The ABA lacks direct authority yet wields influence over the legal profession.

Evidence

Membership in the ABA is voluntary, not compulsory, and fewer than half of the nation’s lawyers join. High-status lawyers and members of large law firms are disproportionately represented in its ranks. The ABA exercises no direct authority over individual lawyers or the state bar associations that regulate the legal profession. Nonetheless, the ABA conducts a wide range of activities (see http://www.abanet.org); and, as the recognized voice of the legal profession, it exerts considerable influence. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 670

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The ABA lacks regulatory power yet wields influence as the profession’s recognized voice. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1031; The ABA’s unofficial pre-screening role in judicial selection waxed and waned with presidential politics. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 681; The ABA holds no formal authority yet wields informal power over judicial nominations — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 670

Broader Connections

• The ABA lacks regulatory power yet wields influence as the profession’s recognized voice. #corroborates (0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1031
• The ABA’s unofficial pre-screening role in judicial selection waxed and waned with presidential politics. #expands (0.80) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 681