NADA India National Advocate Defense Association

The association

NADA India is the National Advocate Defense Association, a voluntary membership body for advocates. Members join it in addition to their State Bar Council, not instead of it.

What it is

The association keeps a register of its members, runs a welfare desk, holds practice sessions in the districts, and answers complaints about members by referring them to the council that enrolled them. It has no statutory power and does not present itself as having any.

How it is run

  • General Body
    Every member. Meets once a year, sets the subscription, and receives the accounts.
  • Executive Committee
    The seats listed on the home page, elected by the General Body. Runs the desks and answers for the register.
  • District chapters
    Members in each district, with a chapter secretary who publishes session dates and takes welfare papers.
  • Ethics committee
    Three members who look at a complaint, decide whether the association can help, and refer it to the State Bar Council where the council holds jurisdiction.
  • Secretariat
    Staff who answer the desks, check enrolments, and publish the circulars.

    • What the association expects of a member

    • Fees agreed in writing before the work starts.
    • Client papers returned when the client asks, and kept safe until then.
    • No advertising or solicitation beyond what the Bar Council of India permits.
    • Confidentiality that survives the end of the brief.
    • A complaint answered through this association's process, and through the council where the council decides.

    Transparency

    The Executive Committee presents the accounts to the General Body each year. The register is published in full, including the standing of each member, so a lapsed entry is visible as lapsed.

    What NADA India is not

    The association is not a State Bar Council. We do not enrol advocates, issue certificates of practice, or decide complaints against them. Enrolment and discipline rest with the State Bar Councils under the Advocates Act, 1961, and with the Bar Council of India above them. What we do is keep our own register, run the desks above, and answer for the people we list.