Yes. Paralegals and assistants must create their own account in the Office of Admissions' Applicant Portal using their own credentials (email address and name). Once the paralegal or assistant has access to the Applicant Portal, they may submit a PHV application with the fee on behalf of the out-of-state attorney.

A licensed California attorney may also submit a PHV application on behalf of the out-ofstate attorney. The California attorney must sign into the Applicant Portal using their credentials or contact the Office of Admissions at 800-843-9053 to reset their login information for the Applicant Portal.

You will automatically receive a receipt via email after you remit payment. Please ensure that you complete the final step and submit the application. 

Please do not click "Print Receipt" since it will eject you from the application and prevent you from submitting it. If you accidentally click the link before submitting your application, please contact the Office of Admissions at prohac@calbar.ca.gov or 800- 843-9053.

• The State Bar plans to make applications available in the Applicant Portal beginning January 4, 2023.
• Attorney applicants need to provide an original Certificate of Good Standing from each jurisdiction in which they are licensed.
• Law school graduates (JD or LLM) need to provide official, sealed transcripts.
• The application will be considered complete when, in addition to the CGS and transcript referenced above, the following are received:
  • Applicant declaration;
  • Supervising Attorney Declaration: The declaration must be submitted within the Applicant Portal; declarations sent via email and USPS are not automatically associated with the online application and may delay processing. Please ensure that you are submitting as instructed in the Applicant Portal; and
  • Payment.

You can look up IOLTA-funded organizations here.

A PLL must:

• Expressly refer to themselves orally and in writing as a Provisionally Licensed Lawyer and/or participant in the State Bar’s Provisional Licensure Program and not describe themselves as a fully licensed lawyer or imply in any way orally or in writing that they are a fully licensed lawyer.
• Follow the same professional conduct rules as all fully licensed lawyers.
• Agree to be subject to the disciplinary authority of the Supreme Court of California and the State Bar with respect to the law governing the conduct of lawyers.
• Attest that they will not practice California law other than under the supervision of an approved supervising lawyer during the time they are provisionally licensed.
• Be employed by or volunteering at the firm (as defined) where the supervising lawyer works and that firm must have an office located in California.

Maybe. Please carefully review the instructions and questions to determine the disclosure requirements.

The guidelines contain examples of issues that may be relevant to a moral character determination and do not provide an exhaustive list of all potentially relevant issues. Applications are considered individually. Accordingly, the guidelines neither bind nor limit the discretion of the decision-makers, but rather provide a framework to assist the decision-makers and provide applicants with information about the process. The severity of an act of misconduct, length of time since the act, and the frequency with which the act occurred are among the factors that will be taken into consideration in making a moral character determination.

Yes. You are required to disclose all administrative matters to which you have been a party.

Please submit documentation of your unsuccessful attempts to obtain law enforcement or court records, such as a letter from the relevant entity confirming why the record is unavailable.

Maybe. 

For the Determination Application, you must report all driver’s licenses ever issued to you in the application. For each jurisdiction, other than California, in which you have held a driver’s license within the last 10 years or since the age of 18, whichever is shorter, you must provide a copy of your driving record that meets the following requirements: an original and certified copy, issued within 6 months of the date on which the current application is submitted, and contains at least 5 years of your driving history or the longest timeframe provided by the jurisdiction, whichever is shorter. 

For the Extension Application, you must report all driver’s licenses held since your prior application. For each jurisdiction, other than California, in which you have held a driver’s license since your prior application, you must provide a copy of your driving record that meets the following requirements: an original and certified copy, issued within 6 months of the date on which the current application is submitted, and contains at least 5 years of your driving history or the longest timeframe provided by the jurisdiction, whichever is shorter. 

If a driving record is in a language other than English, you must provide a certified English translation with the driving record. You may not translate your own documents. 

If the jurisdiction that issued the driver’s license will not provide a copy of a driving record, a letter from the agency stating that no record will be provided should be submitted in lieu of the driving record.

Provide the name of your direct supervisor. If you had more than one supervisor, provide the name of the individual most familiar with your conduct. If your supervisor is no longer at the company and you do not have their contact information, please list “Human Resources.” 

If your supervisor is related to you by blood or marriage, please list a non-related colleague who is familiar with your work. If no such person is available, you may list your relative as your supervisor. Please note how the supervisor is related to you on your application.

Some applicants have traveled extensively in the past eight years and have numerous addresses to report on the moral character application. You are encouraged to provide as much information pertaining to each residence as can be reasonably recalled. You are responsible for the complete and accurate reporting of information on the application to the best of your ability, and the failure to provide complete responses could result in a delay in the processing of the application.

No. However, you can view the documents you have successfully uploaded to your case in the Applicant Portal. You will receive confirmation once staff reviews the information.

A lawyer in possession of client or third-party funds and property is a fiduciary. A lawyer must safeguard and segregate those funds and not commingle them with the lawyer's personal or business accounts. (See FAQ 1.3, above, for a description of the two types of trust accounts a lawyer may open to hold client or third-party funds.)

A lawyer must report timely and completely to their client regarding the status and accounting of client funds. A lawyer’s obligations regarding entrusted funds and property are set out in rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct. In addition, under rule 1.4 of the Rules of Professional Conduct, a lawyer must keep their client reasonably informed about significant developments related to a client’s representation. Comment [1] to this rule specifies that a lawyer’s receipt of funds on behalf of a client ordinarily is a significant development requiring such communication with the client.

Yes. Even if you do not currently hold funds in your client trust account, you must still report and register the account. Further, regardless of whether there are client funds, third-party funds, or no funds in a trust account, an attorney has the Client Trust Account obligations set forth in the standards in rule 1.15. 

The definition of a client trust account is “any bank account or accounts opened to receive or hold funds in accordance with rule 1.15(a) of the Rules of Professional Conduct, regardless of the amount of funds in the account, and includes, but is not limited to, any IOLTA account under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (a) where the interest is paid to the State Bar; and any accounts established under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (b) where the interest is payable to a client or other person.”

Question 1 asks whether, to comply with the requirements or prohibitions governing the safekeeping of funds of clients and other persons in rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, you maintained—or anyone maintained on your behalf—any trust account under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (a) where the interest is paid to the State Bar, also known as an Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA), or a similar pooled trust account in another jurisdiction? 

Question 2 asks the same question about trust accounts under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (b) where the interest is payable to a client or other person or similar accounts, also known as non-IOLTA trust accounts, or a similar trust account in another jurisdiction. 

When registering a client trust account as part of CTAPP, you must identify the trust account type. The account will either be IOLTA or non-IOLTA; an account will never be both. The account type was established at the time the account was opened and does not change. A California IOLTA must bear the State Bar of California’s Taxpayer Identification Number to ensure that interest or dividends generated by this account will be paid to the State Bar’s IOLTA program. A non-IOLTA will bear the Social Security Number or Tax ID number of the client or third party.

Rule 2.2(C) of the Rules of the State Bar requires licensees to report changes in trust account information within 30 days of any change. Many licensees are unaware of this longstanding rule. At this time, there is no penalty for noncompliance with the 30-day update requirement. Answering this question truthfully will not increase the likelihood of a CTAPP compliance review or investigatory audit. Currently, the State Bar is focusing on gathering accurate information, educating licensees about their trust account responsibilities (including the 30-day update requirement), and improving overall compliance. There is a 50-character limit on this field.

Unless exempt (see FAQ 2.3, above), California licensees, regardless of where they practice, must still comply with the CTAPP reporting requirements. Licensees must report and register each and every trust account in any location if (1) they acted as a signatory or exercised managerial or primary administrative oversight for a trust account held pursuant to rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, or (2) were otherwise responsible for complying with any of the requirements or prohibitions in rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct other than the disclosure and agreement requirements in rule 1.15(b) pertaining to depositing a flat fee paid in advance into a lawyer’s or law firm’s operating account (e.g., responsibilities for safekeeping of funds, to identify and discharge liens, notify clients that funds have been received, etc.).

Currently, CTAPP reporting features do not allow licensees or firm administrators to enter non-U.S. routing and account numbers. Therefore, for all non-U.S. trust accounts, in Step 1 (Annual Client Trust Account Reporting), please check the box next to “Yes, I will provide or update IOLTA and/or non-IOLTA account information, including the balance as of December 31, 2025, via My State Bar Profile” for the appropriate question, depending on the type of account. Then, during Step 2 (Account Registration), check the checkbox next to “Other” under the sentence, “If you selected Yes to the IOLTA or Non-IOLTA question in Step 1, but are unable to register that IOLTA (CA or Non-CA) and/or Non-IOLTA because you do not have some of the required information, please describe why below,” and, in the box provided, list all non-U.S. bank accounts, including bank name, account number, and country of origin. In future years, we expect enhancements to the reporting application will make it possible for licensees and agencies to report non-U.S. trust account information.

It depends. Service to a local or affinity bar association counts toward the pro bono hours requirement if it is legal in nature (i.e., providing legal services to the nonprofit directly pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 6073.1(c)(1)(B) or 6073.1(c)(1)(C)). General board service qualifies only to the extent that the work enables legal services to the indigent, to another “charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, or educational organization in matters that are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means,” or to another “charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, or educational organization in matters in furtherance of its organizational purposes.” Licensees should use their best good-faith judgment in determining whether their non-legal board activities enable the direct provision of legal work to the indigent or other nonprofits.

Unfortunately, the State Bar is unable to refer you to an attorney or judge. You are required to find a qualified attorney or judge who is willing to supervise your legal studies. You may wish to contact your local bar association for assistance.

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