The District of Columbia Bar, created by the D.C. Court of Appeals in 1972, is among the largest unified bars in the United States. The precipitating force for the D.C. Bar's creation was the legal community's desire to have a single organization that could uphold the ethical standards and rules of professional conduct.

Today the Bar's mission is to provide service to the profession, the courts, and the community. The purposes of the Bar are to aid the court in carrying on and improving the administration of justice; to foster and maintain high ideals of integrity, learning, competence in public service, and high standards of conduct; to safeguard the proper professional interest of the members of the Bar; to encourage the formation and activities of volunteer bar associations; to provide a forum for and to publish information relating to the discussion of subjects pertaining to the practice of law, the science of jurisprudence and law reform, and the relations of the Bar to the public; and to carry on a continuing program of legal research and education and make reports and recommendations in the technical fields of substantive law, practice and procedure, so that the public responsibility of the legal professional is more effectively discharged.

As a result of a member referendum, Bar dues may only be used to support the admission and continued registration of lawyers, lawyer discipline, the operation of the Clients' Security Fund, and certain administrative operations. All other Bar activities are supported by voluntary contributions, user fees, and other nondues sources of income.

The Bar is governed by a 23-member board of governors that reflects the diversity of the membership, including lawyers in public interest organizations, in government agencies, in large firms, in small firms, and in solo practice.