The New Jersey State Bar Association is the voice of the profession and has over 18,000 members across the state. Its mission is to serve, protect, foster and promote the personal and professional interests of its members. It also seeks access to the justice system, encourages participation in pro bono activities and encourages professionalism and pride in the community.
The association, which is based at the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick, is able to accomplish its goals through the hard work of volunteers who dedicate thousands of hours each year to making it happen.
The following is part one of a three-part series exploring the NJSBA’s efforts and organizational groups:
Promoting education
Over 36,000 people each year attend the award-winning educational seminars the New Jersey State Bar Association’s educational arm presents.
The New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE) organizes over 650 programs to help keep attorneys up-to-date on the trends and developments in the law. It offers programming in every practice area, and has had a line-up of distinguished speakers, including Watergate’s John Dean and Alan Alda, who will discuss effective communication skills at a program this month.
Government affairs
The association's nationally recognized Government Relations program advocates on behalf of NJSBA members. The NJSBA works closely with the Legislature, the governor and others on civil liability, judicial administration, budgetary issues, and other legislation that impacts the practice of law.
The NJSBA's over 80 sections, committees and divisions dedicate tremendous resources to reviewing legislation and discussing the ramifications of each measure on their clients and the practice of law. The NJSBA provides a weekly review of action in Trenton through its Capitol Report.
Amicus advocacy
The NJSBA sometimes acts as amicus curiae in pending cases before New Jersey and federal courts. Most of the time this takes place in state court, when these cases reach the Supreme Court level. However, the association does sometimes seek involvement when cases go to the U.S. Courts of Appeals and U.S. Supreme Court, such as in Ekaterina Schoenefeld v. State of New York, a case addressing the bona fide office rule.
The association’s amicus activity runs the gamut of issues, from driving while intoxicated cases to those involving the Law Against Discrimination and voir dire issues, to matters that raise questions about alimony and others that focus on statutes of limitation and the role of recall judges in New Jersey courts. Each year, the NJSBA gets involved in roughly a dozen cases.
The underlying theme of each case in which the NJSBA decides to seek amicus status is that it contains broad policy implications that could impact attorneys, their practices and their clients.