We’re often told it’s not a good idea to represent yourself in a court of law and with good reason.
You probably don’t have the self-awareness to present your own case as well as someone else would. You probably don’t have the time or resources to understand things as complex as the rules of evidence and procedure, and you will probably have more than enough to worry about during your trial just as a witness and as a defendant. It’s near-idiotic to represent yourself in court, and if you can avoid it, you should.
— The Guardian, 4/26/16
Thanks to the esquire class, everything from local laws to federal legislation has been conflated with gobbledygook meant to discourage private citizens from deciphering concepts left to contractors who will charge outrageous hourly fees with no guarantee of positive outcome.
Between cinematic and primetime representations, we’re to be in awe of lawyers. Even Supreme Court nominees are certified by the American Bar Association. Prospective lawyers are required to take “bar examinations” in certain states before they’re allowed to practice in local and state courts.
But why is it a requirement? You’d think these “bar” associations are an official, taxpayer-accountable wing of state and federal judicial systems.
They are NOT.
They are… nonprofit organizations.
Almost every state has a bar association, and unfortunately, it would take a lawyer to contest the Constitutionality of a state giving a dot org the ability to determine who can operate within the public legal system.
A mandatory or integrated bar association is one to which a state delegates the authority to regulate the admission of attorneys to practice in that state; typically these require membership in that bar association to practice in that state. Mandatory bars derive their power from legislative statute and/or from the power of the state court system to regulate practice before it. In the other states, membership in the bar associations is voluntary. In some states, a mandatory organization exists primarily for the purpose of regulating admission to practice, while a voluntary organization exists for other purposes. For example, in Virginia, the Virginia State Bar is the mandatory organization and the Virginia Bar Association is voluntary.
— Wikipedia
There are not a lot of professions in the United States where a state can deny you employment unless you get approval and certification by an entity unaccountable to the citizens within. While some “mandatory” bars have an official legislative origin and structure, most do not as almost ALL of the state bars are tax-exempt nonprofits.
Alabama: alabar.org — Alaska: alaskabar.org — California: calbar.org — Colorado: cobar.org
Connecticut: ctbar.org — Delaware: dsba.org — District of Columbia: dcbar.org — Florida: flabar.org
Georgia: gabar.org — Hawaii: hsba.org — Illinois: isba.org — Indiana: inbar.org — Iowa: iowabar.org
Kansas: ksbar.org — Kentucky: kybar.org — Louisiana: lsba.org — Maine: mainebar.org
Maryland: msba.org — Massachusetts: massbar.org — Michigan: michbar.org
Minnesota: mnbar.org Mississippi: msbar.org — Missouri: mobar.org — Montana: montanabar.org
Nevada: nvbar.org — New Hampshire: nhbar.org — New Mexico: nmbar.org — New York: nysba.org
North Dakota: sband.org Ohio: ohiobar.org — Oklahoma: okbar.org — Oregon: osbar.org
Pennsylvania: pabar.org — South Carolina: scbar.org — South Dakota: sdbar.org — Tennessee: tba.org
Utah: utahbar.org — Vermont: vtbar.org — Virginia: vsb.org — Washington: wsba.org
West Virginia: wvbar.org — Wisconsin: wisbar.org — Wyoming: wyomingbar.org
Most nonprofits depend on volunteers to help perform it’s mission. For some reason, members of state bars aren’t asked to volunteer. They’re required to pay “dues”.
Those dues come in handy as self-celebrations don’t come cheap.
Bar nonprofits could be considered rather unseemly for a profession built on serving customers who mostly are in need of representation during time of varying duress, requires clients to pay outrageous fees, there’s no guarantee of a positive outcome while making it quite prohibitive for a person to do it his or herself.
And be clear, state bars operate in the best interests of the esquires; not of potential or current clients.
It would be nice if there were more options like “People’s Court” so conflicts could be adjudicated quickly, without the mandatory involvement of people who may or may not be good at what they’re paid very well to do. Lawyers are like everyone else with the exception of having dot orgs all around the country created to remind us that we’re to be in awe of them, no matter the cost.
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