Effective Board Governance

Board Link is the new quarterly newsletter from DBS for bar association board members that shares good practices and addresses governance issues that may be preventing boards from providing necessary leadership.

DBS Publications for Sale

Coming Soon: 2009 Bar Activities Inventory

2009 State and Local Bar Dues, Fees, and Member Benefits Survey is a comprehensive listing of the dues and fees of state and local bar associations. This annual publication also covers the cost to practice in each state, as well as information on affinity programs, nondues sources of income, retention rates, and much more.

New Bar President & Members of the Board is the definitive guide to bar leadership. This manual covers topics of both internal importance, such as governance and sound financial management--to the bar's relations with its members, the public, and the news media. Bulk prices available.

Bar Financial Management provides practical, simple advice and guidelines for topics ranging from accounting procedures to zero-based budgeting.

Bar Leader Magazine

Bar Leader, a news magazine from the ABA Division for Bar Services, published six times a year, covers the important issues and trends that affect you as a leader at a state, local, or special-focus bar association.

The November-December 2009 issue discusses mentoring programs and other ways to build a sense of belonging at the bar.

The Bridge

The Bridge, the division's bimonthly newsletter, covers news about bar associations nationwide and highlights ABA services and programs for bar associations.

Issues Update

A Web-exclusive publication, Issues Update looks at 12 big issues facing the profession. Each one-page overview gives a brief history and covers recent state and bar activity on the issue. Always one of your bar’s most valuable tools, this free Web version of Issues Update is now one of its most accessible.