Invitation Only.
Excellence Unmatched.
A National Honorary Society for Outstanding Criminal Trial Lawyers • Since 1978
Our Legacy
The American Board of Criminal Lawyers (ABCL) was founded in 1978 as a national honorary society for criminal trial lawyers. Fellowship is by invitation only. ABCL currently includes approximately two hundred Fellows nationwide.
What We Do
Fellowship is by invitation only. Any ABCL Fellow may invite a nominee, who must then apply to the Executive Committee for election and admission.
Under the bylaws, a nominee must have been a criminal-defense trial lawyer for at least ten years; tried at least twenty felony criminal jury trials; tried at least five major felony cases resulting in a judgment of acquittal or a verdict substantially less than charged; and obtained recommendations from at least three judges, including at least one who presided over one of those felony trials during the three years preceding the application. The bylaws also permit a nominee to qualify through equivalent criminal-defense trial experience.
Who We Are
The work of a criminal trial lawyer is to ensure that the rights guaranteed by the Constitution are honored in practice. When the government brings a prosecution, it does so with significant investigative and financial resources and the authority of the state.
The defense lawyer’s role is to require the government to meet its burden, to test its evidence, and to protect the accused’s rights to due process, to effective counsel, and to a fair trial. This obligation applies equally regardless of the client’s resources or the nature of the charge.
The Fellows of the ABCL have undertaken this work throughout their careers, in state and federal courts across the country and in many of the most significant criminal cases of their time. The organization’s central concern, since its founding, has been the preservation and free exercise of the fundamental rights of all persons accused of crimes.
Meetings
Three times each year, the ABCL Fellows convene to discuss trial strategy, developments affecting the practice of criminal defense, and the conduct of complex cases.
These meetings exist to advance the craft of criminal trial advocacy and to maintain the standards that admission to the Board represents. The ABCL’s aim is constant: to support the highest level of criminal defense practice and to uphold the constitutional protections on which it depends.
Founded in 1978, the organization honors outstanding criminal trial lawyers with exceptional experience, professionalism, and proven courtroom success nationwide.
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© 2026 American Board of Criminal Lawyers.