History of the Eastern District of Michigan Bar Association (EDMIBAR)
EDMIBAR was created in 2024 in order to preserve the history, culture, camaraderie, traditions and civility within the Eastern District of Michigan that had been achieved over more than six decades through the dedicated efforts of thousands in our local legal community over the same time period.
In 2022, the Eastern District of Michigan Chapter of the Federal Bar Association was notified by the National FBA headquarters that the local chapter’s decades-long practice of allowing local membership to individuals who were not also National chapter members could no longer be abided. After thorough review, only a very small percentage of the local chapter’s membership were also members of the National chapter. The bulk of the local chapter members were interested only in participating in a local organization that was focused on local issues and events exclusively within the Eastern District of Michigan. Without these members willingness to join the National chapter, they needed to be removed from the local chapter. The local chapter officers, executive board, our federal bench, and the National headquarters agreed that creating the new entity of EDMIBAR was essential to our district as it would provide the necessary framework to support the many locally focused practitioners within the District.
The creation of EDMIBAR was achieved with the full approval of the National chapter of the Federal Bar Association. The two organizations (ED Mi Bar and the local FBA chapter) now work together as partner organizations with the goal of serving all practitioners within the Eastern District of Michigan. No practitioner is asked to leave one organization for another.
Individuals interested in joining EDMIBAR, please click here.