The State Bar issues a single-page Certificate of Standing to verify an attorney's name, bar number, admission date, current status, any name or status changes and any public discipline, as of the date of the certificate. The ultimate recipient decides how long they consider the certificate valid. Note that the State Bar does not use the term "good standing" since this may vary by jurisdiction. This document is not the frameable admission certificate issued by the Office of Admissions.
Order your Certificate of Standing online
Read information on the three kinds of certificates you can order.
After entering your online order for a standard, notarized and/or complaint check certificate for an individual attorney, payment options include:
Notes for ordering the Certificate of Standing online
For questions or technical problems, email the State Bar at AttorneyRegulation@calbar.ca.gov or call 888-800-3400.
We do not complete other jurisdictions' forms or questionnaires about complaint status or provide separate "disciplinary history" letters apart from our Complaint Check Certificate of Standing. So if complaint information is required for your application, order only the Complaint Check Certificate of Standing.
A complaint check certificate already contains a standard Certificate of Standing. It does NOT need a separate standard or notarized Certificate of Standing to accompany it, and when sent to another U.S jurisdiction, it does NOT require notarization.
A complaint check certificate of standing may only be requested by the attorney who is the subject of the complaint check, and will be released only with his/her signed authorization. When you place your order online, download the authorization form as instructed, and then either email, fax or mail it, as indicated, along with the required identification document.
Alternatively, you can follow the prompts to sign in to your online My State Bar Profile and sign electronically to authorize your complaint check certificate.
For security reasons the complaint check certificate may only be sent to another state bar or supreme court's bar examiners/admissions office or to the attorney who is the subject of the complaint check at his/her official address of record with the State Bar.
For additional questions about the procedure for obtaining State Bar Certificates of Standing, call the State Bar at 888-800-3400 or email AttorneyRegulation@calbar.ca.gov.
Some jurisdictions (such as the U.S. Supreme Court) require a certificate from the California Supreme Court. The requesting entity will usually use the term, “a certificate from the highest court you are a [licensee] of,” or indicate that it should not be from the State Bar.
These kinds of certificates are obtained directly from the Supreme Court with a written request and a $1 fee (dollar bill or check payable to Clerk of the Supreme Court of California). Send your request, payment and self-addressed stamped envelope to:
California Supreme Court 350 McAllister St., Rm 1295 San Francisco, CA 94102
For questions call the Supreme Court at 415-865-7000.