[Ed. Note: This post was written for Above the Law by Hilarie Bass, President of the American Bar Association]
I read the recent Above the Law column titled, “The ABA Is Losing Money Because It Does Not Provide Value to Small Firms,” with interest, as the very first goal of the American Bar Association’s mission is to serve our members. This entails providing benefits, programs and services that promote members’ professional growth and quality of life.
The ABA knows that providing value to lawyers will be the key to attracting and keeping members. We value all our members, whether they come from big firms, small firms, public service, the judiciary, law schools, or anywhere else in the profession. The ABA welcomes anyone who wants to improve and contribute to the legal profession.
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Our association understands that it needs to prove its value to both current members as well as lawyer non-members. The ABA has spent a lot of time and effort recently developing new ways to provide value to solo and small firm lawyers and will continue those efforts.
Programs, such as ABA Blueprint — which provides a collection of products and services offered at deep discounts to help lawyers run a modern, efficient firm — is one such area. It is a one-stop online shop for ABA members that provides access to a suite of law practice management services. These services are packaged to give lawyers, particularly solos and small-firm lawyers, access to online advice and provide much-needed help managing the administrative complexities of their legal practices.
ABA Blueprint launched last year. Now that we have had a chance to interact with users, we are in the process of adding new features. These include substantive content generated from ABA groups, including the Law Practice Division; the Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division; the Young Lawyers Division; the Section on Litigation, as well as third-party content, such as blog posts and podcasts.
The next version of ABA Blueprint will also have a more robust tech infrastructure, leveraging artificial intelligence and blockchain. This will allow us to scale the application quicker and provide members with more services.
The ABA also offers a large portfolio of insurance products, including cyber liability, life, disability, dental, vision and travel insurance for ABA members. The coverage can be tailored to meet a law firm’s unique needs, and the ABA Insurance website has a dedicated portal for solo and small firms.
Our next ABA president will be Robert M. Carlson, a member of a small firm in Billings, Mt., who has already brought first-hand experience about the needs of smaller firms to ABA leadership. To improve the worth of a membership, we are working on simplifying the ABA’s dues structure and bundling some ABA services to offer better value.
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The ABA, like many associations today, must continually assess what we provide our members and must look for innovative ways to enhance the appeal of membership. As many baby boomer lawyers retire from the profession, we need to adapt. Younger lawyers may find some of the reasons their older colleagues joined the ABA (professional socializing, civic engagement, access to unique written material) can be achieved through new technologies. But the value the ABA offers still is vibrant and relevant for the 21st century.
The ABA is much more than a trade association. In addition to serving its members, the ABA also seeks to improve the profession, to enhance diversity and inclusion within the legal community, and to advance the rule of law. The work of the ABA centers on helping lawyers, but radiates out much further, aiding citizens’ ability to receive justice and bolstering the institutions that protect our democracy.
Hilarie Bass, President of the American Bar Association