Joining Bar Associations as a student member can provide access to enhance professional pathways:
- section membership allows for learning about practice specialties and indicating demonstrated practice interest;
- pro bono involvement develops contacts and legal practice skills;
- social activities provide opportunities to develop a community for future law practice (and current advice).
Even Bar Associations without formal student memberships often allow or welcome students at various events or activities. Contact the Bar Association for information, or check with a member to see if you can participate as their guest.
Here is an alphabetized list, by state, with city Bar organizations contained within each state category, to help you get started with your network and credential building.
STATE AND LOCAL BAR ASSOCIATIONS
Alabama
Alabama State Bar: http://www.alabar.org/admissions/law-student-registration.cfm
Local Bar Associations:
- Birmingham Bar Association: http://www.birminghambar.org/
- Mobile Bar Association: http://www.mobilebar.com/index.php
- Montgomery County Bar Association: http://www.mcbar.org/
- Tuscaloosa County Bar Association: http://tcba.cloverpad.org/
Alaska
Alaska Bar Association: http://www.alaskabar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Anchorage Bar Association: http://www.anchoragebarassociation.org/index.php
- Juneau Bar Association: http://juneaubarassociation.org/home
Arizona
State Bar of Arizona: http://www.azbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Phoenix: Maricopa County Bar Association: https://m360.maricopabar.org/frontend/portal/SignupOptions.aspx (student memberships available)
- Tucson: Pima County Bar Association: http://www.pimacountybar.org/web/pcba-membership-categories (student memberships available)
Arkansas
Arkansas Bar Association: https://www.arkbar.com/Member/Register.aspx; (under Membership Type, click on Student)
Local Bar Associations:
- Little Rock: Pulaski County Bar Association: http://www.pulaskibar.com/
California
State Bar of California: http://www.calbar.ca.gov/
Local Bar Associations:
- Los Angeles County Bar Association: http://www.lacba.org/showpage.cfm?pageid=1736 (student memberships available)
- Sacramento County Bar Association: https://www.sacbar.org/Join/default.aspx (student memberships available)
- San Diego County Bar Association: https://www.sdcba.org/index.cfm?pg=Join-LawSchool (student memberships available)
- The Bar Association of San Francisco: http://www.sfbar.org/membership/eligibility.aspx (student memberships available)
- San Jose: Santa Clara County Bar Association: https://m360.sccba.com/frontend/portal/SignupOptions.aspx (student memberships available)
Colorado
Colorado Bar Association: http://www.cobar.org/studentapp.cfm
Local Bar Associations:
- Denver Bar Association: http://www.denbar.org/
- El Paso County Bar Association (Colorado Springs): http://www.elpasocountybar.org/become-a-member (student memberships available)
Connecticut
Connecticut State Bar Association: https://www.ctbar.org/Information%20For/Students.aspx
Local Bar Associations:
- The Bridgeport Bar Association: http://www.bridgeportbar.org/
- Fairfield County Bar Association (Stamford): http://www.fairfieldbar.com/MembershipApplication.htm (student memberships available)
- Hartford County Bar Association: http://www.hartfordbar.org/ (student memberships available)
- New Haven County Bar Association: http://www.newhavenbar.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=34 (student memberships available)
Delaware
Delaware State Bar Association: http://www.dsba.org/index.php/about-the-dsba/membership.html
Florida
Florida Bar: http://www.floridabar.org/DIVCOM/PI/CertSect.nsf/03fa6406a4b8760185256fd4005e5cec/e4ee78271545822485256fd4005c206c?OpenDocument (scroll to the bottom of the page for student membership)
Local Bar Associations:
- Dade County Bar Association (Miami): https://www.dadecountybar.org/forms/membership_application.php
- Jacksonville Bar Association: https://www.jaxbar.org/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=4 (student membership available)
- Orange County Bar Association (Orlando): https://orangecountybar.org/membership_levels
- Tallahassee Bar Association: http://www.tallahasseebar.org/index.php
- Links to other local bar associations: https://www.floridabar.org/tfb/TFBConsum.nsf/0a92a6dc28e76ae58525700a005d0d53/2d2abb1f846d13a9852574a500635941?OpenDocument
Georgia
Georgia State Bar: http://www.gabar.org/membership/howtojoin/student-enrollment.cfm
Local Bar Associations:
- Albany: Dougherty County Bar Association: http://www.doughertybar.org/about.php
- Athens-Clarke County: Western Circuit Bar Association: http://wcbaga.org/
- Atlanta Bar Association: http://www.atlantabar.org/index.cfm
- Clayton County Bar Association: http://www.claytoncountybar.com/
- Cobb County Bar Association: http://www.cobbcountybar.org/index.cfm
- DeKalb Bar Association: http://www.dekalbbar.org/registernewmembers.cfm
- Forsyth County Bar Association: https://www.forsythbarassociation.org/
- Gwinnett County Bar Association: http://www.gcba.org/index.html
- Henry County Bar Association: http://www.henrycountybar.com/
- The Macon Bar Association: http://www.maconbar.org/
- North Fulton Bar Association: http://www.northfultonbar.com/index.htm
- Rockdale County Bar Association: http://www.rockdalebar.org/
- Savannah Bar Association: http://savannahbar.org/
- Links to other local bar associations: http://www.gabar.org/aboutthebar/lawrelatedorganizations/localvoluntarybars/index.cfm
Statewide Bar Associations:
- Georgia Alliance of African American Attorneys: http://www.gaaaa.net/
- Georgia Asian Pacific American Bar Association: http://www.gapaba.org/
- Georgia Association for Women Lawyers: http://www.gawl.org/
- Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys: http://www.gabwa.org/
- Georgia Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers: http://www.gacdl.org/
- Georgia Chapter of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers: http://www.aaml.org/chapters/georgia
- Georgia Hispanic Bar Association: http://www.georgiahispanicbar.org/
- Georgia Lawyers for the Arts: http://glarts.org/
- Georgia Real Estate Closing Attorneys Association, Inc.: http://grecaa.com/
- Georgia Trial Lawyers Association: http://www.gtla.org/GA/
- South Asian Bar Association of Georgia: http://www.indusbar.com/
- Stonewall Bar Association: http://www.stonewallbar.org/
Hawaii
Hawaii State Bar Association: http://www.hsba.org/forms_2.aspx
Idaho
Idaho State Bar: http://isb.idaho.gov/index.html
Local Bar Associations:
- Fourth District Bar Association (Boise): http://isb.idaho.gov/member_services/district_bars/4/main.html
Illinois
Illinois State Bar Association: https://www.isba.org/user/register/lawstudents
Local Bar Associations:
- The Chicago Bar Association: http://www.chicagobar.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Student_Membership (student memberships available)
- Peoria County Bar Association: https://peoriabar.org/
- Sangamon County Bar Association (Springfield): http://scba.cc/
Indiana
Indiana State Bar Association: https://www.inbar.org/Membership/Nonmembers/HowtoJoin/LawStudentApplication/tabid/90/Default.aspx
Local Bar Associations:
- Indianapolis Bar Association: http://www.indybar.org/membership/applications/student-application.php (student memberships available)
Iowa
Iowa State Bar Association: https://m360.iowabar.org/frontend/portal/SignupOptions.aspx
Local Bar Associations:
- Polk County Bar Association (Des Moines): http://pcbaonline.org/
Kansas
Kansas Bar Association: http://www.ksbar.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=27
Local Bar Associations:
- Topeka Bar Association: http://topekabar.com/membership (student memberships available)
- The Wichita Bar Association: http://www.wichitabar.org/membership.php (student memberships available)
Kentucky
Kentucky Bar Association: http://www.kybar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Lexington: Fayette County Bar Association: http://www.fcba.com/join.html (student membership available)
- Louisville Bar Association: http://www.loubar.org/join_the_lba.cfm (student membership available)
Louisiana
Louisiana Bar Association: http://www.lsba.org/2007yls/LawStudentDivision.asp
Local Bar Associations:
- Baton Rouge Bar Association: http://www.brba.org/
- New Orleans Bar Association: http://www.neworleansbar.org/membership.html (student memberships available)
- Shreveport Bar Association: https://www.shreveportbar.com/index.cfm
- Southwest Louisiana Bar Association: http://www.swlba.org/index.html
Maine
Maine Bar Association: http://www.mainebar.org/join_dues.asp
Maryland
Maryland State Bar Association: http://www.msba.org/departments/membership/join.asp
Local Bar Associations:
- Annapolis: Anne Arundel Bar Association: http://www.aabar.org/index.html
- The Bar Association of Baltimore City: http://www.baltimorebar.org/membershipform/ (student memberships available)
- Bethesda: Bar Association of Montgomery County: http://www.montbar.org/
Massachusetts
Massachusetts Bar Association: http://www.massbar.org/membership/dues-structure-and-rates
Local Bar Associations:
- Boston Bar Association: http://www.bostonbar.org/membership/join-or-renew (student memberships available)
- Cambridge: Middlesex County Bar Association: http://www.middlesexbar.org/
- Greater Lowell Bar Association: http://greaterlowellbar.org/
- Salem County Bar Association: http://www.salemcountybar.org/ (student memberships available)
- Worcester County Bar Association: http://www.worcestercountybar.org/index.php
Michigan
State Bar of Michigan: http://www.michbar.org/lawstudent/pdfs/LSS.pdf
Local Bar Associations:
- Ann Arbor: Washtenaw County Bar Association: http://www.washbar.org/ (student memberships available)
- Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association: http://www.detroitlawyer.org/joinnow.html (student memberships available)
- Grand Rapids Bar Association: http://www.grbar.org/registernewmembers.cfm (student memberships available)
Minnesota
Minnesota State Bar: https://practicelaw.org/msbaMemberApp/home.php
Local Bar Associations:
- Minneapolis: Hennepin County Bar Association: https://www.hcba.org/Members/Join.aspx (student memberships available)
- St. Paul: Ramsey County Bar Association: http://www.ramseybar.org/index_join.html (student memberships available)
Mississippi
Mississippi Bar: http://www.msbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Jackson: Capital Area Bar Association: http://www.caba.ms/join.html (student membership available)
Missouri
Missouri Bar: http://www.mobar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association: http://www.kcmba.org/JoinUs/JoinUs.htm (student memberships available)
- Springfield Metropolitan Bar Association: http://www.smba.cc/JoiningInformation.cfm (student memberships available)
- The Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis: http://www.bamsl.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=15 (student memberships available)
Montana
State Bar of Montana: http://www.montanabar.org/
Nebraska
Nebraska State Bar Association: http://www.nebar.com/
Local Bar Associations:
- Lincoln Bar Association: http://lincolnbarassociation.org/
- Omaha Bar Association: http://www.omahabarassociation.com/ (student memberships available)
Nevada
State Bar of Nevada: http://www.nvbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Las Vegas: Clark County Bar Association: http://www.clarkcountybar.org/index.php?option=com_acctexp&task=NotAllowed (student memberships available)
- Reno: Washoe County Bar Association: http://www.wcbar.org/member_information.php
New Hampshire
New Hampshire Bar Association: http://www.nhbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Manchester Bar Association: http://manchesterbar.org/
New Jersey
New Jersey State Bar Association: http://www.njsba.com/become-a-member/index.html
Local Bar Associations:
- Camden County Bar Association: http://www.camdencountybar.org/
- Elizabeth: Union County Bar Association: http://www.uclaw.com/
- Jersey City: Hudson County Bar Association: http://www.hcbalaw.com/Home.aspx
- Newark: Essex County Bar Association: http://www.essexbar.com/membership.aspx (student memberships available)
- Trenton: Mercer County Bar Association: http://www.mercerbar.com/index.htm (student memberships available)
New Mexico
State Bar of New Mexico: http://www.nmbar.org/Attorneys/dues/membership.html (scroll down)
Local Bar Associations:
- Albuquerque Bar Association: http://www.abqbar.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=3 (student memberships available)
New York
New York State Bar Association: http://www.nysba.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Membership&template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=69279
Local Bar Associations:
- Albany County Bar Association: http://www.albanycountybar.com/membership/ (student memberships available)
- Buffalo: Bar Association of Erie County: http://www.eriebar.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=79 (student memberships available)
- New York City Bar: http://www.nycbar.org/law-students/law-student-overview (student membership available)
- Rochester: Monroe County Bar Association: http://www.mcba.org/AboutUs/Membership/ (student memberships available)
- Syracuse: Onondaga County Bar Association: http://www.onbar.org/2012%20Membership%20Two%20Page.pdf (student memberships available)
North Carolina
North Carolina Bar Association: http://www.ncbar.org/membership/membership-types, application: http://www.ncbar.org/membership/membership-applications
Local Bar Associations:
- Asheville: 28th Judicial District Bar: http://www.28thjdb.com/for-members
- Charlotte: Mecklenburg County Bar Association: http://www.meckbar.org/
- Durham Bar Association: http://www.durhambar.org/
- Raleigh: Wake County Bar Association: http://www.wakecountybar.org/
North Dakota
State Bar Association of North Dakota: http://www.sband.org/
Ohio
Ohio State Bar Association: https://www.ohiobar.org/Membership/Join/Pages/StaticPage-272.aspx
Local Bar Associations:
- Akron Bar Association: http://www.akronbar.org/home.cstm
- Cincinnati Bar Association: http://www.cincybar.org/membership/join-the-cba/index.php (student memberships available)
- Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association: http://www.clemetrobar.org/membership/ (student memberships available)
- Columbus Bar Association: http://www.cbalaw.org/membership/join-renew.php (student memberships available)
- Dayton Bar Association: http://www.daybar.org/membership/applications/ (student memberships available)
Oklahoma
Oklahoma Bar Association: http://www.okbar.org/members/lawstudent/
Local Bar Associations:
- Muskogee County Bar Association: http://muskogeecountybar.net/index.php
- Oklahoma City: Oklahoma County Bar Association: http://www.okcbar.org/index.cfm
- Tulsa County Bar Association: http://www.tulsabar.com/shell.asp?pg=61 (student memberships available)
Oregon
Oregon State Bar: http://www.osbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Eugene: Lane County Bar Association: https://www.lanecountybar.org/
- Portland: Multnomah Bar Association: https://mbabar.org/Membership/JoinRenew.html (student memberships available)
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Bar Association: http://www.pabar.org/public/Membership/dues.asp
Local Bar Associations:
- Harrisburg: Dauphin County Bar Association: http://www.dcba-pa.org/
- Philadelphia Bar Association: https://www.philadelphiabar.org/page/BecomeAMember?appNum=1 (student memberships available)
- Pittsburgh: Allegheny County Bar Association: http://www.acba.org/ACBA/Members/Membership-Types.asp (student memberships available)
- Scranton: Lackawanna Bar Association: http://www.lackawannabar.org/
Rhode Island
Rhode Island Bar Association: https://www.ribar.com/Login/Login.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fMembers%2fDefault.aspx, application: https://www.ribar.com/UserFiles/File/CMSUploadFiles/dues%20structure%20for%20website%202011.pdf
South Carolina
South Carolina Bar: http://www.scbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Charleston County Bar Association: http://www.charlestonbar.org/
- Columbia: Richland County Bar Association: http://www.richbar.org/Home.aspx
- Greenville County Bar Association: http://www.greenvillecountybar.org/
- Spartanburg County Bar Association: http://spartanburgcountybar.org/
South Dakota
State Bar of South Dakota: http://www.sdbar.org/
Tennessee
Tennessee Bar Association: http://www.tba.org/law-student-membership
Local Bar Associations:
- Chattanooga Bar Association: http://www.chattbar.org/www
- Knoxville Bar Association: www.knoxbar.org/
- Memphis Bar Association: https://m360.memphisbar.org/frontend/portal/signup.aspx?path=57 (student membership available)
- Nashville Bar Association: http://www.nashvillebar.org/
Texas
State Bar of Texas: http://www.texasbar.com/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Law_Student_Info&Template=/CM/HTMLDisplay.cfm&ContentID=19605
Local Bar Associations:
- Amarillo Area Bar Association: http://www.amarillobar.org/
- Austin Bar Association: https://www.austinbar.org/pages/signup (student memberships available)
- Corpus Christi Bar Association: http://www.ccbar.com/index.html
- Dallas Bar Association: http://www.dallasbar.org/membership (student memberships available)
- El Paso Bar Association: http://elpasobar.com/bar_association/become_a_member (student memberships available)
- Fort Worth: Tarrant County Bar Association: https://www.tarrantbar.org/Membership/MembershipDues.aspx (student memberships available)
- Houston Bar Association: http://www.hba.org/student-law-center/ (student memberships available)
- Lubbock Area Bar Association: http://www.lcba.org/membership.html (student memberships available)
- San Antonio Bar Association: http://www.sabar.org/index.cfm
Utah
Utah State Bar: http://www.utahbar.org/
Local Bar Associations:
- Salt Lake County Bar Association: http://www.utahbar.org/bars/slcbar/html/committees.html
Vermont
Vermont Bar Association: https://www.vtbar.org/FOR%20ATTORNEYS/Join%20the%20VBA/Membership%20Dues%20Structure.aspx
Virginia
Virginia Bar Association: http://vba.affiniscape.com/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=35
Local Bar Associations:
- Alexandria Bar Association: http://www.alexandriabarva.org/membership.html (student membership available)
- Arlington County Bar Association: http://www.arlingtonbar.org/Become_a_Member.html (student membership available)
- Charlottesville Albemarle Bar Association: http://www.cabaonline.org/
- Fredericksburg Area Bar Association: http://www.fredericksburgareabar.org/
- Norfolk and Portsmouth Bar Association: http://www.norfolkandportsmouthbar.org/LawStudent.html (student membership available)
- The Bar Association of the City of Richmond: http://www.richmondbar.org/join.htm (student membership available)
Washington
Washington State Bar Association: http://www.wsba.org/Law-Students
Local Bar Associations:
- Olympia: Thurston County Bar Association: http://thurstoncountybar.com/home/membership/
- Seattle: King County Bar Association: https://www.kcba.org/secure/JoinKCBA.aspx#.UEjEcyLEKNo (student memberships available)
West Virginia
West Virginia Bar Association: http://www.wvbarassociation.org/lsd.asp
Local Bar Association:
- Clarksburg: Harrison County Bar Association: http://www.harrisoncountybarassociation.com/
Wisconsin
State Bar of Wisconsin: http://images.wisbar.org/Template.cfm?Section=Law_Students1&Template=/CustomSource/LawStudents/Index.cfm&area=3
Local Bar Associations:
- Madison: Dane County Bar Association: https://www.dcba.net/index.html
- Milwaukee Bar Association: https://www.milwbar.org/membershipinfo/member-application.aspx (student memberships available)
Wyoming
Wyoming State Bar: http://wyomingbar.org/
Washington, D.C.
The District of Columbia Bar: http://www.dcbar.org/