Ann Dudley Belknap

The Connecticut Bar Association, Inc. (CBA) is the preeminent organization for lawyers and the legal profession in Connecticut. The CBA is a non-profit organization pursuant to section 501(c)(6) of the Internal Revenue Code. Through its members, the CBA is dedicated to promoting public service and advancing the principles of law and justice. The CBA was founded on June 2, 1875. (Three years later, CBA representatives held a convention in Saratoga Springs, New York, to consider establishing a national bar association. The creation of the American Bar Association was a direct result of that action by the CBA.) From its creation, the CBA was instrumental in developing and improving court rules and providing quality educational and networking opportunities for its members. Over the next century, the CBA began numerous programs to provide benefits and resources to members and to improve the practice of law. These programs include a formal and dynamic continuing legal education program (CLE); the Connecticut Bar Journal, the organization's official publication; Connecticut Lawyer magazine; the Connecticut Council of Bar Presidents; substantive law sections; and committees. In 1975, with membership at approximately 4,000, the CBA celebrated its 100th anniversary and adopted a new logo representing "equal justice through law." In 1987, the CBA hired its first full-time lobbyist to serve as the members' voice at the state Capitol. In 2001, the organization's legislative area was expanded to two full-time lobbyists and a full-time legislative assistant "to encourage good legislation to the extent that partisan interests are not served thereby and to discourage bad legislation."