Governance
SCR 3.025: Kentucky Bar Association
The mission and purpose of the association is to maintain a proper discipline of the members of the bar in accordance with these rules and with the principles of the legal profession as a public calling, to initiate and supervise, with the approval of the court, appropriate means to insure a continuing high standard of professional competence on the part of the members of the bar, and to bear a substantial and continuing responsibility for promoting the efficiency and improvement of the judicial system.
This rule of the Kentucky Supreme Court arises from its authority under the Kentucky Constitution to govern the practice of law. Section 116 states:
The Supreme Court shall have the power to prescribe rules governing its appellate jurisdiction, rules for the appointment of commissioners and other Court personnel, and rules of practice and procedure for the Court of Justice.
The Supreme Court shall, by rule, govern admission to the Bar and the discipline of members of the Bar.
The KBA Board of Governors abides by the objectives set forth in the Supreme Court Rules.
The programs of the Bar and its commissions and committees are used to accomplish its goals and mission. The Board is also cognizant of its responsibility to the lawyers of Kentucky as set forth in the requirements of the United States Supreme Court in Keller v. State Bar of California, 496 U.S. 1 (1990) and its progeny. The Board governs the KBA in a manner consistent with those limitations. The guiding standard is whether the program or expenditure of the KBA is necessarily or reasonably incurred for the purpose of regulating the legal profession or improving the quality of the legal services available to the people of the Commonwealth.
Ethics and Rules Information
History
The first meeting of lawyers from across Kentucky was held in 1871 during which a voluntary association was created. In 1934, the Kentucky General Assembly passed an act creating an all inclusive bar association which authorized the Court of Appeals (now Supreme Court) to adopt and promulgate rules and regulations defining the practice of law and to establish a code of professional responsibility to govern the discipline of members of the Bar. Since then, the Kentucky Bar Association has been the mandatory bar association of the Commonwealth of Kentucky.