By order of the Supreme Court of Georgia (219 GA 873 and subsequent amendments), one is required before engaging in the practice of law to register with the State Bar and to pay the prescribed dues.

In addition to the Rules, the Bar and the Supreme Court periodically have issued Formal Advisory Opinions that clarify a lawyer's obligations in certain situations.

Members of the public who believe that a Georgia lawyer has violated the rules of ethics should contact the Bar's Consumer Assistance Program at 800-334-6865.

A conduit for information in particular areas of law, sections provide newsletters, programs and the chance to exchange ideas with other practitioners.

[2] It has had guidance over the years from the State Bar of Georgia, its Executive Committee and Board of Directors, the Supreme Court.

When the state's legal community formed the Georgia Bar Association in 1883, Macon was chosen as its headquarters location, and it remained so for the next 90 years.

He and Walter B. Hill, who served as the first secretary/treasurer, were among 11 petitioners from around the state listed on the association's corporate charter when it was granted by the Superior Court of Bibb County on July 19, 1884.

[3] Although membership remained strictly voluntary, the Georgia Bar Association gradually expanded its activities and organizational efforts throughout the state.

In 1942, the association set up an office in downtown Macon, utilizing space in the Persons Building offered by the law firm of John B.

[4] Sanders later recalled that, "Up until that time, while a fairly rigorous written Bar exam was required of every applicant, it was not nearly as comprehensive and onerous as the one we have today, and there was no multistate component.

"I remember Johnnie Caldwell (who later served as the state's insurance commissioner) making a long speech in the House about Abraham Lincoln having read the law by candlelight in a log cabin in Illinois," Sanders said.

This Act recited that it gave the Supreme Court authority, upon recommendation of the Georgia Bar Association, to adopt rules and regulations for the organization of a unified bar and to define the rights, duties and obligations of members, including payment of a reasonable license fee, and to otherwise regulate and govern the practice of law in Georgia.

The initial draft of the proposed rules for the new State Bar was discussed and agreed upon in an all-day meeting in the conference room of Frank Jones' law firm in Macon, under the leadership of Newell Edenfield of Atlanta, who chaired the organizational committee, and Holcombe Perry of Albany, who was president of the Georgia Bar Association in 1962-63.

Starting in the 1960s, there was an explosive growth in the number of lawyers practicing in the Atlanta metropolitan area, and many law firms greatly increased in size.

Paul W. Painter and Frank W. "Sonny" Seiler, with then- Bar President Irwin W. Stolz Jr., A.G. Cleveland Jr. and Thomas E. Dennard Jr. as ex-officio members.

The report acknowledged that the anticipated doubling of office space, addition of at least one more staff member, higher rental rates and salary scales prevailing in Atlanta and various other factors would result in a substantial increase in operating expenses.

"[4] After the committee's recommendations were unanimously approved by the board of governors, the wheels were set in motion for the move from Macon to Atlanta.

F. Jack Adams joined committee members Seiler and Cleveland in submitting a detailed report concerning costs and a proposed dues increase, which was approved by the board in July 1972.

By Feb. 9, the contract had already been signed, construction of the offices was underway and moving vans were packed and ready to leave Macon for Atlanta.

Seiler, who was the State Bar president that year, recounted, in his end-of-year report for the 1973 annual meeting, what happened next.

On the day of the intended move, I picked up a Cleveland paper and the headlines read 'Heavy Snow Hits Macon, Georgia,' and I knew darn well they weren't talking about Cubbege Jr. or Sr.!"

"But she got caught up in the excitement," Jones said, and instead of retiring, Williams wound up personally supervising the entire project, coordinating the moving and purchase of equipment, furniture and decorations, as well as interviewing and hiring new staff members.

"Her help was invaluable during those first years after the move," Jones said of Williams, who in 1970 became one of the first women to serve as president of the National Association of Bar Executives.

[4] f According to Jones, opposition to the move from Macon to Atlanta was virtually non-existent, and the only backlash he received from below Georgia's fall line for having spearheaded the effort was some good-natured ribbing from his hometown colleagues.

"When I accepted an invitation to become a partner in the firm of King & Spalding LLP in Atlanta as of July 1, 1977, several of my friends jokingly remarked that I was being run out of Macon because I had been instrumental in the move," Jones said.

Jones concluded, "In my judgment both then and now, it was essential that the State Bar have its headquarters conveniently located in downtown Atlanta in order to maximize its service to the lawyers of Georgia, the judiciary and the general public.

After an exhaustive search and a struggle with financing, the State Bar purchased the former home of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.