I don’t know if there is an official count, but there are countless “Bar” associations in Illinois. Off the top of my head: Chicago, Illinois, Cook County, South Suburban, Lake County, Northwest, DuPage, Will, Gay,Hispanic, Women, Asian, Workers Comp, Divorce, Collections, Peoria, Urbana, Decatur, Kane, Winnebago, Puerto Rican, Helenic, Arab-American, Italian, Muslin, North Suburban, American Bar and Appellate Lawyers.
What do all of these have in common? Pretty much any attorney who is willing to pay the member dues can join. The best of attorneys, the worst, average, they are all welcome.
Bar Associations can serve a great purpose for networking, education, socializing, philanthropy and discussion. Probably like anything else in life, if you are a member you get out of it what you put in to it.
But when it comes to hiring a lawyer, the fact that an attorney is or isn’t a member one of these groups is pretty much irrelevant. You don’t get any extra credit for being a member and it doesn’t mean you are a better or worse attorney if you belong to one of these.
Full disclosure. I have been a lawyer since 1997 and have been a member of many of these groups and many of the attorneys that we suggest are leaders in some of these Associations.
There is a lot that should go in to your thought process when you consider hiring an attorney. Their practice focus, experience, location, success record, cost, etc. But if you are hiring a lawyer because they decided to join a club you are doing nothing more than giving yourself false assurance.
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