The ABA (American Bar Association) has a feature they call “Legal Rebels“. Well, I am a Legal Rebel, and here’s why: I’m leaving the ABA. When my current membership expires, I’m not renewing it.
In a recent post over at My Shingle, Carolyn Elefant talks about the ABA “making a play” for solos and asks if solos should play back. I will preface this post by saying that I have not seen all of the ABA’s new efforts, but based on what was outlined in Carolyn’s post and the ABAJournal article I’m unimpressed.
Here’s the run-down:
* Sponsoring Solosez. Good for Solosez! How does that really help me? Solosez is a mailing list the overhead cannot be that much. And you do not have be an ABA member to participate in Solosez. So, this is worth $X a year??
* GP Solo Magazine. I don’t need another ******* magazine. Seriously. Every bar org out there has a magazine. Or six. I flip through them once standing next to the recycling bin, and unless something really seems worth reading, they go straight in. I probably get 6-8 of these types of magazines a month. In the last year, I’ve given a reprieve to _two_ issues to read an article. In both cases, I regretted it.
* Quarterly Solo e-Mail Newsletter. This is why people increasingly view the ABA as an anachronistic organization. An e-mail newsletter. Seriously???
* Smart Soloing eBook and publication. _Yawn_. As Carolyn mentions, these types of publications rarely contain information that isn’t already available by the boatload on other blogs or on-line resources that are, quite often, free.
* Smart Soloing School. The ABA is so tired and out of ideas, that they have decided to blatantly rip-off one of their _own_ nominated Legal Rebels, Susan Cartier Liebel, who runs Solo Practice University. The ABA claims their “school” is a $1600 value. Well, guess what? SPU costs a fraction of that, and provides excellent, on-going content and community. Why does the ABA need to re-invent the wheel? So they can focus even more on content I don’t need from them because it’s already being provided by someone else who is doing it well?
* Lobbying. Yes, I appreciate the ABA lobbying on behalf of lawyer advertising, blogging, virtual law office technology, etc. But as far as I can tell, given the disparate state of ethics rules across the country regarding virtual offices, etc. The ABA isn’t really doing a bang-up job there, either.
All these things are nice, but honestly, as a practicing solo, let me clue the ABA in on what it is that _*I*_ really need:
1. Community. I need to be in touch with other solos regularly to share resources, share/get referrals, and commiserate with. I can–and do already–have that nationwide through Solosez, Twitter, etc. I don’t need the ABA to do it because they are duplicating effort, and generally, not doing it very well. As for the in-person networking, one or two conferences a year does not make for good networking opportunities. My local bar associations (the Illinois State Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Association) provide so much more value in terms of community and networking, that for the ABA to even attempt it is laughable.
2. Insurance. I need insurance: professional liability insurance, health insurance, life insurance. The ABA “value” really falters here. Did I say falter? I meant fail. Epic fail. Titanic fail. At least for my practice areas and geographic location. Considering the membership numbers at the ABA, the ABA should be able to offer me the best deal in all three areas of major insurance. Yet, in all three, the ABA offered me the _worst_ deals. How is that possible? They have the largest membership of any bar association, and they are lawyers–but they couldn’t negotiate better discounts than my local bars?! Should I fear for the future of the ABA or the future of my profession!?
3. Legal Research. Have you priced Lexis and Westlaw these days? I pay as I go for them, and rely primarily on Fastcase. Which, by the way, I get for _free_ from the Illinios State Bar Association. And the ISBA membership is _still_ less than ABA Membership.
4. CLE. Again, I can get this from so many other sources, most of the time cheaper and better. Including, again, my local bar associations.
So, while I think there _could_ be value in the ABA for solos, there certainly isn’t for me, at least not now. Right now, the only value I get from the ABA comes from Solosez and the TechShow, neither of which require membership to gain access to. For everything else, and I do mean everything, my local bar associations provide a much better return on investment for my membership fees. Of course, living in Chicago, my experience might not be the same for solos who don’t have strong local bar associations–I can’t speak to that.
But in the opinion of this solo Chicago attorney, take the money you save by not joining the ABA and join a local bar association instead. That’s the real “Legal Rebel” way.