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Who is APRL?

The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (“APRL” pronounced April) is comprised of more than 400 members holding an interest in lawyers’ professional responsibility, legal ethics, legal malpractice, and the evolving law of lawyering, primarily through the application of the rules of lawyer ethics to the practice of law. APRL was formed as a nonprofit organization in 1990.

The great majority of APRL members provide advice to lawyers on legal ethics issues, defend lawyers in discipline matters or civil malpractice cases, act as expert witnesses, teach professional responsibility courses in law schools, or perform ethics-related functions in law firms.

APRL History

Mission

The Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers seeks to improve the practice of law through the development and promotion of adherence to sound rules and regulation of the legal profession. Specifically, APRL directs its efforts to:

  • Monitor, comment upon, and initiate positive changes in laws and regulations regarding professional responsibility;
  • Furnish support for the individual and collective efforts of APRL members who represent lawyers in matters of legal ethics and professional responsibility;
  • Encourage the study, development, and implementation of sound ethical standards within the legal profession;
  • Furnish periodic opportunities for the in-person exchange of various points of view and provide cutting edge analysis in the area of professional responsibility;
  • Make available to APRL members a focused, lively, and candid exchange of information relevant to legal ethics and professional responsibility on a daily basis through an actively-used and managed listserv;
  • Provide to members professional and scholarly research materials in the field of professional responsibility;
  • Offer on a regular basis legal ethics and professional responsibility conferences outside the United States that focus on transnational legal ethics practice; and
  • Create a platform for mutual support, friendship, and social interaction of organization members.
Ethics