Allegheny County Bar Association

The Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) is a professional organization with almost seven thousand members. Members include lawyers, judges, district justices, legal administrators and paralegals. From its beginnings, the ACBA has been concerned with matters related to the judicial system, such as reducing minor cases, speeding up the completion of small claims, establishing fees for services and setting standards for admission. Outside their professional interests, the ACBA performs a number of services to the community. Among these services are Inside the Courts, a program designed to inform members of the community of the daily business of the judicial system; KD and You and the Law, an annual event in conjunction with KDKA television station, where ACBA members volunteer their services and give legal advice; and various courses on legal matters, lectures to high school students and other community-oriented events.

The ACBA was chartered on February 28, 1870. The original name of the association was the Pittsburgh Law Association; this was later changed to the Allegheny County Bar Association on May 5, 1882. John H. Hampton composed much of the original legislation to create the organization, and John H. Kerr later introduced this legislation into the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Senator Thomas Howard then carried the bill through the Senate before being signed by Governor John W. Geary on February 28, 1870. The organization has remained active since its inception with only brief periods of inactivity from 1872-1882 and again in 1883.

The ACBA publishes The Lawyers Journal, a bi-weekly journal, and the Pittsburgh Legal Journal, a daily publication. The Pittsburgh Legal Journal is billed as the third oldest legal journal in the world.