Membership Criteria

Membership Requirements

We do have some requirements for membership:

• Any individual who demonstrates an interest in legal administration and the management of legal organizations, including legal professionals employed in a private law firm, legal service clinic, corporate legal department, university legal department, governmental legal agency, court system, charitable legal agency or any other organization engaged in the legal industry.
• Shares interest in and supports the purposes of the Association.
• Is not affiliated with a business partner or business-partner eligible entity.

Consultant to the Legal Industry? You Can Join, Too! 

For these purposes, a consultant is defined as an individual who does not provide goods, furniture, equipment, supplies, materials, software, technology, insurance, investment instruments or legal industry services directly or through their company; or causes to be provided through a workforce of employees, or is employed by such an entity; AND the individual meets one or more of the following criteria:

• An individual who is a recognized subject-matter expert within the legal community.
• An individual whose primary service generally involves the sale of intellectual property, expert advice, coaching or assessment to legal organizations and who engages with multiple and changing clients.
• An individual who is self-employed as a contractor or operating a self-owned business and performing day-to-day administrative roles for one or more companies or firms, which would otherwise render the person eligible for Regular ALA membership if an employer/employee relationship existed.

Please note: A consultant membership is bestowed upon an individual, not a company, and employees of business partner-eligible companies are not considered consultants and are not eligible for consultant membership, unless a) the individual is performing day-to-day administrative functions at a remote or third-party location; or b) the individual is employed as a legal administrator in the corporate legal department of the business organization.

Students and Retired Members

We offer membership for students and retired members looking to stay connected. Read more about these options.

Nonsolicitation and Our Code of Ethics

All members must adhere to the ALA Nonsolicitation Policy and are subject to the ALA Code of Ethics. ALA headquarters membership is required to establish eligibility to join a chapter. All ALA members in good standing are eligible to join a chapter; however, chapter membership is optional and not required. Policies governing membership participation and benefits shall be determined from time to time by the Board or its designees. Questions? We’re happy to answer. Contact our membership team at +1-847-267-1585 or e-mail [email protected].