The Philadelphia Bar Association, founded in 1802, is America's first chartered metropolitan bar association. Its founders and early leaders included several of the nation's founders. It was originally formed by a small group of Philadelphia lawyers who gathered together to share law books and professional resources.

Founded as the Law Library Company of Philadelphia it was later incorporated as the Law Association and then the Bar Association. Over the years its members have included some of the nation's most prominent lawyers, judges, public servants, business, civic and community leaders.

The 13,000-member Philadelphia Bar Association, founded in 1802, is America's first chartered metropolitan bar association and Pennsylvania's largest local bar association. As such, it is a keystone in the ongoing developments of the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania legal systems.

Attorneys, judges, and politicians alike look to the Philadelphia Bar Association for guidance on controversial legal issues; and for an organized meeting ground for professional support and information sharing.

Non-lawyers of the Philadelphia community count on, and look to, the Philadelphia Bar Association for general information on how to address their legal issues and where they can go to find additional information and help.

With more than 200 years of dedicated service to stand on, the Philadelphia Bar Association is firmly rooted in the Philadelphia community as a steady and reliable bellwether.

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Philadelphia Bar Association

Lawyers Referral & Information Service

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215-238-6333

http://lris.philadelphiaorg

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Board of Governors

The Bar Association has forever been associated with the term "Philadelphia Lawyer." The term actually predates the nation's founding, having its origins in 1735 when Philadelphia lawyer Andrew Hamilton traveled to New York City to defend a poor printer, John Peter Zenger.

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 Hamilton won the case and, in so doing, established the concept of freedom of the press more than 50 years before the First Amendment. It was said that when the jury returned its verdict those in the galleries exclaimed: "Only a Philadelphia lawyer could have done it!" Ever since then the term "Philadelphia lawyer" has come to characterize a particularly adept lawyer: more clever; craftier; a lawyer who will find a way to prevail for his/her client.

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The Philadelphia Bar Association is proud to represent lawyers who are heirs to America's founders in the city where America was born. It's commitment to liberty and justice to all lies at the heart of the Association's mission: to serve the profession and the public by promoting justice, professional excellence and respect for the rule of law. In so doing, the Association strives to foster understanding of, involvement in and access to the justice system.