District of Columbia Bar

The District of Columbia Bar (DCB) is the mandatory bar association of the District of Columbia. It administers the admissions, licensing, and discipline functions for lawyers licensed to practice in the District. It is to be distinguished from the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, which is a voluntary bar. History Congress first established judicial courts for the District of Columbia in an act of February 27, 1801, but it wasn't until 1871 that the Bar Association of the District of Columbia formed as a voluntary association to support lawyers practicing in those courts. Membership in that organization was restricted to whites, so non-white lawyers formed the otherwise similar Washington Bar Association. The BADC was integrated in the mid-1950s but the two organizations remain separate, and membership in either remained voluntary. Until 1970, the U.S. District Court maintained admissions and discipline through its Committee on Admissions and Grievances; it was not heavily funded, criticized for laxity and known for not disbarring lawyers for misconduct. In 1956, the Judicial Conference of the D.C. Circuit recommended the establishment of a unified bar in the District of Columbia, but this required an Act of Congress for which there was insufficient support.