NLA update - SPRING 1996

NLA In The News

The NLA has been the subject of several articles in the news media this year. A thoughtful article concerning the history of the NLA appeared in a February edition of Lawyers Weekly USA. Mario Mandina, the NLA President, and Roberta Cooper Ramos, then President of the ABA, were quoted at length. Selected excerpts from that article appear below.

"A new lawyers' association, billing itself as the alternative to the ABA, hopes to attract attorneys who view the ABA as too political or irrelevant.

The National Lawyers Association was formed about three years ago in protest of the ABA's support for abortion on demand.

It has now widened its aim by providing certain benefits and services that it believes a bar association should offer, but which it believes the ABA is lacking including: leadership opportunities for attorneys from small firms; one-stop shopping for insurance and discounted office supplies; and an on-line service to provide small-firm members with the resources of a large firm.

The NLA has approximately 1,300 members, 80% of whom are from small firms. It claims to be a more democratic organization than the ABA because all of its members vote on socio-political issues, NLA President Mario Mandina tells Lawyers Weekly USA.

By contrast, the ABA's 539 member House of Delegates makes political decisions for its 370,000 members, such as the controversial decision in 1992 to support abortion rights.

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'I think the NLA represents more the views of the typical attorney, whereas the ABA seems to have drifted further and further to the left and attached to liberal issues,' says trustee David Drury, one of the founders of the organization.

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'We're going to be open to the needs of the small firms and be as responsive as we can to them,' Mandina says. 'We want to be able to provide whatever they need.'

A common complaint for small-firm attorneys has been that the ABA does not provide them with enough service that will help their practices.

NLA officials say that one of its goals is to provide more benefits and services to its members than the ABA.

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Another goal of the NLA is to better the profession by raising its standards. Mandina says the organization is looking at establishing an accreditation process for law schools based on their academic standards and evaluating judges based on the content of their character, education and reputation.

'It is up to the lawyers, themselves, to set the standard so they can be leaders in ethics, honesty and integrity,' he says. 'If not, society as a whole suffers.'"

As the NLA continues to grow and attract more members who believe that the ABA's approach to social and other issues is flawed, its goals and purposes will receive further attention in the news media.

EUGENE N. BULSO, JR.

National Lawyers Association
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