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    Affinity Bar Associations

    Welcome to the Affinity Bar Associations Legacy Project page! The 2024-2025 Bar Leadership Institute (BLI) class was tasked with researching and compiling the history of Arizona’s affinity bar associations, with the ultimate goal to preserve this important history for years to come. Please browse the webpage below to learn more about the formation and purpose of each affinity bar association and to explore the timeline of key events. After expanding each subsection for a summary of each affinity bar, please click on the hyperlinks for written narratives, videos, and audio recordings. The State Bar of Arizona maintains this webpage as a service to legal professionals and the public to find information about the history of affinity bar associations they may be interested in. Affinity bar associations are not entities of the State Bar of Arizona and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of the Arizona State Bar or its membership.

    Timeline of Key Events

    Affinity Bar Associations

    Arizona Asian American Bar Association

    The Arizona Asian American Bar Association (AAABA) is a voluntary affiliate bar association focused on increasing access to justice throughout the Arizona community and on promoting equity and inclusion for Asian-American legal professionals. For more information on the history of the AAABA, click here.

    Arizona Black Bar Association

    The Arizona Black Bar (ABB) was founded as the Arizona Black Lawyers Association (ABLA) in 1971 by three energetic and recently graduated law students: Joshua Bursh, Charles Murray, and Cecil Patterson. In the mid-1970s, there were approximately eight African American lawyers in the Phoenix community. In the early years, ABLA members gathered for “happy hour” every Friday to discuss experiences from the past week. An early goal of the organization was to increase visibility of Black attorneys in the Arizona legal community, and to support and encourage prospective Black law students and attorneys to join the legal profession in Arizona.  

    The ABB was previously named the Hayzel B. Daniels Bar Association in honor of Hayzel B. Daniels, who was the first African American lawyer in Arizona and became the first African American appointed judge in Arizona in 1965.  

    The Arizona Black Bar continues to create a community of strong legal representatives with a dual mission: to support its members and enhance their professional lives, and to further justice in Arizona through public and community service. Some current areas of focus include supporting attorney well-being, fundraising for law student scholarships, informal mentoring of black law students, and providing pro bono legal services.

    Click Arizona Black Bar to learn more.

    Arizona Jewish Lawyers Association

    The Arizona Jewish Lawyers Association (AJLA) was formed in 2010 to bring together Jewish attorneys, judges, and law students to build and develop community through educational, social, philanthropic and networking activities; while also serving as a resource for the Arizona Jewish community at large. To learn more about AJLA and future events click here.

    Arizona Women Lawyers Association

    The Arizona Women Lawyers Association (AWLA) is an organization of lawyers of any gender or background who work to promote and encourage the success of women lawyers throughout Arizona. AWLA provides information, support, and community to advance and celebrate the successes and achievements of women lawyers. AWLA has statewide programs administered by a Board of Directors and local programming administered by regional Steering Committees. For more information, click here.

    Iranian American Bar Association

    The Iranian American Bar Association (IABA) is a national association of Iranian-American judges, attorneys, legal scholars, and law students. The IABA’s mission is threefold: to educate the Iranian-American community about salient legal issues, to protect and advance the legal rights of Iranian-Americans and other minority communities, and to foster achievement of Iranian-American legal professionals. To learn more about the history of the Phoenix Chapter of the Iranian American Bar Association, click here.

    Los Abogados Hispanic Bar Association

    Los Abogados was originally founded in 1976, by a group of individuals who intended to develop an informal professional support system where Hispanic attorneys could network and socialize. Los Abogados was later formally incorporated in 1988. “The mission of Los Abogados is to develop, empower, and support the Latino community through the advancement of the legal profession” by promoting diversity, education, and advocacy within the state’s Hispanic legal community. For more information, click here.

    Native American Bar Association of Arizona

    Founded in 2007, the Native American Bar Association of Arizona (NABA-AZ) is a nonprofit organization created to advance and improve the practice of Indian law and promote the professional development of its members. NABA-AZ members include Native American and non-Native American attorneys, law students, advocates and other legal professionals. For more information, click here.

    South Asian Bar Association of Arizona

    SABA-AZ is a voice and community for South Asian legal professionals in Arizona. SABA-AZ is an affiliate of the South Asian Bar Association of North America. Click SABA-AZ  to learn more. 

    County Resources

    National Associations