I've got a pile of renewal notices from the ABA staring at me. I've blown them off for almost a year, refusing to rejoin in protest of their curriculum policy, which I find reprehensible.
I'm starting to wonder if this is the best course of action though.
1) Discounts. I think this is the weakest reason to join an organization, but it is a factor to consider. Ultimately there's very few discounts that I could benefit from, especially at this late renewal date, but one is a discount on the PMBR review. I think the discount is slightly more than the cost of ABA renewal, so there would be a savings overall, although very minimal. I'm also not comfortable with the idea of saving myself money at the expense of a principle.
2) Are my concerns best advanced by refusing to join? The ABA does a lot of stuff. Sometimes I think it performs a valuable service; sometimes I think it's a menace. In my rough estimation, it seems like it's recently been a menace more often than it was valuable, but when I thought it was valuable, I thought it was really valuable.
The fact of the matter is that the ABA is a large organization and it does command focus on the practice, perhaps effectively. Might it make sense to join and try to change it from within? Or would joining inadvertently send a message of acceptance to its more negative policies?
Right now my question is limited to whether or not to maintain my student membership. But soon they will come asking me to be a real-life grown-up member. What then? Should the answer change when the membership is no longer so easy to afford?
I suppose there's also the question of the networking value it could offer, of particular relevance right now since I don't have a job. But I wonder how great an advantage it truly provides. I once considered going to an IP-related event that was happening in San Francisco last year, when I was just a convenient BART ride away, but it was hideously expensive. There seemed to be no real advantage to being a student member at all.
Which raises the question of whether the ABA can actually satisfy any of my needs, now or in the future, and whether it's an unforgivable shortcoming if it cannot.
Edit 3/10: There's a thread on the Volokh Conspiracy about other objections to the ABA.
Comments (4)
I have never been a member of the ABA and don't believe that it serves me in any particular way. If I were a trial lawyer, or worked on federal matters, I might feel differently, but as a local government attorney I feel like the state bar gives me enough (some might say too much) representation (not to mention the fact that my real affinity group is the city attorney's section of teh League of California Cities, which I would gladly pay dues to if dues were asked for).
Mark
Posted by Mark | March 8, 2006 3:44 PM
Posted on March 8, 2006 15:44
You don't use the ABA as a source for malpractice insurance or any other support as a solo practitioner?
Posted by Cathy | March 8, 2006 6:40 PM
Posted on March 8, 2006 18:40
Nope... I get my malpractice insurance through a state bar-sponsored program, but it wouldn't be especially hard (or more expensive) to get it directly through the market.
My impression is that, in general, other than lobbying-type things, the services provided by the ABA are largely duplicative of what you can get from a state or county bar association. And, frankly, most of these services arn't especially useful, and certainly arn't difficult to obtain otherwise if needed.
I've always thought that the main reason folks join the ABA was either to participate in its lobbying or to be able to list it on their resume (since some small time clients might be impressed).
Mark
Posted by Mark | March 8, 2006 9:18 PM
Posted on March 8, 2006 21:18
I skipped PMBR and just did the basic BarBri and I felt just fine (and saved a fair amount of money).
My feeling is that BarBri is essential-- PMBR isn't.
Mark
Posted by Mark | March 8, 2006 9:20 PM
Posted on March 8, 2006 21:20