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State Bar of California Responds to 2022 California State Auditor’s Report

The State Bar of California issued the following statement in response to the California State Auditor’s report today:

“Strengthening the discipline system is our number one priority, and we are committed to incorporating the audit findings into our ongoing efforts,” said Ruben Duran, Board Chair. “As noted in our formal response, the Board found some of the audit findings profoundly troubling. At the same time as we work to oversee the implementation of the specific audit recommendations, we will begin a comprehensive review of oversight and governance policies related to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC).”

“The Board and leadership team have been working diligently to improve the discipline system, but after years of critical audits, it is clear that some of our challenges are structural and have been decades in the making. They reflect a complex and unproductive cycle of insufficient funding, poor outcomes, and low morale,” Duran said. “We must do more to address those challenges, including assessing the effectiveness of the Board’s oversight of OCTC and making changes where needed. The Board will continue to both demand and support meaningful improvement in all areas of OCTC’s operations. However, as noted in our formal response, the State Bar’s resource constraints limit our ability to implement certain of the audit recommendations.”

The State Bar’s formal response agreed with almost all of the State Auditor’s recommendations and noted that the agency is in fact already implementing some of them, harnessing the talent of both the Bar’s professional staff and scores of volunteers through efforts like the Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System. Chair Duran’s response outlines the Board’s intense focus on strengthening the effectiveness, timeliness, and fairness of the discipline system and expresses confidence in the State Bar’s new leadership team, including recently appointed Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona, and Executive Director Leah Wilson, who was reappointed to the role in mid-2021. The Board’s actions include:

• Proposing a comprehensive Client Trust Account Protection Program, currently circulating for public comment.
• Establishing the Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System, charged with conducting a wide-ranging review of the efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of the attorney discipline system.
• Strengthening Board oversight of the chief trial counsel and OCTC. For example, beginning in 2021, performance targets were set for the chief trial counsel, and progress on those targets is formally assessed quarterly by the Board’s Regulation and Discipline Committee.
• Undertaking regular Board review of the findings of twice-yearly confidential random audits of closed cases conducted by an independent auditor. This process has already resulted in several new reforms.

The State Bar’s formal response estimates that full implementation of the State Auditor’s recommendations would require approximately 30 additional staff as well as  $1 million in one-time funds and $200,000 ongoing annually.

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The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.