1876
The rise of formally organized bar associations in the second half of the nineteenth century was an integral development in the history of the legal profession. The first bar association in the United States was founded in New York City in February 1870 in direct response to concerns about corruption in the judiciary and declining ethical standards among members of the bar.[1]
In 1875, a New York City Bar Association committee issued a report recommending the creation of a statewide bar association dedicated to improving and elevating the quality of the bar and providing the state’s then estimated 6,000 to 7,000 lawyers with the opportunity to “be heard on the higher topics of the rights of persons, the administration of government, the security of property, the philosophy of jurisprudence, the history of the law, the suggestions of progress, the victories of reform.”[2]
On November 21, 1876, 91 delegates representing lawyers from every judicial district across the state assembled in Albany and voted to establish the nation’s first voluntary statewide bar association. Under the new association’s constitution, membership was open to any lawyer in good standing who had been admitted to practice in the state for three years. State and federal judges were deemed honorary members. An admission fee of $5 was established, with yearly dues of $5 (approximately $150 in 2025).[3]
The New York State Association (NYSBA) was the nation’s first state bar capable of undertaking legislative advocacy and developing public policy proposals to improve the legal profession and the administration of justice. A March 1876 New York Times editorial underscored the need for a statewide bar association to address the “many irregularities and evils” that “can never be amended except by a unified effort among the better members of the profession,” including “raising the standard of admission to the profession” and stemming the flood of “half prepared young lawyers . . . which has prevailed for the last few years.”[4]
Reflecting the anti-elitist attitudes of the Jacksonian era, the New York State Constitution of 1846 established low barriers of entry to the legal profession, providing merely that “any male citizen of the age of twenty-one years, of good moral character, and who possesses the requisite qualifications of learning and ability is entitled to admission to practice in all the courts of this State.”[5] While an oral examination was required, it was often casually administered by a friendly judge or practicing lawyer.[6] As to good moral character, affidavits and attestations of reputable persons were generally sufficient. The minimal admission requirements made a career in the law “an attractive route for men on their way up in the world,” but at a time when few law schools existed and aspiring lawyers had to rely on whatever training they could obtain through apprenticeships with practicing lawyers the influx of newcomers to the bar often lacked adequate preparation.[7]
From its inception, NYSBA’s leaders were focused on advancing the public good and maintaining public confidence in the quality and integrity of the bar and bench. NYSBA’s first President, John K. Porter, a highly respected advocate and former Judge of the Court of Appeals who had been involved in many of the famous cases of his era, including the prosecution of Charles J. Guiteau, President James J. Garfield’s assassin, addressed the members at the first annual meeting in 1877.[8]
We are strengthened by association with each other. The standard of professional integrity and honor is elevated by mutual intercourse, and by the consciousness that our own status is determined by the enlightened judgment of our brethren. The weight of the profession in the community and its influence upon public affairs are greatly increased when it is known that the ends that they aim to promote are not those of personal ambition, or individual rivalry, but such as are identified with the general good, the advancement of the highest interest of society, the perfecting of our system of jurisprudence, the maintenance of public order and the stability of private rights.[9]
In 1877, the legislature passed “An Act to Incorporate the New York State Bar Association” which defined the new organization’s purposes: “[T]o cultivate the science of jurisprudence, to promote reform in the law, to facilitate the administration of justice, to elevate the standard of integrity, honor and courtesy in the profession, and to cherish the spirit of brotherhood among the members thereof.”[10] In furtherance of its mission, NYSBA continued to advocate for enhanced bar admission standards and supported the legislature’s creation in 1895 of a State Board of Law Examiners to develop and administer a uniform bar exam to all candidates seeking admission to the bar.[11]
NYSBA is now the oldest and largest voluntary state bar association in continuous existence in the nation with a membership that has grown to 74,000 in 2025. Over its history NYSBA has been led by many renowned lawyers and judges, including Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court Charles Evans Hughes; Chief Judges of the Court of Appeals William C. Ruger and Alton B. Parker as well as many Associate Judges; corporate lawyer Joseph H. Choate; Secretary of State Elihu Root; Court of Appeals Judge and noted reformer Samuel Seabury; and legal education reformer Robert MacCrate.
[1] Wheeler H. Peckham, “The Association of the Bar,” History of the Bench and Bar of New York Vol. I, New York History Co., 1897, at 197.
[2] Henry M. Greenberg, “The Birth of the New York State Bar Association,” Apr. 13, 2022, available at The Birth of the New York State Bar Association – New York State Bar Association, quoting Committee Report, New York Daily Register, Vol. IX, No. 90, at 737–38 (April 17, 1876).
[3] Greenberg, supra.
[4] Id., quoting “A State Bar Association,” New York Times, March 3, 1876
[5] New York State Constitution of 1846, Art. VI, Sec. 8.
[6] Susan Katcher, “Legal Training in the United States: A Brief History,” Wisconsin International Law Journal, July 2006, at 346.
[7] Deborah S. Gardner & Christine G. McKay, Of Practical Benefit: New York State Bar Association 1876-2001, New York St. Bar Assn., 2003, at 6; see also Henry Wyans Jessup, “Legal Education in New York,” History of the Bench and Bar of New York Vol. I, New York History Co., 1897, at 179.
[8] Greenberg, supra.
[9] Id.
[10] 1877 N.Y. Laws Ch. 210, § 1.
[11] L. 1895, Ch. 946.