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Both arbitration and mediation involve a neutral third party. In arbitration, the arbitrator hears evidence and arguments, and then issues a decision that may be binding or nonbinding. In mediation, the mediator helps the parties reach their own voluntary agreement.
No. Both sides must agree to mediation. The State Bar will notify the opposing party if mediation is requested.
If you received a Notice of Client’s Right to Fee Arbitration form from the attorney, you have 30 days from the date you received it to submit your arbitration request form to the program. You must also submit your arbitration request if you first wish to mediate the fee dispute.
If you do not file the request form within 30 days of receiving the notice, you will lose your right to arbitrate your fee dispute. A telephone call or letter to the program requesting arbitration will not protect that right. You must be sure that the request form is complete and submitted with any required filing fee.
If the attorney has already filed a lawsuit against you for unpaid fees, you may elect either to respond to the lawsuit or request fee arbitration. If you file a response to the lawsuit, you will lose your right to arbitrate the fee dispute. If you request arbitration, the lawsuit will be stayed, but you should file the appropriate notice of automatic stay with the court. To preserve your right to arbitrate, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.
Your request for mediation is part of the State Bar request for arbitration, so it will follow the same timelines listed above.
No. The mediator will not decide any issues related to attorney misconduct and/or malpractice and has no authority to make any determinations regarding the attorney’s conduct or to discipline attorneys for professional misconduct.
If you wish to file a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar of California about your attorney’s conduct, you may do so online. Please keep in mind that a discipline complaint and a request to arbitrate and mediate a fee dispute are separate matters. Filing a complaint may result in disciplinary action against the attorney; however, the result may or may not require the attorney to refund fees.
To help you decide whether to file a complaint, visit the Want to File a Complaint webpage.
If you think you have a separate claim for legal malpractice, you should seek legal counsel.
If you are seeking a refund of attorney’s fees that you have already paid, you may request fee mediation as a preliminary option along with arbitration as long as you are still within the legal time limit for filing a lawsuit about the fee dispute. To preserve your right to arbitrate, and to potentially mediate a fee dispute, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.
For disputes filed with the State Bar, simply check the box agreeing to mediate on the request for fee arbitration form. Some local bar associations offer fee mediation in addition to fee arbitration. Find local fee arbitration programs.
Yes. Mediation is voluntary and either side can decline to mediate. All parties must agree for a mediation to go forward.
Mediations will take place by videoconference. Usually, the parties are in separate areas to start but may be brought together later in the process. The mediator will typically meet separately with one party, and then the other, to understand their perspectives and to identify areas of potential agreement. This “shuttle diplomacy” will take place until an agreement is reached, or until it is clear to the mediator that it is not possible for the parties to reach an agreement. If an agreement is reached, it will be memorialized in a writing called a settlement agreement.
You may be represented by an attorney, but it is not required. You can arrange for an interpreter to attend the mediation with you.
The mediation is confidential. This means that nothing said in a mediation can be used as evidence in any later proceeding by any party at the mediation.
The decision to agree to mediate is entirely up to you, but the attorney will also have to agree in order for the mediation to occur.
If the dispute is eligible to be filed with the State Bar for fee arbitration, you will have the option of agreeing to mediation as part of the request for arbitration. Some local bars also offer fee mediation, but most local programs only offer fee arbitration.
When you complete the Request for Arbitration with the State Bar, you will be asked to indicate whether you are interested in mediating the fee dispute. Once your request is accepted, including receipt of payment of the applicable fee arbitration filing fee, the State Bar will serve your request to the opposing party. As part of the opposing party’s written reply to the request, they will indicate whether they agree to mediate the fee dispute prior to arbitration.
If both parties agree to mediation, a mediator will be assigned to help you and attorney try to reach a settlement of your dispute, and you will receive further instructions at that time.
The State Bar does not refer clients to lawyers or provide legal advice. We provide a directory of certified Lawyer Referral Services in your area who may be able to help you find a lawyer. Please see our Find Legal Professionals section for resources. The State Bar also publishes free legal information for consumers.
If you believe your lawyer has done something wrong, you can file a complaint with the State Bar. Complaints may be submitted online or by mail. If you have questions or need assistance in completing the form, call the State Bar’s Attorney Complaint Hotline at 800-843-9053. For more information on reporting a lawyer to the State Bar and handling other problems, read the legal guide If You Have a Problem with an Attorney.
If you have a complaint about a certified or uncertified LRS, you can file a complaint against the service with the State Bar. In order to promote public protection, the State Bar will review your complaint to determine if the LRS has violated Business and Professions Code Section 6155 and State Bar Rules.
For more information on certified lawyer referral services, contact LRS@calbar.ca.gov.
The due date is by March 30, or the next business day if that date falls on a weekend or holiday, each year during the annual license renewal process. The 2025 annual deadline is April 1, 2025. If you miss the deadline, you will be charged a penalty ($103 for active attorneys, $31 for inactive attorneys).
Activities that qualify for general MCLE credit must: (1) relate to legal subjects that are directly relevant to California attorneys, and (2) offer current, significant educational, professional, or practical content with the specific objective of increasing each participant’s professional competency as an attorney. Programs created primarily for nonattorney audiences (for example, general public, clients, or business staff) do not qualify and will not be approved for general MCLE credit. More on Standards for MCLE activity Approval.
IOLTA stands for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. Attorneys deposit client funds that they plan to hold briefly, or that are too small to earn interest for the client, into larger shared accounts. Over 73,000 attorneys make deposits in approximately 49,000 IOLTA accounts in California. As of September 2019, IOLTA accounts hold nearly $5 billion. Any interest earned on these accounts is paid by financial institutions to the State Bar, which in turn distributes those funds as grants to qualified nonprofit civil legal organizations throughout the state.
Refer to the State Bar’s IOLTA FAQ page for more information.
The general requirement is that the report must be made within 30 days of the time you have knowledge of the triggering event.[1] Exceptions:
Reporting duties are not stayed while a sanction order is on appeal.[4]
Use the search bar or filter by subject to browse relevant courses.
Please contact our support team via email at elearning@calbar.ca.gov. Please note, response times may take up to 48 hours.
State Bar investigations and inquiries are, by statute, confidential. The complaint becomes public when disciplinary charges are filed against an attorney in State Bar Court. By law, however, any other pending investigations involving the same attorney must remain confidential at that point. If it is determined that public protection is seriously at stake in a particular case, the Chief Trial Counsel does have the authority to publicly reveal a pending investigation.
Under limited circumstances, the Board of Trustees, or the Chief Trial Counsel and Chair of the Board of Trustees, may waive confidentiality, but any public disclosure will remain limited to confirming the fact of a complaint or investigation; a brief factual summary to identify the subject matter of the complaint or investigation; and the status of the complaint or investigation.
If criminal conduct is suspected, the State Bar may also refer the matter to a law enforcement agency for investigation and potential prosecution.
While there is no requirement to provide pro bono hours, the State Bar encourages attorneys to provide at least 50 hours of pro bono legal services annually. However, any amount will have a positive impact on the individuals and groups served.
Attorneys are also encouraged to contribute financial support to nonprofit organizations that provide pro bono legal services, especially those attorneys who are unable to directly render services. Options include making a contribution directly to a legal aid organization or donating to the Greg E. Knoll Justice Gap Fund through your annual fee statement, or at any other time in Agency Billing or My State Bar Profile. See the Pro Bono Resolution on the State Bar’s website.
The types of ethical questions that the Ethics Hotline can assist with include, but are not limited to, the following:
Staff can provide citations to relevant rules, cases, and ethics opinions (State Bar or local bar associations).
Prior to adopting any rules, the Board is required to issue the proposal for a public comment period. The Board will then review feedback and decide whether to adopt the proposal, revise it, or send it back to staff or the Working Group for further work.
A Certified Law Student whose certification has been revoked may request reconsideration of the revocation. The request must be in writing and submitted to the State Bar within 15 days of the applicant’s receipt of the notice of revocation. Any arguments or evidence in support of the request must be submitted with the request through the Applicant Portal. Within 60 days of receipt of the request, the State Bar will provide the applicant with a written decision. The decision constitutes the final action of the State Bar.
No. You may only use the title “Certified Law Student” in connection with your activities performed under the program. You may not claim in any way to be a licensee of the State Bar of California.
The CLS Program certifies law students to provide legal services on a restricted basis under the supervision of a licensed California attorney who is active and in good standing.
The compliance review itself is not a disciplinary proceeding. However, serious or unresolved findings may result in a referral to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel. Attorneys who demonstrate good faith effort to comply and correct issues are generally supported with guidance and corrective measures, not discipline.
A client ledger is a record of all trust account transactions for a specific client or matter. The account journal is a running record of all transactions affecting the entire trust account. The client ledger tracks individual client balances, while the journal shows the total activity in the account.
Yes. There is no restriction in the statute regarding where the pro bono work is performed or where the clients are located. Pro bono services provided outside California should therefore be included in what licensees report.
If the State Bar decides to file charges against the attorney, the case will go to the independent State Bar Court and will become public, with notice on the attorney’s online profile. A judge can dismiss the case, issue an admonishment or reproval, or recommend suspension or disbarment. The California Supreme Court has the final say in all discipline cases involving suspension or disbarment.
If you completed any portion of NAT while enrolled in the State Bar’s PLP, you are considered to have satisfied that portion of the NAT requirement and do not need to retake it. Make sure you complete all nine NAT courses by the deadline.
Check your E-Learning Portal to confirm that your completed courses are reflected. If a completed course does not appear in your record, contact elearning@calbar.ca.gov for assistance.
Our program does not offer mediation by itself. To receive mediation services through the State Bar, your fee dispute must be eligible for fee arbitration through the State Bar, and the dispute will proceed to mediation first if all parties agree in writing to mediate.
No. The mediator will not decide any issues related to attorney misconduct and/or malpractice and has no authority to make any determinations regarding the attorney’s conduct or to discipline attorneys for professional misconduct.
If you wish to file a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar of California about your attorney’s conduct, you may do so online. Please keep in mind that a discipline complaint and a request to arbitrate and mediate a fee dispute are separate matters. Filing a complaint may result in disciplinary action against the attorney; however, the result may or may not require the attorney to refund fees.
To help you decide whether to file a complaint, visit the Want to File a Complaint webpage.
If you think you have a separate claim for legal malpractice, you should seek legal counsel.
The State Bar also accredits the following organizations, which certify attorneys in eleven additional practice areas:
American Board of Certification
National Board of Trial Advocacy
American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys
National Association of Counsel for Children
Retired attorneys or attorneys taking a break from the active practice of law can participate in a wide range of pro bono activities including mentoring, participation in a legal clinic or full representation. The State Bar waives the annual fee for those who practice solely for the purpose of providing pro bono legal assistance through pro bono legal services providers. For more information and an application see the Pro Bono Practice Program.
The State Bar sponsors professional liability insurance through CalBar Connect.
Most legal aid and pro bono programs provide malpractice insurance for attorneys and other advocates volunteering through their organizations. You should always check with your pro bono provider for more specific information about coverage.
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