While we can debate the plusses and minuses of government mandated professional licenses, I've always thought that ceding the authority to determine what the credentialing standards are to third party non-govermental associations like the ABA or AMA is stupid and probably illegal under an honest reading of the law.

While the government has a legitimate interest in ensuring that people who hold themselves out to be doctors and lawyers actually meet a minimum standard of competency, by farming the management of that standard out to third party private organizations the government deprives these professionals the due process and fairness standards that we enforce upon the government itself.