100 Stories // Memories // Profiles
Notable Events
The Federal Bar Association has dedicated the past 100 years to being a voice for the integrity of the law, and the people who practice it. Below we highlight organizational and industry-wide milestones during that time.
EVENT
January 15, 1962
National Lawyers Club Dedication
U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice — and former FBA President — Tom C. Clark speaks at the dedication of the National Lawyers Club.
Two days before dedicating the Federal Bar Building at 1815 H Street, NW, in Washington, D.C., the FBA first dedicates a beautiful new space on the second floor: the National Lawyers Club. With a lounge, bar, dining room, outdoor terrace, and private meeting rooms, the club is intended to serve as “the rendezvous for lawyers in and out of government service, with facilities for their mutual attraction and benefit and with accommodations for fun and fellowship,” then–FBA President Thomas G. Meeker wrote in Federal Bar News in July 1960.
About 800 people attend the dedication, with a hundred people crowding into the lounge for the ceremony and another 700 watching on closed-circuit TV in the bar, dining room, and on the third floor. Club President and former FBA President Earl Kintner presides over the ceremony, and Supreme Court Associate Justice and former FBA President Tom C. Clark is the principal speaker. Oil paintings of both men are unveiled to hang in the club. The audience is stacked with luminaries from the federal bench and bar, including Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren and Associate Justices Charles Whittaker, William Brennan, and Stanley Reed.
EVENT
July 25, 1992
Developing Democracy in the Former Soviet Union
FBA President Alfred F. Belcuore (right) shares an FBA pin with the president of the Moscow Bar Association.
A delegation of eight members from the FBA’s Democracy Development Initiative (DDI) embarks on a 10-day journey to Moscow, Russia, and Alma Ata, Kazakhstan, to offer their expertise to government officials, legislators, judges, lawyers, and academics working to establish democratic systems in the former Soviet Union. U.S. Solicitor General Kenneth W. Starr leads the delegation with the purposes of laying the foundation for a continuing exchange with legal groups in Russia and Kazakhstan, identifying areas where assistance is desired, establishing the framework for continuing assistance as requested, and rendering advice on site.