State Bar of Georgia

The purposes of the State Bar of Georgia is:(a) to foster among the members of the bar of this State the principles of duty and service to the public;(b) to improve the administration of justice; and(c) to advance the science of law.

All attorneys licensed to practice in the State of Georgia must be members of the State Bar of Georgia. [Bylaws of the State Bar of Georgia, Article I, Section 1] As of October, 2007, the Georgia Bar comprised 39,462 total members.

This organization maintains and enforces the Georgia Rules of Professional Conduct and may institute disciplinary action for violations, including disbarment, suspension, public reprimand, review panel reprimand, investigative panel reprimand, or a formal admonishion of an attorney.

Gerald M. Edenfield is the current president of the State Bar of Georgia. The executive director is Cliff Brashier.

The State Bar of Georgia is located at 104 Marietta Street, NW in Downtown Atlanta. This is the same building where the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta was located up to 2001 before it moved to Midtown.

History

The State Bar of Georgia was created pursuant to the authority of the Supreme Court of Georgia and the Act of the Georgia General Assembly approved by the Governor on March 11, 1963 (Georgia Laws 1963, page 70). Efforts to bring about a unified bar in Georgia began in the late 1920's and continued almost without interruption. In 1963 the General Assembly passed an Act (Ga. L. 1963, p. 70) which recites that ". . . the Supreme Court of this State shall be authorized, upon a petition presented by the Georgia Bar Association, to establish, as an administrative arm of the court, a unified self-governing bar association to be known as the 'State Bar of Georgia' composed of all persons now or hereafter licensed to practice law in this State." This Act recited that it gave the Supreme Court authority, upon recommendation of the Georgia Bar Association, to adopt rules and regulations for the organization of a unified bar and to define the rights, duties and obligations of members, including payment of a reasonable license fee, and to otherwise regulate and govern the practice of law in Georgia. [cite court
litigants=Wallace v. Wallace
vol=225
reporter=Ga.
opinion=102
pinpoint=
court=
date=1969
url=] Pursuant to this grant of authority, the Supreme Court of Georgia created and established the State Bar of Georgia by court order on December 6, 1963. [Minutes of the Supreme Court at Volume 34, page 107]

External links

* [http://www.gabar.org State Bar of Georgia]

References