Publications

In addition to some of the Supreme Court Rule Amendment and Request filings, the following ethics-related publications are available for purchase from the Office of Professional Competence.

California Rules of Professional Conduct and The State Bar Act (Publication 250)

The 2023 Publication 250 will only be available electronically as a Kindle ebook for purchase from Amazon.com and as a downloadable PDF from the State Bar website. These electronic versions of the 2023 Publication 250 will be available soon.

The 2020 Publication 250 is still available for purchase.

The 2020 2-volume set. $15 each or $30 for the set which can be ordered online. We only accept Visa and Mastercard.

$6.99 for the Kindle e-reader version of Publication 250. This is available on: Amazon.com.

To receive Publication 250 update notifications, sign up here.

 Volume 1 contains the Current California Rules of Professional Conduct, The State Bar Act (Business and Professions Code sections 6000 et seq.), and the Former Rules of Professional Conduct.
Volume 2 contains selected California Rules of Court, Selected Statutes Regarding Duties of Attorneys and Discipline, Lawyer Referral Service Rules, Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) Rules, Pro Bono Resolution, Mortgage Assistance Relief Service Rule, and Construction-Related Disability Access Claims Information.
Handbook on Client Trust Accounting for California Attorneys

  		The handbook is a practical guide created to assist attorneys in complying with the record-keeping standards for client trust accounts which went into effect on January 1, 1993.

The Handbook is available online in pdf format.
California Compendium on Professional Responsibility

Only the current and past updates are available for purchase. The three-volume set is currently unavailable. $157.33 a set ($145 plus tax) by mail only. Current years' annual update is sold for $50, and prior years' updates are sold for $20. Pre-payment required. See below for mailing information.

To receive compendium update notifications, sign up here.
 A three-volume ethics reference manual containing the ethics opinions published by the State Bar of California, the Bar Association of San Francisco, the Los Angeles County Bar Association, the Orange County Bar Association, and the San Diego County Bar Association, a comprehensive subject matter index; Publication 250 (referenced above); and the California Code of Judicial Conduct.
Supreme Court Rule Amendment Filing: Request that the Supreme Court of California Approve Amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California, and Memorandum and Supporting Documents in Explanation
December 1987

$10 a copy. Each attachment to this filing also costs $10. Pre-payment required. See below for mailing information. 		This filing contains the legislative history concerning the large-scale amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct which were adopted and became effective on May 27, 1989. This filing addresses changes to and the renumbering of all of the rules. The attachments that accompanied this filing, as separate volumes, are also available and contain, among other things, the full text of the written comments received during the public comment period, and the transcripts from the public hearings held.
Supreme Court Rule Amendment Filing: Request that the Supreme Court of California Approve Amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California, and Memorandum and Supporting Documents in Explanation
December 1991

$10 a copy. Pre-payment required. See below for mailing information. 		This filing contains the legislative history concerning the large-scale amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct which were adopted and became effective on September 12, 1992. This filing addresses changes to a number of the rules including: 1-100, 1-310, 1-320, 1-400, 1-500, 2-100, 2-300, 3-110, 3-300, 3-310, 3-320, 3-400, 4-200, 4-300, 5-210, 5-300, and 5-320
Supreme Court Rule Amendment Filing: Request that the Supreme Court of California Approve Amendments to Rule 3-600 of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California, and Memorandum and Supporting Documents in Explanation
(Filed with the Supreme Court on February 27, 2002. On May 10, 2002, the Supreme Court issued an order denying this request. In its order, the court noted the following: "The State Bar Board of Governors' request to adopt amendments to the Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 3-600, is denied because the proposed modifications conflict with B & P Code section 6068, (e).)

This pdf file contains a partial copy of the original document. A hardcopy of the complete rule filing can be obtained for $10. See below for mailing information. 		This filing contains the legislative history concerning the request for amendment to Rule 3-600 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Supreme Court Rule Amendment Filing: Request that the Supreme Court of California Approve Amendments to Rule 3-310 of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California, and Memorandum and Supporting Documents in Explanation
(Filed with the Supreme Court on June 28, 2002. Approved by the Supreme Court as recommended, effective March 3, 2003.)

This pdf file contains a partial copy of the original document. A hard copy of the complete rule filing can be obtained for $10. See below for mailing information. 		This filing contains the legislative history concerning the request for amendment to Rule 3-310 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
Supreme Court Rule Amendment Filing: Request that the Supreme Court of California Approve Proposed Rule 3-100 of the Rules of Professional Conduct of the State Bar of California, and Memorandum and Supporting Documents in Explanation.
(Filed with the Supreme Court on June 7, 2004. Approved by the Supreme Court as modified by the Court on June 23, 2004, operative on July 1, 2004.)

This pdf file contains a partial copy of the original document. A hard copy of the complete rule filing can be obtained for $10. See below for mailing information. 		This filing contains the legislative history concerning the request for amendment to Rule 3-100 of the Rules of Professional Conduct.

To purchase the publications listed above, send a request to:

The State Bar of California
Professional Competence
180 Howard Street
San Francisco, CA 94105

For more information, call 415-538-2148.