Home > West's Encyclopedia of American Law > Bar Association

An organization of lawyers established to promote professional competence, enforce standards of ethical conduct, and encourage a spirit of public service among members of the legal profession.

The mission of a bar association is frequently described in the words of ROSCOE POUND, legal scholar and dean of Harvard Law School from 1916 to 1936: "[To] promote and maintain the PRACTICE OF LAW as a profession, that is, as a learned art pursued in the spirit of a public service—in the spirit of a service of furthering the administration of justice through and according to law."

Bar associations accomplish these objectives by offering continuing education for lawyers in the form of publications and seminars. This education includes instruction on recent developments in the law and in managing a law practice successfully as a business. Bar...