The State Bar of Georgia is the governing body of the legal profession in the State of Georgia, operating under the supervision of the Georgia Supreme Court. Membership is a requirement of acceptance for legal practice in Georgia.
State Bar was founded in 1964 as the successor of the former Voluntary Georgian Bar Association founded in 1884. The stated objective of the State Bar of Georgia was to foster among the Bar members in this state of the principles of duty and service to the public; to improve the administration of justice; and to advance the science of law.
Bar has a code of ethics and strict discipline imposed by the Supreme Court of Georgia through the General Counsel Office of the State Bar. Member contributions and other contributions help Bar provide a mutually beneficial program for its members and the general public.
Video State Bar of Georgia
Membership
At the behest of the Supreme Court of Georgia (219 GA 873 and subsequent amendments), a person is required before conducting legal practice to register to the State Bar and pay the prescribed fee.
Here are statistics about the State Bar of Georgia members on March 2, 2015:
- Active member with good reputation: 37,031
- Inactive member with good reputation: 8,562
- Members of Emeritus: 1.645
- Affiliate members: 20
- Student member: 148
- Foreign legal consultant: 7
- Membership Entire: 47,143
Maps State Bar of Georgia
Program
The Bar offers a variety of programs:
- THE BASICS
- Committee to Promote Inclusion in Profession
- Consumer Help Program
- Continue Legal Education
- Cornerstones of Freedom Program
- Arbitration Fee
- Georgia Diversity Program
- The Judicial District Professional Program
- Legal Related Education
- Legal Practice Management Program
- The Legal Aid Program
- Legislative Program
- Military Legal Assistance Program
- Pro Bono Resource Center
- SOLACE program
- Transition Into the Legal Practice Program
- Unlicensed Legal Practice
- Young Lawyers Division
Ethics
Georgian lawyers are bound by strict ethical rules in all their professional affairs. The Georgian Professional Code of Conduct assists in defining attorneys' obligations to clients, the judicial system, and to the public.
Although the Supreme Court of Georgia maintains the highest authority to regulate the legal profession, the State Bar of Georgia's General Counselor serves as the Court's arms to investigate and prosecute claims that a lawyer has violated the rules of ethics.
The Code of Professional Conduct is found in Part IV, Chapter 1 of the Bar Rules. Part IV, Chapter 2 contains procedural rules for disciplinary action against lawyers. In addition to the Regulations, the Bar and Supreme Court have periodically issued Formal Advisor Opinions explaining the obligations of lawyers in certain situations. The full list of Formal Advisor Advisers follows Part IV, Chapter 3 of the Bar Rules.
Lawyers wishing to discuss ethical dilemmas with staff members of the Office of the General Counsel should contact the Legal Aid Line at 404-527-8720 or 800-334-6865. Community members who believe that Georgia lawyers have violated ethical rules should contact the Consumer Support Program Bar at 800-334-6865.
Section
Forty-five sections provide services to the legal and public professions. Channels for information in specific legal areas, sections provide bulletins, programs and opportunities to exchange ideas with other practitioners. The parts include:
Leadership
The day-to-day operations of the State Bar of Georgia are directed by the Executive Director.
Georgian State Officials include a President, elected President, Treasurer, Secretary, President Soon, President of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), elected President of YLD and President of YLD Soon.
The Board of Governors is a 160-country policy-making authority, with representatives from every Georgian judicial circuit. The Council holds regular meetings five times per year. It elects six of its members to serve on the Executive Committee with organizational staff. The Executive Committee meets monthly and trains the strength of the Board of Governors when the council is not in session.
Office
The State Bar of Georgia has three offices: in Atlanta, Savannah, and Tifton.
The headquarters of the State Bar of Georgia, known as the Bar Center, is located at 104 Marietta Street NW, Atlanta, GA 30303. Phone 404-527-8700.
The South Georgia office is located at 244 E. Second Street, Tifton, GA 31793. Telephone 229-387-0446.
The Georgia Coastal Office is located at 18 E. Bay Street, Savannah, GA 31401. Phone 912-239-9970.
Headquarters building
The first headquarters building was the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta that opened in 1918.
Division of Young Lawyers
All new members of the State Bar automatically become members of the Division of Young Lawyers (YLD). Membership at YLD expires at the end of the fiscal year after (1) the 36th anniversary of the attorney or (2) the fifth anniversary of the first lawyer's admission to practice, whichever comes later.
It has been strengthened over the years through guidance by the State Bar of Georgia, the Executive Committee and the Board of Directors, the Supreme Court, and through the specialized services provided by its members. In keeping with the motto "working for the profession and society," YLD has 27 hardworking committees that provide services to the public, the profession, and the Bar through various projects and programs. Over the years, YLD has also gained national recognition by winning several American Bar Association awards for projects and publications.
History
In 1878, the American Bar Association was founded in Saratoga Springs, NY. Immediately began to encourage its members to form legal professional organizations in their respective countries.
Five years later, in 1883, a coincidental event took place in history. In June, a weak, lonely, and dyslexic Woodrow Wilson gave in to his failed legal practice at Spring Street in Atlanta, which he described as "a terrible boring job." Some people watched or cared as he rode the train north to the graduate school at Johns Hopkins. There is almost no possibility to be, 30 years, President of the United States. In September, the General Assembly, meeting in a building that combines Atlanta city hall and Fulton County courthouse, allocated a million dollars to build a new state-of-the-art parliament building on the same site. And in Macon, five Georgian members of the American Bar Association talked about the establishment of the Georgia Bar Association.
The following year, 1884, there was a meeting in Atlanta to form the Georgia Bar Association. The starting members of the Georgia Bar Association are all Georgian members of the ABA. They voted as the first state bar president of L. N. Whittle, who was commander of Macon Militia during the Civil War. Anyone experienced in the way of voluntary organizations can appreciate the fact that Col. Whittle was detained at a university guardian's meeting in Tennessee, so he could not attend a meeting in which he was elected president. His service as Georgia Bar's first president was a point too insignificant to mention in his obituary two years later.
Macon Headquarters
At the end of the 19th century, Macon was not only in the middle of the country geographically; basically a population center of Georgia and easily accessible by other states. All roads and railroads seem to lead to Macon. While his neighbor, Milledgeville, has lost its status as a state capital to Atlanta after the Civil War's ensuing, Macon has been skipped on the Sherman journey into the sea, and the town on the banks of the Ocmulgee River prospered through the Reconstruction era. When the state law community formed the Georgia Bar Association in 1883, Macon was chosen as the location of his headquarters, and remained so for the next 90 years. L.N. Whittle was the first of 10 Macon lawyers to serve as president of the Georgia Bar Association for eight decades of his existence. He and Walter B. Hill, also of Macon, who served as the first secretary/treasurer, were among the 11 applicants from all states listed on the charter of associates when granted by the Bibb County High Court on July 19, 1884.
Although membership remains highly voluntary, the Bar Association of Georgia is gradually expanding its activities and organization efforts across the state. In 1942, the association set up an office in downtown Macon, making use of space in the Persons Building offered by law firm John B. Harris, then Georgian secretary of the Bar and later his president. Starting practice in the same building in 1950, one floor above the Harris Office, was a new lawyer named Frank C. Jones, who would later become president of the State Bar of Georgia. "During those years, I have been in contact with Mr. Harris and his company personnel, including Madrid Williams, a very capable and talented individual," Jones said in a recent interview. "I was chairman of the Section of the Young Lawyers in 1956-57 and worked closely with Mrs. Williams for that matter, John D. Comer, who was practicing with Harris Company, and I served for several years as associate editor of Georgia Journal Bar We will review the proposed articles and meet regularly with Mr. Harris and Madrid to discuss acceptance of this article and other matters. "
Unified Bar
Attempts to realize a unified bar in Georgia began in the late 1920s and continued almost without interruption. In 1963, soon after his inauguration, Governor Carl Sanders was visited by Atlanta lawyers Gus Cleveland and Harry Baxter, who had been delegated by the Barlandia Association to volunteer to approach the Governor about supporting the law to create a unified State Bar. It turned out to be an easier task than they thought, because the new lawyer-the 37-year-old Governor immediately saw the benefits of an organized Bar able to uphold academic and professional standards for a potential lawyer along with a disciplined process to protect the public from mistakes of lawyers.
Sanders then recalled that, "Until then, while a fairly stringent written Bar exam is required from every applicant, it's not nearly as comprehensive and heavy as we have today, and there's no multistate component." Also, the association bar at the time was toothless tiger, irregular, with no right to discipline its members. "The governor told Baxter and Cleveland (then president of the State Bar in 1971-1972) that his administration would indeed support the unified Bar proposal. He directs the House floor leader, future Attorney General Arthur Bolton, and lieutenant governor, future Justice George T. Smith, to head the legislative effort.
The heavier task is actually getting the bill. "Every time you try to change something that has been around for years, it will be difficult," Sanders said. "Like many other lawyers, I know there will be some who will not be eligible." He remembers strong opposition to the proposal under the Golden Dome. "I remember Johnnie Caldwell (who later served as state insurance commissioner) making a long speech in the House of Abraham Lincoln after reading the law with candlelight in a wooden hut in Illinois," Sanders said. "He said if that's good enough for Abe Lincoln, that's good enough for Georgia." Mr. Caldwell obviously has an interesting perspective on history if he believes that anything related to Abraham Lincoln is "good" for Georgia.
In 1963 the General Assembly passed a law (Ga. L. 1963, p.70) stating that "... the Supreme Court of this State shall be authorized, upon a petition filed by the Georgia Bar Association, to establish, as the administrative arm courts, self-regulating bar associations to be known as 'State Bar of Georgia' comprising all those who are now or hereafter licensed to practice law in this Country. "This law reads that it authorizes the Supreme Court, after which recommendation of the Bar Association of Georgia, to adopt rules and regulations for a unified bar organization and to determine the rights, duties and obligations of members, including the reasonable payment of license fees, and otherwise regulate and regulate legal practice in Georgia.
A committee of 22 lawyers is accused of taking the next step, which includes the preparation and petition with the Georgia Supreme Court, seeking Court approval. Although some opposition was voiced at the hearing in October, the Court issued an order on December 6, 1963, establishing the State Bar of Georgia. Based on this grant of authority, the Georgia Supreme Court created and established the State Bar of Georgia by court order on December 6, 1963. Thus, the State Bar of Georgia was created under the authority of the Georgia Supreme Court and the Georgia General Assembly Act was approved by the Governor on 11 March 1963 (Georgia Laws 1963, page 70).
The initial draft of the proposed rule for the new State Bar has been discussed and agreed at a full-day meeting at the law firm conference room of Frank Jones in Macon, under the leadership of Newell Edenfield of Atlanta, who heads the organizational committee. , and Holcombe Perry of Albany, who was president of the Georgia Bar Association in 1962-1963. Linking the successful merger of the Bar with most of Perry's leadership as president, Jones said, "Holcombe works hundreds of hours in this effort, and few, if any, other lawyers in Georgia can achieve the success he's done."
In 1968, Jones was elected as the sixth President of the Integrated Bar and the first of three from Macon. He said the spotlight of his tenure was the Georgia Supreme Court issuing brilliant opinions on Wallace v. Wallace and Sams v. Exercise, rejecting the constitutional challenge of the State Bar of Georgia's existence.
The creation of a unified Bar is not without controversy. In fact, the only member of the Board of Governors who had been "dismissed" by lawyers in his area was because of his support for the union of bars. Irwin Stolz was unofficially dismissed - as there was no procedure for it - at a meeting of the Lookout Mountain Circuit Association in 1963. He later served as State Bar President and in Georgia's Court of Appeal, and his legal partner, Norman Fletcher, became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. In their post-judicial career, Stolz practiced law in Athens and practiced law and mediation in Rome.
Move headquarters to Atlanta
During the Frank Jones presidency at the State Bar, the potential benefit of moving Bar's headquarters from Macon to Atlanta began to become clear to him. In addition to quarterly meetings of the state-wide Board of Governors and annual meetings that are almost always in Savannah, there are meetings of the Executive Committee and the various public and special committees and other meetings Jones wants to attend. "Most of these meetings are held in Atlanta, with almost nothing in Macon, because Atlanta is more comfortable for the majority of participants and limited facilities in Macon," Jones said. "Madrid Williams or Judge Mallory C. Atkinson, our first general counsel, and sometimes both, usually accompany me on a trip to Atlanta for such a meeting and we will speak from time to time about the possibility of someday moving the office to Atlanta. " Jones also noted that Atlanta lost its reputation as what he called "a sleepy metropolis." Beginning in the 1960s, there was an explosive growth in the number of lawyers practicing in the metropolitan area of ​​Atlanta, and many law firms greatly increased in size.
In 1971-1972, Jones served on the Governor's Commission for Judicial Process, chaired by Hon. Bob Hall. The panel's recommendations resulted in the establishment of the Judicial Qualification Commission (JQC) as the constitutional body and the Judicial Commission of Judicial Commission (JNC) by the executive order of each of Georgia's governors. "The JQC meetings are always held in the Judicial Building because we report our findings and recommendations to the Georgia Supreme Court, and JNC meetings are usually held in Atlanta as well," Jones said. "This is another illustration of how Atlanta is increasingly becoming the focus of the activities of the State Bar and related organizations."
A Special Committee on State Headquarters Bar was appointed in 1970, with Jones as chairman and Ben L. Weinberg Jr. as vice chairman. Also serving are B. Carl Buice, Wilton D. Harrington, G. Conley Ingram, HH Perry Jr., Hon. Paul W. Painter and Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler, with then President Barwin, Irwin W. Stolz Jr., A.G. Cleveland Jr. and Thomas E. Dennard Jr. as an ex-officio member. In November 1971, the committee submitted its final report during a meeting of the Board of Governors, formally recommending that the Central Headquarters be moved from Macon to downtown Atlanta because, in part, "Ideally, the headquarters should be close enough to the State Capitol Area, as easy as possible for lawyers across the state who will enter Atlanta on interstate and other highways, and at the same time do not inconvenience to a large number of State Bar of Georgia members who have their offices in business and financial districts in Atlanta. "The fact that the State Bar has endorsed by the Supreme Court of Georgia, and the regulation must be approved by the Supreme Court, is another persuasive reason why the headquarters should be in downtown Atlanta and within reasonably close proximity to the Supreme Court.
The report recognizes that anticipating office space multipliers, the addition of at least one staff member, higher rental rates and pay scales in Atlanta and other factors will result in a substantial increase in operating costs. Increased contribution will be required. One of the committee's recommendations is determined: "The State Bar of Georgia should not give further consideration at this time to build its own headquarters building (as some other state bars have done)." Jones said, "It was a wise decision at the time, I believe, we have to walk before we can run."
After the committee's recommendations were unanimously approved by the Board of Governors, the wheels moved to move from Macon to Atlanta. F. Jack Adams joins Seiler and Cleveland committee members in filing a detailed report on proposed fees and proposed increases, endorsed by the board in July 1972. Increased spending is estimated at more than $ 75,000, requiring an increase in contributions of $ 20 per year. The target date for opening a new headquarters in the Fulton National Bank building was July 1, 1973. On February 9, the contract was signed, the construction of the office was in progress and moved the packed car and was ready to leave Macon to Atlanta. Seiler, who was president of the State Bar that year, was told, in his year-end report for the annual meeting of 1973, what happened next.
"I will never forget that day," Seiler said of the planned day of February 9. "Gus Cleveland, Jack Adams and I were in Cleveland, Ohio, attending the ABA National President Bar Conference.It's very cold Cleveland, but the sky is very bright We know that winter storms are plaguing the South, and Gus and I have speculated as to whether the movement or on the right day, I picked up the Cleveland paper and the headline reads 'Heavy Snow Hits Macon, Georgia,' and I know very well that they are not talking about Cubbege Jr. or Sr. "(Cubbege Snow is the name of the legitimate father-son duo in Macon, with the third generation since joining the practice.) The snow melted a few days later, and the new office was packed on Judgment Day, May 1, 1973, two months ahead of schedule.
Performing an integral role in the move was Madrid Williams, who initially told officers about his intention to retire as executive secretary on January 1, 1973, rather than moving to Atlanta. "But he was caught in the excitement," Jones said, and instead of retiring, Williams finally personally oversaw the entire project, coordinating the transfer and purchase of equipment, furniture and decorations, as well as interviewing and hiring new staff members. "His help was invaluable during the first years after the move," said Jones about Williams, who in 1970 became one of the first women to serve as president of the National Bar Association Executive. He retired in 1976, 34 years after opening the first Georgia Bar Association office. f
According to Jones, the opposition to the move from Macon to Atlanta is virtually nonexistent, and the only reaction he received from below the Georgian lineage for pioneering the effort was the good things of his colleagues in his hometown. "When I accepted an invitation to become a partner at King & Spalding LLP firm in Atlanta on July 1, 1977, some of my friends jokingly told me I ran out of Macon because I had been instrumental in this movement," Jones said. "But I realize it would be an easier pill to swallow if the former president of Macon was the one who made the recommendation."
Jones concludes, "In my current and current assessment, it is important that the State Bar has its headquarters located in downtown Atlanta to maximize its services to Georgia lawyers, the judiciary and the general public. As the location provides ready access to the Supreme Court of Georgia, the Governor's Office, The General Assembly and other government agencies in which Bar State has transactions from time to time, which is also consistent with the tremendous growth in the number of practicing lawyers living in the Atlanta Region. "
Georgia Bar Center
In 1995, the State Bar began an effort to set up a Bar Center that would become a professional meeting place for professional members from across the state. After a complete search and struggle with financing, State Bar bought the former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. The Georgia Bar Center is reputedly the state's best bar headquarters in the United States, in the delegate assessment to the ABA mid-year meeting in 2011. This includes a conference center used to continue law education seminars and professional meetings almost daily, a law-related education program that holds more than 10,000 school children every year, State Bar offices and a number of other legal related organizations. In addition, visiting the bar members enjoy free parking while attending events in downtown Atlanta.
And adjacent to the lobby is a small museum depicting a nineteenth-century law office near the Bar Center site, where Woodrow Wilson worked hard until he left the "dull work" of legal practice and rode the train northwards in 1883.
Previous President
Previous presidents of the former Bar Association of Georgia and the State Bar of Georgia include the following.
Georgia Bar Association
This was a volunteer bar in Georgia until 1964.
State Bar of Georgia
The mandatory bar is currently instituted in 1965.
References
Georgia Bar Association President
State Bar of Georgia president
External links
- State Bar of Georgia
- How to Deal with GA State Affairs Discipline Matters - Part 1 - A white paper covering every stage of the Bar complaint process, from initial notices to the Public Formal Complaint stage reviewed by the Supreme Court of Georgia.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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