Maine State Bar Association

Maine State Bar Association
Type	Legal Society
Headquarters	Augusta, ME
Location	United States
Membership	3,100 in 2013^[1]
Website	http://www.mainebar.org/

The Maine State Bar Association (MSBA) is a voluntary bar association for the state of Maine.

The Maine State Bar Association was formally created by an act of the Maine Legislature on March 6, 1891 "for the purpose of promoting the interests of the legal profession and of instituting legal reforms." The first meeting was held in the State House on March 19, 1891. Annual dues were set at one dollar and there were 281 members that first year.^[2]

A relatively progressive bar, MSBA welcomed its first woman member, Eva Bean of Old Orchard Beach, in 1911. Previous to the formal creation of the MSBA, the Maine bar had admitted Macon Allen, the first African American admitted to the practice of law anywhere in the United States, in 1844. Other landmarks include the 1970 establishment of the Maine Bar Foundation to raise funds for legal assistance to the indigent, the 1972 establishment of the MSBA's Lawyer Referral and Information Service to help people of moderate means obtain legal services, and a successful effort starting in the 1980s to increase donated legal services provided by volunteer lawyers to low-income people,

Among MSBA's publications are the Maine Bar Journal and various newsletters by its sections.

The organization is directed by a Board of elected Governors, included 11 elected by geographical districts, one each for In-House Counsel, Public Service Sector and the Young Lawyers Section, and the organization's officers (president, president-elect, vice president, immediate past president, and treasurer.) ^[3]

MSBA does not handle matters such as law licensing or complaints against lawyers; these are within the purview of two arms of the Maine Judiciary, the Board of Bar Examiners and the Board of Overseers of the Bar.^[4]

References

↑ Maine Bar Overview, Martindale Hubbell, retrieved 2013-02-13
↑ MSBA History, Maine State Bar Association, retrieved 2013-02-13
↑ Association Governance, Maine State Bar Association, retrieved 2013-02-13
↑ MSBA Today, Maine State Bar Association, retrieved 2013-02-13

State bar associations

Unified State Bars	Alabama State Bar Alaska Bar Association State Bar of Arizona State Bar of California District of Columbia Bar The Florida Bar State Bar of Georgia Hawaii State Bar Association Idaho State Bar Kentucky Bar Association Louisiana State Bar Association State Bar of Michigan The Mississippi Bar The Missouri Bar State Bar of Montana Nebraska State Bar Association State Bar of Nevada New Hampshire Bar Association State Bar of New Mexico North Carolina State Bar State Bar Association of North Dakota Oklahoma Bar Association Oregon State Bar Rhode Island Bar Association South Carolina Bar State Bar of South Dakota State Bar of Texas Utah State Bar Virginia State Bar Washington State Bar Association State Bar of Wisconsin Wyoming State Bar

Voluntary State Bars	Arkansas Bar Association Colorado Bar Association Connecticut Bar Association Delaware State Bar Association Illinois State Bar Association Indiana State Bar Association Iowa State Bar Association Kansas Bar Association Maine State Bar Association Maryland State Bar Association Massachusetts Bar Association Minnesota State Bar Association New Jersey State Bar Association New York State Bar Association North Carolina Bar Association Ohio State Bar Association Pennsylvania Bar Association Tennessee Bar Association Vermont Bar Association Virginia Bar Association

U.S. Commonwealth Bar Associations	American Samoa Bar Association Guam Bar Association Northern Mariana Islands Bar Association Bar Association of Puerto Rico Virgin Islands Bar Association

National Minority Bar Associations	National Native American Bar Association Hispanic National Bar Association National Asian Pacific American Bar Association National Bar Association Puerto Rican Bar Association

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