ABA Resources for Bars

Leadership & Governance Development

• Attend the ABA Bar Leadership Institute
• Consult the essential New Bar President and New Bar Board Member primers
• Ensure your board is leading courageously with the Board Catalyst Video Series and create a customized board retreat
• Find out key information on bar association participation in the ABA House of Delegates
• Follow news and trends with Bar Leader and Bar Leader Weekly

Consulting Services

• Engage in strategic planning
• Conduct a membership survey or focus groups
• Conduct an economics of practice survey

Key Data, Clearinghouse & Policy Library

• Compare your bar with its peers in the ABA State and Local Benchmarks Survey
• Request a sample policy or program information in the state and local bar clearinghouse
• Access high-demand resources in our resource page collections

Other Leadership Development Opportunities

• Encourage your young lawyer leaders to participate in ABA YLD leadership development programs
• Encourage lawyers of color to attend the Collaborative Bar Leaders Academy
• Join these ABA-staffed leadership organizations:
  •  National Conference of Bar Presidents
  • National Association of Bar Executives
  • National Conference of Bar Foundations

Visibility for Your Bar

• Be sure your bar is a part of the National Celebration of Pro Bono Week
• Sign up to receive Law Day resources and share your Law Day activities
• Nominate one of your bar programs for an ABA award:
  • E. Smythe Gambrell Professionalism Awards
  • Harrison Tweed Award (expanding legal services to the poor)
  • Partnership Awards (advancing diversity and inclusion)
  • Cindy A. Raisch Award (lawyer referral programs serving modest mean clients)
  • Frank E.A. Sander Innovation in ADR Award
  • Division for Public Education Awards that help highlight programs that help the public understand the law and its role in society

Revenue Generators, Time Savers & Member Discounts

• Books for Bars program (ABA publication discount program with revenue for participant bars)
• ABA Leverage (use ABA buying power to book meetings)
• ABA Graphic Design Services: contact Nick Panos, Director of Design and Production
  
• MCLE Accreditation Service
• ABA TECHSHOW discount for your members

Other Resources by Topic

Delivery of legal services

• Improve your lawyer referral program, including access to a clearinghouse, the LRIS workshop and Program of Assistance and Review (PAR visit)
• Strengthen your pro bono program, including access to the Center for Pro Bono Knowledgebase, discussion lists for pro bono, and the standard reporting form

Lawyer regulation, professional responsibility and ethics

• Understand demographic changes in the profession
• Find a professional responsibility law speaker
• Get help with policy development and implementation (especially relating to the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Model Code of Judicial Conduct)
• Assess the effectiveness of your lawyer and judicial discipline system
• Assess the effectiveness of your client protection fund

Public education about the law

• Create more compelling Law Day programming, including access to the Planning Guide and a discussion group
• Share the ABA’s Rule of Law content on your social media channels

Lawyer wellness

• Access the report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being
• Strengthen your lawyer assistance program, including access to the resources, consulting services and the National Conference for Lawyer Assistance programs
• Focus on lawyer wellness (Well-being Toolkit for Lawyers and Legal Employers)

Diversity and inclusion

• Offer training on implicit bias (Implicit Bias Videos and Toolkit)
• Offer training on sex-based harassment in the legal profession (Zero Tolerance Program Toolkit)
• Plan accessible meetings
• Connect with other state and local bar disability entities
• Create programming around the challenges facing women of color in the profession (Guided Conversations in the Women of Color Research Initiative)
• Build understanding around gender equity in compensation (Gender Equity in Compensation Toolkit)

Advocacy on behalf of the profession and justice system

• Rapid Response to Fake News, Misleading Statements, and Unjust Criticism of the Judiciary
  
• Participate in ABA Day on Capitol Hill
• Stay apprised of governmental relations developments with the ABA Washington Letter