Association of the Bar of the City of New York

The New York City Bar Association (City Bar), founded in 1870, is a voluntary association of lawyers and law students. Since 1896, the organization, formally known as the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, has been headquartered in a landmark building

House of the New York City Bar Association

The House of the New York City Bar Association, located at 42 West 44th Street in Manhattan, New York, is a New York City Landmark building that has housed the New York City Bar Association since its construction in 1896.-History:...

on 44th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. Today the City Bar has over 23,000 members. Its current president, Samuel W. Seymour

Samuel W. Seymour

Samuel W. Seymour, a lawyer, is a partner at the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

, began his two-year term on May 18, 2010.

History

The Association of the Bar of the City of New York (now known as the New York City Bar Association) was founded in 1870 in response to growing public concern over corruption among judges and lawyers in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Several of its early officers, including William M. Evarts

William M. Evarts

William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York...

and Samuel Tilden, were active in seeking the removal of corrupt judges and in leading prosecutions of the notorious Tweed Ring. It counted many of the country’s most prominent lawyers among its officers, including Elihu Root

Elihu Root

Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...

, Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes

Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

, and Samuel Seabury

Samuel Seabury

Samuel Seabury was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He had been a leading Loyalist in New York City during the American Revolution.-History:Samuel Seabury was born in Groton, Connecticut in 1729...

.

By the 1960s, under the leadership of presidents Bernard Botein

Bernard Botein

Bernard Botein was a prominent New York City lawyer and judge, a legal reformer, a presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life:Bernard Botein was born to a German Jewish family on New...

and Francis T.P. Plimpton

Francis T.P. Plimpton

Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton was a diplomat, prominent New York City lawyer, partner at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early Life:...

, the Association became an increasingly democratic organization, easing restrictions on membership and actively engaging in social issues. The Association hosted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Chief Justice Earl Warren

Earl Warren

Earl Warren was the 14th Chief Justice of the United States.He is known for the sweeping decisions of the Warren Court, which ended school segregation and transformed many areas of American law, especially regarding the rights of the accused, ending public-school-sponsored prayer, and requiring...

, among others, and actively campaigned for initiatives such as the Equal Rights Amendment

Equal Rights Amendment

The Equal Rights Amendment was a proposed amendment to the United States Constitution. The ERA was originally written by Alice Paul and, in 1923, it was introduced in the Congress for the first time...

. It also played an important role in two controversial confirmation battles in the United States Supreme Court, over G. Harrold Carswell in 1970 and Robert Bork

Robert Bork

Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...

in 1987.

Since the 1980s, it has continued to diversify its membership with active recruitment efforts among women and minorities and to expand its involvement in access to justice initiatives, international human rights, and pro bono representation in many areas, including immigration

Immigration

Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, AIDS

AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

, homelessness

Homelessness

Homelessness describes the condition of people without a regular dwelling. People who are homeless are unable or unwilling to acquire and maintain regular, safe, and adequate housing, or lack "fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence." The legal definition of "homeless" varies from country...

, and criminal justice

Criminal justice

Criminal Justice is the system of practices and institutions of governments directed at upholding social control, deterring and mitigating crime, or sanctioning those who violate laws with criminal penalties and rehabilitation efforts...

.

Since 1896, the Association has been housed in its six story landmark House

House of the New York City Bar Association

at 42 West 44th Street.

Mission

The City Bar's mission, or "Objects," as stated in its Constitution, is as follows:

"The Association is established for the purposes of cultivating the science of jurisprudence, promoting reforms in the law, facilitating and improving the administration of justice, elevating the standard of integrity, honor and courtesy in the legal profession, and cherishing the spirit of collegiality among the members thereof."

Committees and public policy

The City Bar has over 150 committees that focus on legal practice areas and issues. Through reports, amicus briefs, testimony, statements and letters drafted by committee members, the City Bar comments on public policy and legislation. The City Bar’s Legislative Affairs department acts as a liaison between the committees and the New York State Legislature and New York City Council

New York City Council

The New York City Council is the lawmaking body of the City of New York. It has 51 members from 51 council districts throughout the five boroughs. The Council serves as a check against the mayor in a "strong" mayor-council government model. The council monitors performance of city agencies and...

.

Examples of committee activity and issue areas include:

Business/corporate

Statement to the Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...

transition team on financial regulation. (December 2008)
Report: The Enforceability and Effectiveness of Typical Shareholders Agreement Provisions (February 2010)

Civil Liberties/Security

Report: The Indefinite Detention of "Enemy Combatants": Balancing Due Process and National Security in the Context of the War on Terror
War on Terror
The War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...

(February 2004)
Amicus Brief: Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, before the U.S. Supreme Court (January 2006)
Letter to U.S. Senators opposing a provision in the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2011 that would require the Inspector General of the Department of Defense
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense is the U.S...

to investigate lawyers representing Guantanamo detainees in habeas corpus
Habeas corpus
is a writ, or legal action, through which a prisoner can be released from unlawful detention. The remedy can be sought by the prisoner or by another person coming to his aid. Habeas corpus originated in the English legal system, but it is now available in many nations...

proceedings or military commissions. (May 2010)

Consumer affairs

Report in support of the Consumer Credit Fairness Act, which would strengthen consumer protections in consumer debt collection proceedings. (April 2010)
Report calling on regulatory offices, the judiciary, the organized bar and the process service industry to work together to reform process service in New York City. (May 2010)

Government reform

Report: Reforming New York State's Financial Disclosure Requirements for Attorney-Legislators (February 2010)
Report on Community Benefit Agreements in New York City, urging the City to define a clear policy for considering agreements during the land use approval process for development projects. (March 2010)
Report identifying issues New York City's Charter Revision Commission should address and encouraging the Commission to conduct a deliberate examination of the entire Charter, and the principles underlying it, in detail. (April 2010)

International

Report: Human Rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

Standards Applicable to the United States' Interrogation of Detainees (April 2004)
Report on the Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...

Convention on Choice of Court Agreements (September 2006)
Report: The Prevention and Prosecution of Terrorist Acts: A Survey of Multilateral Instruments (June 2006)
Report of the Mission to China of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (December 2009)

Events

The City Bar produces hundreds of events per year, most of them through its committees. These have included:

Retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor
Sandra Day O'Connor is an American jurist who was the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. She served as an Associate Justice from 1981 until her retirement from the Court in 2006. O'Connor was appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1981...

delivered the annual Arps Lecture at the City Bar, speaking on the topics of judicial independence and civic education. (April 5, 2010)
Robert Khuzami
Robert Khuzami
Robert S. Khuzami is currently the director of the Division of Enforcement of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a former United States federal prosecutor and general counsel of Deutsche Bank AG....

, Director of the Securities and Exchange Commission's Division of Enforcement, gave his first major policy speech at the New York City Bar. (August 5, 2009)
Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...

-winning journalist Linda Greenhouse
Linda Greenhouse
Linda Greenhouse is the Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and Joseph M. Goldstein Senior Fellow at Yale Law School...

delivered the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Ruth Joan Bader Ginsburg is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. Ginsburg was appointed by President Bill Clinton and took the oath of office on August 10, 1993. She is the second female justice and the first Jewish female justice.She is generally viewed as belonging to...

Distinguished Lecture on Women and the Law. (November 18, 2008)
The City Bar bestowed honorary membership on Pakistan's former Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry is the current Chief Justice of Pakistan.He became chief justice of Pakistan's Supreme Court in 2005 and soon became not only a central figure in the nation's political struggles but an icon to the country's legal profession and others campaigning for the rule of law...

, who had become a symbol of the movement for judicial and lawyer independence in Pakistan
Pakistan
Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

. (November 17, 2008)
Preet Bharara
Preet Bharara
Preetinder S. Bharara , commonly known as Preet Bharara, is U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.-Early life and education:Bharara was born in 1968 in Firozpur, Punjab, India, to a Sikh father and Hindu mother...

, United States Attorney
United States Attorney
United States Attorneys represent the United States federal government in United States district court and United States court of appeals. There are 93 U.S. Attorneys stationed throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands...

for the Southern District of New York, delivered a lecture on the future of white collar criminal enforcement. (October 20, 2010)

Member services

The City Bar’s member services include career development workshops; networking events; a Small Law Firm Center; the Lawyer Assistance Program, which provides free counseling for members and their families struggling with substance abuse or mental health issues; a law library

Law library

A law library is a library designed to assist law students, attorneys, judges, and their law clerks and anyone else who finds it necessary to correctly determine the state of the law....

; discounts on Continuing Legal Education

Continuing Legal Education

Continuing legal education is professional education of lawyers that takes place after their initial admission to the bar. In many states in the United States, CLE participation is required of attorneys to maintain their license to practice law...

courses; insurance and other benefits; and contact info for the City Bar’s 23,000 members.

Continuing legal education

The City Bar Center for Continuing Legal Education is an accredited provider in the States of New York, New Jersey

New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

and Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

, offering over 150 live programs a year, as well as audio and video tapes, for members and non-members.

Pro bono and access to justice

Through its nonprofit affiliates, the City Bar Justice Center

City Bar Justice Center

The City Bar Justice Center provides pro bono legal services to low-income clients throughout New York City. It is part of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York Fund,Inc., a 501 corporation.- History :...

and the Cyrus R. Vance Center for International Justice, the City Bar provides pro bono

Pro bono

Pro bono publico is a Latin phrase generally used to describe professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment or at a reduced fee as a public service. It is common in the legal profession and is increasingly seen in marketing, technology, and strategy consulting firms...

legal services in New York City and supports the creation and expansion of pro bono and access to justice in other countries.

Legal Referral Service

The Legal Referral Service Committee, a joint committee of the New York City Bar Association and the New York County Lawyers’ Association, supervises the largest and oldest Lawyer Referral and Information Service in New York State and serves as a model for other such services. It was the first and is one of very few in New York to be approved by the American Bar Association. The Legal Referral Service provides referrals only to attorneys who meet specific knowledge and experience standards in the areas of law for which they want to be recommended to the public.

The Legal Referral Service is one of the few in the United States to have both lawyers and paralegals answering calls and helping direct the public to appropriate lawyers and other sources of legal information. It also serves the public by sponsoring the Association’s Monday Night Law Clinic providing free client consultations in various areas of the law, and by sponsoring a speakers bureau offering programs by skilled attorneys to community groups and others.

Evaluation of judicial candidates

The City Bar's Judiciary Committee evaluates candidates for judgeships on New York City's courts

New York City Courts

The New York City court system consists of civil, criminal, and family courts. All have a presence in each borough and have city-wide jurisdiction. Instead, New York City courts have jurisdiction in the five counties that are coterminous with the five boroughs, but in practice most cases are...

, and announces its finding of either "Approved" or "Not Approved."

The City Bar's Executive Committee, working with the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction, evaluates candidates for New York's highest court, the Court of Appeals

New York Court of Appeals

The New York Court of Appeals is the highest court in the U.S. state of New York. The Court of Appeals consists of seven judges: the Chief Judge and six associate judges who are appointed by the Governor to 14-year terms...

, issuing a finding of "Well Qualified, "Not Well Qualified" or "Exceptionally Well Qualified."

The Executive Committee, working with the Judiciary Committee, also considers the qualifications of the President's nominees to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court, issuing a finding of "Qualified," "Unqualified," or "Highly Qualified."

On June 23, 2010, the City Bar found Solicitor General Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan

Elena Kagan is an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, serving since August 7, 2010. Kagan is the Court's 112th justice and fourth female justice....

"Highly Qualified" to be a U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

National Moot Court Competition

The City Bar has sponsored the National Moot Court Competition

National Moot Court Competition

The National Moot Court Competition is the oldest, largest, and most prestigious moot court competition in the United States. Co-sponsored by the New York City Bar Association and the American College of Trial Lawyers, the competition includes 179 teams from124 law schools, who compete in regional...

in conjunction with the American College of Trial Lawyers since 1950. Over 150 law schools compete each year in the regional rounds throughout the United States. The winners advance to the final rounds, which are held at the House of the Association.

Awards

Association Medal

Established in 1951, this award is presented periodically to a member of the New York Bar who has made exceptional contributions to the honor and standing of the bar in the community. The first Association Medal was awarded to Hon. Robert P. Patterson

Robert P. Patterson

Robert Porter Patterson was the United States Under Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States Secretary of War under President Harry S. Truman from September 27, 1945 to July 18, 1947....

, posthumously, in 1952.

Bernard Botein Medal

The Bernard Botein Medal is awarded annually to Court Attaches “for outstanding contributions to the administration of the courts.” The award is meant to recognize members of the personnel attached to the courts of the First Judicial Department. The award is in memory of Bernard Botein

Bernard Botein

, a former Presiding Justice of the Appellate Division and a former President of the City Bar.

Henry L. Stimson Medal

The Henry L. Stimson Medal is presented annually to outstanding Assistant U.S. Attorneys in the Southern District and in the Eastern District of New York. The medal is awarded in honor of Henry L. Stimson

Henry L. Stimson

Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...

, who served as U.S. Attorney for the Southern District from 1906-1909 and as President of the City Bar from 1937-1939.

Thomas E. Dewey Medal

The Thomas E. Dewey medal is presented annually to an outstanding Assistant District Attorney in each of the city’s D.A. offices. Among prosecutors in New York County, Thomas E. Dewey is remembered as having ushered in the era of staffing the District Attorney’s office with professional prosecutors chosen on merit rather than political patronage. Dewey first made a name for himself as a prosecutor in the 1930s, instituting successful criminal proceedings against bootleggers and organized crime figures. By 1937, Dewey was elected District Attorney of New York County, where he served one term before resigning to run for governor.

Minority Fellowship in Environmental Law

The Minority Fellowship in Environmental Law is a joint program of the City Bar and the New York State Bar Association. It was established to encourage minorities to enter the area of environmental law by providing selected minority law students with grants for summer internships in governmental environmental agencies or nonprofit organizations, and participation in activities of the City Bar’s Committee on Environmental Law and the Environmental Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.

Thurgood Marshall Fellowship

The Thurgood Marshall Fellowship Program was established in 1993 to provide three exceptional minority law students with the opportunity to work with the City Bar to advance the goals of civil rights and equal justice that are Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall

Thurgood Marshall was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court, serving from October 1967 until October 1991...

’s legacy.

Legal Services Awards

The Legal Services Awards were established to recognize the efforts of attorneys who provide critical civil legal assistance to underprivileged people in New York City.

Katherine A. McDonald Award

The Katherine A. McDonald Award recognizes the vital services of attorneys who work in the Family Court in New York City.

Municipal Affairs Awards

The Municipal Affairs Awards were established to recognize outstanding achievement as an Assistant Corporation Counsel.

Leadership and governance

The City Bar is governed by the Office of the President and an Executive Committee, consisting of the president, three vice presidents, a treasurer, a secretary and 16 members. The president serves a term of two years, and the Executive Committee is divided equally into four classes of staggered four-year terms.

City Bar Presidents

Samuel W. Seymour
Samuel W. Seymour
Samuel W. Seymour, a lawyer, is a partner at the firm of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP and president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 2010-present
Patricia M. Hynes
Patricia Hynes
Patricia Hynes is an American trial lawyer serving the law firm Allen & Overy. She also served as former President of the New York City Bar Association.-Education and Career:...

: 2008-2010
Barry M. Kamins
Barry Kamins
Barry Kamins is a New York City Criminal Court Judge as well as an adjunct professor at the Fordham University School of Law and Brooklyn Law School.- Education :...

: 2006-2008
Bettina B. Plevan
Bettina Plevan
Bettina Plevan is a New York City lawyer, a partner at the firm Proskauer Rose LLP, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 2004-2006
E. Leo Milonas
E. Leo Milonas
E. Leo Milonas is an American lawyer who served for 26 years as a judge in New York State. He is now a partner with the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop.-Career:...

: 2002-2004
Evan A. Davis
Evan A. Davis
Evan Davis is a New York City attorney with the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 2000-2002
Michael A. Cooper
Michael A. Cooper
Michael Cooper is a lawyer, currently of counsel at the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association-Education:Michael Cooper received his A.B...

: 1998-2000
Michael A. Cardozo
Michael A. Cardozo
Michael A. Cardozo is the current Corporation Counsel for New York City, a former partner at the law firm Proskauer Rose, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 1996-1998
Barbara Paul Robinson
Barbara Paul Robinson
Barbara Paul Robinson is a New York City lawyer with the firm Debevoise & Plimpton who specializes in Trusts and Estates law, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 1994-1996
John D. Feerick
John Feerick
John D. Feerick is a law professor at Fordham University School of Law in New York City. He served as the school's eighth dean from 1982-2002. From 2002-2004, he was the Leonard F. Manning Professor of Law at Fordham, and in 2004 was named to the Sidney C. Norris Chair of Law in Public Service...

: 1992-1994
Conrad K. Harper
Conrad K. Harper
Conrad K. Harper is a New York City lawyer, a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life and education:Conrad Harper was born in Detroit, Michigan on December 2, 1940...

: 1990-1992
Sheldon Oliensis
Sheldon Oliensis
Sheldon Oliensis was a New York City lawyer, a president of the Legal Aid Society, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life and education:...

: 1988-1990
Robert M. Kaufman
Robert M. Kaufman
Robert Kaufman is a New York City attorney, a partner with the law firm Proskauer Rose, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association.-Education:...

: 1986-1988
Robert B. McKay
Robert McKay
Robert B. McKay was a dean of New York University Law School, a former president of the New York City Bar Association, and the chair of McKay Commission, which investigated the 1971 Attica Prison riot....

: 1984-1986
Louis A. Craco
Louis A. Craco
Louis A. Craco is a New York City lawyer, partner with the law firm Wilkie, Farr & Gallagher, and a former president of the New York City Bar Association-Education:...

: 1982-1984
Oscar M. Ruebhausen
Oscar M. Ruebhausen
Oscar M. Ruebhausen was a prominent New York City lawyer, and adviser to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life and education:...

: 1980-1982
Merrell E. Clark, Jr.: 1978-1980
Adrian W. DeWind
Adrian W. DeWind
Adrian W. DeWind was a tax attorney, political adviser, and founder of Human Rights Watch.-Early life and education:...

: 1976-1978
Cyrus R. Vance: 1974-1976
Orville H. Schell, Jr.: 1972-1974
Bernard Botein
Bernard Botein
Bernard Botein was a prominent New York City lawyer and judge, a legal reformer, a presiding justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life:Bernard Botein was born to a German Jewish family on New...

: 1970-1972
Francis T.P. Plimpton
Francis T.P. Plimpton
Francis Taylor Pearsons Plimpton was a diplomat, prominent New York City lawyer, partner at the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early Life:...

: 1968-1970
Russell D. Niles
Russell D. Niles
Russell D. Niles was a lawyer and expert in anti-trust law, president of the New York City Bar Association, and a dean of New York University School of Law.-Early life and education:...

: 1966-1968
Samuel I. Rosenman: 1964-1966
Herbert Brownell: 1962-1964
Orison Marden
Orison S. Marden (lawyer)
Orison Swett Marden was a New York City lawyer, a leader of the Legal Aid Society, and a president of the American Bar Association, the New York State Bar Association, and the New York City Bar Association....

: 1960-1962
Dudley B. Bonsal: 1958-1960
Louis M. Loeb
Louis M. Loeb
Louis Melville Loeb was a New York City lawyer, general counsel for The New York Times, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life and education:...

: 1956-1958
Allen T. Klots
Allen T. Klots
Allen T. Klots was a New York City lawyer and president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life and education:Allen T. Klots was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1889...

: 1954-1956
Bethuel M. Webster
Bethuel M. Webster
Bethuel M. Webster was a prominent lawyer in New York City, a president of the New York City Bar Association, and an adviser to Mayor John Lindsay.-Early life and education:...

: 1952-1954
Whitney North Seymour
Whitney North Seymour
Whitney North Seymour was a prominent New York trial lawyer and bar leader who served in the Hoover Administration and later served as the 84th president of the American Bar Association...

: 1950-1952
Robert P. Patterson
Robert P. Patterson
Robert Porter Patterson was the United States Under Secretary of War under President Franklin Roosevelt and the United States Secretary of War under President Harry S. Truman from September 27, 1945 to July 18, 1947....

: 1948-1950
Harrison Tweed
Harrison Tweed
Harrison Tweed, , was a New York City lawyer and civic leader.-Life and career:Tweed was born in New York City on October 18, 1885. He was the son of Charles Harrison Tweed, the general counsel for the Central Pacific Railroad, Chesapeake and Ohio and other affiliated railroad corporations, and...

: 1945-1948
Allen Wardwell
Allen Wardwell
Allen Wardwell , was a banking law expert, vice president of the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce in 1929, and a name partner of the law firm today known as Davis Polk & Wardwell....

: 1943-1945
William D. Mitchell
William D. Mitchell
William DeWitt Mitchell was appointed to the position of U.S. Solicitor General by Calvin Coolidge on June 4, 1925, which he held until he was appointed to the position of U.S. Attorney General for the entirety of Herbert Hoover's Presidency.Born in Winona, Minnesota to William B...

: 1941-1943
Samuel Seabury
Samuel Seabury
Samuel Seabury was the first American Episcopal bishop, the second Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, USA, and the first Bishop of Connecticut. He had been a leading Loyalist in New York City during the American Revolution.-History:Samuel Seabury was born in Groton, Connecticut in 1729...

: 1939-1941
Henry L. Stimson
Henry L. Stimson
Henry Lewis Stimson was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican Party politician and spokesman on foreign policy. He twice served as Secretary of War 1911–1913 under Republican William Howard Taft and 1940–1945, under Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the latter role he was a leading hawk...

: 1937-1939
Clarence J. Shearn
Clarence J. Shearn
Clarence John Shearn was a prominent New York City lawyer, a judge in the New York Court of Appeals, and a president of the New York City Bar Association-Early life and education:Shearn was born in Leeds, Massachusetts in 1869...

: 1935-1937
Thomas D. Thacher
Thomas D. Thacher
Thomas Day Thacher was a lawyer and judge in New York City.Thacher was born in Tenafly, New Jersey and was the oldest of four children of Thomas Thacher, a prominent New York lawyer, and Sarah McCulloh Thacher...

: 1933-1935
John W. Davis
John W. Davis
John William Davis was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served as a United States Representative from West Virginia , then as Solicitor General of the United States and US Ambassador to the UK under President Woodrow Wilson...

: 1931-1933
Charles Culp Burlingham
Charles Culp Burlingham
Charles Culp Burlingham was a prominent New York City lawyer, legal reformer, and president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life:...

: 1929-1931
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes, Sr. was an American statesman, lawyer and Republican politician from New York. He served as the 36th Governor of New York , Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States , United States Secretary of State , a judge on the Court of International Justice , and...

: 1927-1929
William D. Guthrie
William Dameron Guthrie
William Dameron Guthrie was an American lawyer and educator. He was educated in Paris, in England, and at the Columbia Law School . In his practice before the United States Supreme Court he argued the income tax, California irrigation, Illinois inheritance tax, oleomargarine, and Kansas City...

: 1925-1927
Henry W. Taft
Henry W. Taft
Henry Waters Taft was the son of Alphonso and brother of President William Howard Taft.-Biography:He graduated from Yale in 1880 with a BA, where he was a member of Skull and Bones and commencement orator of the class of 1880. Taft also studied at Cincinnati and Columbia Law Schools...

: 1923-1925
James Byrne: 1921-1923
John G. Milburn
John G. Milburn
John G. Milburn was a prominent lawyer in Buffalo, New York and New York City, a president of the New York City Bar Association, and a partner at the law firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn.-Early life:...

: 1919-1920
George L. Ingraham
George Landon Ingraham
George Landon Ingraham was a prominent lawyer and judge in New York City. Ingraham was born in New York City in 1847 to Mary Landon Ingraham and Daniel P. Ingraham, the presiding justice for the First District of the New York State Supreme Court...

: 1917-1918
George W. Wickersham
George W. Wickersham
George Woodward Wickersham was an American lawyer and Presidential Cabinet Secretary.-Biography:Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania...

: 1914-1916
William B. Hornblower
William B. Hornblower
William Butler Hornblower was a New York jurist who was unsuccessfully nominated to the United States Supreme Court by President Grover Cleveland in 1893.-Early life and education:...

: 1913-1914
Lewis Cass Ledyard
Lewis Cass Ledyard
Lewis Cass Ledyard was a New York City lawyer, a name partner at the firm Carter Ledyard & Milburn, personal counsel to J.P. Morgan, and a president of the New York City Bar Association.-Early life:...

: 1912
Francis Lynde Stetson
Francis Lynde Stetson
Francis Lynde Stetson was an American lawyer.He was born at Keeseville, New York, the son of Lemuel Stetson who served in the New York state assembly and as a representative in the 28th U. S. Congress. He was graduated from Williams College in 1867 and from Columbia Law School in 1869...

: 1910-1911
Edmund Wetmore
Edmund Wetmore
Edmund Wetmore was a prominent attorney in New York City who served as president of both the New York City Bar Association and the American Bar Association. A graduate of Harvard University and Columbia Law School, Wetmore began his legal career at the law firm of Gardiner Spring and William C....

: 1908-1909
John L. Cadwalader
John Lambert Cadwalader
-Life:John Lambert Cadwalader was born in Trenton, New Jersey, on November 17, 1836. His father was General Thomas McCall Cadwalader .On his paternal side, his grandfather was Lambert Cadwalader and his great-grandfather was Thomas Cadwalader .His mother was Maria Charlotte Gouverneur , who was...

: 1906-1907
Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...

: 1904-1905
William G. Choate
William Gardner Choate
William Gardner Choate was a United States federal judge.Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Choate received an A.B. from Harvard University in 1852 and an LL.B. from Harvard Law School in 1854...

: 1902-1903
John E. Parsons
John Edward Parsons
John Edward Parsons was a prominent lawyer in New York City and a president of the New York City Bar Association. Parsons was born in New York City in 1829 to Edward Lamb and Matilda Parsons. His father was English and his mother was descended from a prominent Wallingford, Connecticut family...

: 1900-1901
James C. Carter : 1897-1899
Joseph Larocque
Joseph Larocque (attorney)
Joseph Larocque was a prominent New York City lawyer and president of the New York City Bar Association. He was born in New York City in 1831 and educated at Columbia University. Several years after his admission to the bar, he partnered with Judge William G...

: 1895-1896
Wheeler H. Peckham: 1892-1894
Frederic Coudert: 1890-1891
Joseph H. Choate
Joseph Hodges Choate
Joseph Hodges Choate , was an American lawyer and diplomat.-Biography:He was born in Salem, Massachusetts on January 24, 1832. He was the son of physician George Choate and the brother of George C. S. Choate. His father's first cousin was Rufus Choate...

: 1888-1889
William Allen Butler
William Allen Butler
William Allen Butler was an American lawyer and writer of poetical satires.Son of the poet and lawyer Benjamin Franklin Butler and nephew of naval hero William Howard Allen, Allen graduated at the University of the City of New York in 1843 and became a New York lawyer...

: 1886-1887
James C. Carter : 1884-1885
Francis N. Bangs
Francis N. Bangs
Francis Nash Bangs was a prominent lawyer born in New York City in 1828. His father, Nathan Bangs, was a well-known Methodist minister from Stratford, Connecticut. He studied at New York University and Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1847...

: 1882-1883
Stephen P. Nash
Stephen P. Nash
Stephen P. Nash was a well-known lawyer in New York City and an expert in church law. He was born in Albany, New York to David Nash and Hannah Payn, and was a descendant of Thomas Nash, one of the original settlers of New Haven, Connecticut...

: 1880-1881
William M. Evarts
William M. Evarts
William Maxwell Evarts was an American lawyer and statesman who served as U.S. Secretary of State, U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Senator from New York...

: 1870-1879

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