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American Bar Association

ABA Board to Consider Membership Efforts at Annual Meeting

Posted Jul 27, 2009 5:47 AM CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss

Facing an expected membership decline of up to 4,000 lawyers this year, the ABA has hired Leo Burnett Co. to help market itself.

The advertising agency will give a presentation to the ABA Board of Governors at the annual meeting that begins this Thursday in Chicago, the National Law Journal reports. ABA President H. Thomas Wells Jr. told the publication in an interview that the ABA expects membership, which stood at 408,000 at the end of the last fiscal year, to drop by 2,000 to 4,000 people this year.

Wells said the economic downturn is part of the reason for the membership decline. Lawyers who spoke to the publication also blamed the expansion of law firms into a variety of regions, which eliminates the need for networking to get referrals; competition from state and local bar associations; and controversy over the ABA’s judicial ratings.

ABA President-elect Carolyn Lamm says the ABA needs to attract more members who are solo practitioners, young lawyers and small-firm lawyers. She told the NLJ that ABA membership isn’t growing at the same rate as the profession, and the association doesn’t even represent half of all U.S. lawyers.

She thinks the ABA can appeal to these underrepresented groups through products such as downloadable continuing legal education classes and other services on the ABA website. The ABA has already made strides in that direction, but more needs to be done, she said.

"My timetable is yesterday," she told the NLJ. "We need to make progress now on this issue."

The story cites a report that says dues-paying members have increased by 10,753 from last year. But two other membership categories have seen declines: new lawyers who passed the bar less than a year ago, and law student members. In all, the ABA had lost 4,431 members from the same month last year, the May report said. ABA Executive Director Henry "Hank" White Jr. told the NLJ that the drop in members won't be as high as the May numbers because members are expected to pay their dues late in the fiscal year, which ends at the end of August.

Although the ABA has seen less money from membership dues this year, it has taken in more money from other products and services, such as CLE and publication sales, Wells told the NLJ. "People are buying [those services] more now because they feel like they need the skills that the ABA can help them attain," he said.

Comments

1.

Jason
Jul 27, 2009 5:59 AM CST

I work at a medium size firm.  We recently cancelled all of our subscriptions to the ABA except for one.  There was no need for every member to be paying dues.

The individual benefits to each lawyer were not worth the costs.  You only need one membership per firm,

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2.

Guano
Jul 27, 2009 6:13 AM CST

You should get that guy McLeod to become a PR man for the firm.  I am not sure what he will do for membership, but he is very outspoken, and would probably work for nothing.

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3.

B. McLeod
Jul 27, 2009 6:27 AM CST

Heh.  I always speak up for ABA membership, because I like the editorial staff.  Plus, I think it is a good way for lawyers to support the profession.

For the membership issues, I reiterate my prior suggestion for an “Unemployed Lawyers Section,” which would focus on the problems of lawyers struggling with the recession, and would have a greatly-reduced dues rate.

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4.

anonymous
Jul 27, 2009 9:06 AM CST

Sitting back while the law schools continue to falsify stats and gouge tuitions, opening the floodgates to foreign outsourcing….......  I have been lobbying hard to get all of my friends to cancel their ABA memberships.

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5.

sarah
Jul 27, 2009 9:39 AM CST

umm…why on earth would any working class lawyer support the ABA in any way?

The ABA gave its approval to the BigLaw firms to let them outsource legal work to unlicensed foreigners, and lets the states allow foreign lawyers to do work in america.

Plus the ABA is complicit in the law school scam—the use of fraudulent law school graduate salary statistics to lure gullible 22 year olds into debt slavery in an overcrowded industry.

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6.

J.D.
Jul 27, 2009 10:20 AM CST

It’s very simple: the further the ABA moves to the radical left on all issues, the smaller their membership will be.

For every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.

The ABA Journal has already noted the effect:

http://www.abajournal.com/news/federalist_society_grows_in_members_and_influence/

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7.

associate
Jul 27, 2009 10:43 AM CST

I canceled mine for the reasons listed in 4, 5, and 6, and I encourage others to as well.

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8.

DR
Jul 27, 2009 10:55 AM CST

I currently work for a big law firm (moved laterally with a group of attorneys from my prior firm).  My current firm and my prior two firms (which were small boutiques) paid all my membership dues for local, state and national associations. 

My current firm, however, recently changed its policies regarding memberships, and now everyone here must pay their own membership dues.  This forced me to reassess which memberships were most relevant.  I decided to stick with the ABA for now because I belong to one of the forums which has been beneficial to my own growth and practice.  I could pay thousands of dollars per year for memberships and attorney registrations (in two states), but I see my money be used better elsewhere.

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9.

B. McLeod
Jul 27, 2009 6:14 PM CST

As a former member of the working class, I would like to point out that being a poor earner as a lawyer does not make you “working class.”  If you have a second job, on the docks or in a factory, maybe you’re a “working class lawyer.”  Otherwise, not.

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10.

DR
Jul 27, 2009 6:19 PM CST

I agree, B. McLeod.  Generally, the term “working class” does not apply to the professions.  If it applies to any skilled labor it most likely applies to “trades.”  (carpenters; plumbers; tailors; etc.)

Although I would argue that some of these “trades” probably do better financially and have better work-life balance than the average attorney.

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11.

fed up
Jul 27, 2009 11:08 PM CST

As an associate member, I wish the ABA would provide my journal in a timely manner.  Still waiting for the July, 2009 edition.

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12.

sadie
Aug 3, 2009 8:22 PM CST

Attract more solo and small firms? Asking those lawyer to pay more than their big-firm brethren (who get a 25% firm discount) or federal judges (who have lifetime tenure, make more money than the average solo or small firm lawyer and still get an ABA dues discount) or government employees (25% discount for them, too) isn’t the way to attract solo and small firm lawyers.

The new head of the General Pratice, Solo and Small Firm Division is an Air Force colonel. Even shows up everywhere in a military uniform. Don’t tell me he’s a general practice, solo or small firm lawyer, cos I know better. I look at the council of that Division – and there are more military, judges, government employees than there are solo and small firm lawyers. Does that tell you something? Ya think?

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13.

sadie
Aug 3, 2009 8:27 PM CST

and I’ll tell ya why membership is dropping. The economy is only one part of the story. The ABA’s become a place of self-aggrandizement by its kings and queens. Look at the president’s blog to see where he’s been gallivanting all year. The General Practice, Solo and Small Firm Division is inviting Michelle Obama to speak at its fall meeting—and it is having a spring meeting in St Thomas. Excuse me, but isn’t that kinda elitist? What happened to relevance, and what happened to helping lawyers practice law instead of ABA leaders helping themselves to glorification?

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