125th Anniversary of the Atlanta Bar
THE ATLANTA BAR ASSOCIATION
CELEBRATES 125 YEARS
T
o commemorate and celebrate the 125th anniversary
of the Atlanta Bar Association, we held a special
luncheon at the Piedmont Driving Club in February
2014. Below is a brief history of the inception of a legacy.
On Saturday, April 28, 1888, at 3:00 p.m. some 100 Atlanta
lawyers gathered at the Fulton County courthouse to create
the Atlanta Bar Association. In response to rebukes and
complaints in the newspapers about disreputable lawyer
practices, the Bar’s constitution proclaimed it would “maintain
the honor and dignity of the profession of law.” To that end, the
Association’s first order of business was setting a minimum
fee schedule: $5 for drawing a lease or a mortgage; $10 for
a foreclosure on personal property; $15 for a foreclosure on
real estate or drafting a will; $20 for deeds of trust, written
opinions and preparation of appeals to the Georgia Supreme
Court; $25 for divorces, and $50 for drawing bills in equity.
Of the 175 attorneys in Atlanta in 1888, the founding
members of the Atlanta Bar Association were practiced
attorneys comfortable with responsibility and influencing
32 THE ATLANTA LAWYER
December 2014
change as well as ambitious young men eager for leadership
opportunities. These leaders’ influence continues to shape
our legal landscape: John L. Hopkins, former judge and the
Association’s first president; Hoke Smith, future governor and
U.S. Senator; John B. Goodwin, former and future mayor,
and Thomas P. Westmoreland, future superior court judge.
As we look back to the Atlanta Bar Association’s beginnings
more than 125 years ago – the 100 lawyers gathered at the
Fulton County Courthouse on a balmy Saturday afternoon
in an effort to promote the honor and dignity of the legal
profession – we are reminded of the adage that the more
things change, the more they stay the same. Celebrating the
125th anniversary of the Atlanta Bar Association, we are again
in a city surging with energy and renewal, a legal landscape
changing and growing, and the Atlanta Bar at the helm of
prominent participation and leadership in creating not only a
just practice of law, but a just, safe and hopeful community.
The Official News Publication of the Atlanta Bar Association