# Minnesota State Bar Association *Voluntary bar association for lawyers, judges and other legal practitioners in Minnesota, one of the oldest state bar associations in the United States.* The Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) is a voluntary professional body. Its membership takes in lawyers and judges along with other legal workers, among them clerks, registrars and paralegals. A lawyer may practise in [[Minnesota]] without joining it, and it counts among the oldest state bar associations in the country.[^1] The association publishes its own account of itself on its official website.[^2] The MSBA describes its aims as service to the courts, the profession and the public good.[^1] The record assembled here contains no filing, enactment, audit, court order, dollar figure or count that names the association, so there are no documented outputs to set beside that self-description. The record also holds no at-issue pair for the MSBA. The association's homepage appears in the project's claim:link catalogue under its First Amendment theory set and its Privileges or Immunities theory set. Those rows identify the page only and state no claim about the association.[^2] On January 14, 2026, the [[United States Department of Justice]] issued release No. 26-21, titled *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's 'Affirmative Action' Regime*. The release announced a suit against the State. Attorney General Pamela Bondi certified the case as a matter of general public importance.[^3] The record does not establish that the suit names or concerns the MSBA, and it does not carry the docket number or status.[^3] ## Who Minnesota's lawyers and judges make up the association's membership. Non-lawyer practitioners such as paralegals, clerks and registrars may also join.[^1] Roughly every four years the Assembly fills an officer seat. The seat rotates among the Hennepin County Bar Association, the Ramsey County Bar Association, the outstate bar associations taken together, and one at-large position.[^1] Jarvis Jones was elected president of the MSBA in 2001.[^1] Directors run the association's daily operations, working under the executive director's guidance. Their duties include overseeing staff and setting and communicating goals and standards.[^1] ## What The association lists seven goals:[^1] - assisting the courts in administering justice; - putting the profession's knowledge and experience to work for the public good; - keeping the profession's standards of learning, competence, ethics and public service high; - running a continuing legal education program; - bringing the whole of Minnesota's bench and bar into the MSBA and coordinating the work of affiliated associations; - offering a forum on legal practice, jurisprudence and law reform, and publishing on those subjects; - working with other bar associations and organizations toward its objectives. Its projects include three resources.[^1] PracticeLaw.org supplies forms and guides for working attorneys. Minnesota CLE, at MinnCLE.org, offers hundreds of continuing legal education programs. *Bench & Bar* is the association's magazine. Practitioners write its articles on law and legal ethics, and it also carries notes on recent decisions and statutory changes, announcements by lawyers and firms, and news of the legal field.[^1] ## When - April 3, 1883: lawyers gathered to discuss creating a statewide bar association. A constitution and bylaws followed within a month.[^1] - 1926: the association took up an affiliated district bar plan and replaced its constitution.[^1] - 1937: it appointed a public relations committee. The committee was charged with putting a radio program on the air nationwide and with encouraging other states to join.[^1] - 2001: Jarvis Jones was elected president.[^1] ## How Two bodies govern the MSBA today. The Assembly sets policy, and the Council serves as the board of directors.[^1] An officer enters at Secretary and then moves up through Treasurer and President-Elect before becoming President.[^1] ## How much Charter members in 1883 paid a three-dollar fee to join, and yearly dues were set at two dollars.[^1] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia, *Minnesota State Bar Association* (revision 1381671389, retrieved 2026-10-27; CC BY-SA 4.0) — the MSBA's membership, voluntary status, stated goals, 1883 founding and dues, 1926 and 1937 actions, 2001 presidency, governance, officers, directors and projects. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_State_Bar_Association [^2]: Minnesota State Bar Association, *Official homepage* (n.d.) — the association's own published self-description; listed in the project's Theory 7 and Theory 11 claim:link rows as the official homepage. https://www.mnbar.org/ [^3]: United States Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, *United States Department of Justice Files Lawsuit Against Minnesota's "Affirmative Action" Regime*, release No. 26-21 (January 14, 2026) — the release title, the suit against the State, and Attorney General Pamela Bondi's certification of the case as a matter of general public importance. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/united-states-department-justice-files-lawsuit-against-minnesotas-affirmative-action-regime