For most individuals, it takes less than five minutes from logging in to signing the Settlement Agreement.

The entire settlement must be paid by December 31, 2025. No exceptions. If you do not pay the new settlement amount by December 31, 2025, the Settlement Agreement will be terminated. You will owe the original amount of the debt (less what you have paid) and the State Bar reserves all rights to pursue, or continue to pursue, all available legal remedies to recover the total owed debt, including without limitation reporting the debt to FTB, credit reporting agencies, entry of a Superior Court money judgment and/or pursuing legal actions.

Yes, upon receipt of the full settlement amount, within two weeks the State Bar will file appropriate documentation to satisfy the judgment and remove any property liens.

The DEI Leadership Seal program recognizes bronze, silver, and gold seal recipients, based on the number of Action Items implemented. 

• Employers that implement five Action Items are eligible to be recognized as bronze-tier recipients. 

• Employers that implement seven Action Items are eligible to be recognized as silver-tier recipients. 

• Employers that implement nine Action Items are eligible to be recognized as gold-tier recipients. 

All participating employers, regardless of tier, must commit to implementing the first two Action Items and then select from the remaining eight.

The program will have annual application windows for participating employers to indicate their commitment to, or implementation of, five of the ten Action Items. These dates will be posted on our website. Please allow approximately two months for State Bar staff to review and respond to applications.

Committed participating employers will then have up to one year to implement the Action Items before being recognized as seal recipients and receiving the DEI Leadership Seal to use on their own materials. For example, committed participating employers who applied in 2026 must demonstrate implementation of five of the ten Action Items by spring 2027 to receive the DEI Leadership Seal.

In support of the mission to “support... efforts for greater access, and inclusion in, the legal system,” the State Bar aims to encourage and incentivize legal employers to take action to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion in their organizations. Similarly, promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal system is a key priority of the State Bar’s 2022–2027 Strategic Plan. A more diverse, accessible, and inclusive legal workplace improves the experience of employees and their clients. A legal profession that better reflects the diversity of California’s communities can improve public access to, and fair treatment in, the legal system.

The commission explored the experiences of respondents who are charged with moral turpitude. Moral turpitude is discussed in Business and Professions Code section 6016 as follows: “The commission of any act involving moral turpitude, dishonesty or corruption, whether the act is committed in the course of his relations as an attorney or otherwise, and whether the act is a felony or misdemeanor or not, constitutes a cause for disbarment or suspension.”

Attorneys can be charged with moral turpitude as an original matter or when OCTC seeks discipline for a criminal conviction. Business and Professions Code section 6101 requires OCTC to transmit criminal conviction cases to the State Bar Court Review Department within 30 days of receipt if it determines that the case may or does involve moral turpitude. Attorneys are ineligible for participation in the Alternative Discipline Program, a program that supports attorneys whose misconduct stems from mental health or substance abuse, if their misconduct involves moral turpitude, a program that involves treatment.

In its study of moral turpitude, the Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System found that:

• Criminal conviction matters based on misdemeanor cases have high rates of nondisciplinary action and pretrial case dismissal initiated by OCTC.
• There is no rule (or sufficient time) that authorizes either an ENEC or other pretransmittal meeting in a misdemeanor criminal conviction proceeding, at which respondents or the State Bar Court could weigh in on whether a respondent’s misdemeanor criminal conviction involves moral turpitude or other misconduct warranting discipline.
• There appears to be ambiguity within the State Bar rules involving referrals to the Alternative Discipline Program, with one rule effectively disallowing participation without the opportunity for attorneys to litigate moral turpitude allegations.
• OCTC is not bound to follow judges’ judicial evaluations during the ENEC process, even those that raise concerns regarding a lack of evidence to support moral turpitude charges.

As a result, the commission recommended that the Board of Trustees:

• Direct staff to work with stakeholders to study possible revisions to all applicable rules to determine the feasibility of conducting a pretransmittal meeting similar to an ENEC in misdemeanor conviction matters subject to rule 5.340–5.347 that would determine whether or not the facts and circumstances underlying the misdemeanor conviction involve moral turpitude or other misconduct warranting discipline and if appropriate, evaluate a potential disposition of the matter.
• Direct staff to work with stakeholders to study and clarify all applicable rules involving referrals to the Alternative Discipline Program, specifically concerning whether or not moral turpitude has resulted in significant harm to a client or the administration of justice.
• Direct staff to work with stakeholders to propose revisions to all applicable rules to promote the use of ENECs as a mechanism for arriving at prefiling settlements of State Bar disciplinary proceedings.

Starting in January 2020, the State Bar will highlight the Leadership Bank Program through press releases and social media accounts. In addition, the State Bar will ensure that Leadership Banks are prominently displayed on its website and have active hyperlinks to the Leadership Banks’ IOLTA websites. Lastly, designated Leadership Banks may advertise their IOLTA offerings with the State Bar Leadership Bank logo.

Yes. The investigating commissioners are required by the rules to notify the candidate at least four business days prior to the interview of any criticisms they have preliminarily found to be substantial and credible.

The candidate is given an opportunity to respond to, and present evidence to rebut, all reported criticisms at the interview.

The commission has to report to the Governor within 90 days from the date of submission of the names of the candidates.

Yes, provided that the forms contain the required information as outlined in the MCLE Provider Rules.

The State Bar recommends a minimum of 10 questions per 30-minute activity segment to be considered substantive.

Pursuant to rule 3.605 of the Rules of the State Bar, the State Bar does not intervene in disputes between a provider and an attendee or potential attendee. However, complaints that the State Bar receives regarding a provider are considered in assessing the provider’s compliance with State Bar certification rules. Please email your concerns to providers@calbar.ca.gov.

The State Bar of California does randomly audit the fee scaling program, and if selected, you will be required to provide the prior year 1040 tax return to support your declaration. If your documents don’t support the deduction in fees, you will be responsible for the full fee, plus a late fee of $100.

Current and former State Bar licensees will be invited to participate in stages to ensure a smooth process. You will receive an invitation via mail and email when you are eligible. Please wait for your individualized invitation via mail and email for the website link and log-in instructions.  Former licensees and suspended licensees or licensees not otherwise eligible to practice law (as of January 1, 2025) will be notified by the end of March 2025. 

Licensees on active and voluntary inactive status (as of January 1, 2025) will be invited in May to have the opportunity to settle discipline costs, monetary sanctions and/or CSF reimbursements due with their annual fee renewals in 2026 and beyond. Any portion of the abovementioned debt due with your 2025 renewal fees, or otherwise due in 2025, must be paid in full in 2025, in alignment with the State Bar’s Schedule of Charges and Deadlines, as a condition of continued practice. This program does not include any other type of debt owed to the State Bar, included but not limited to, past due license fees, CTAPP and/or MCLE non-compliance penalties.

If you reject the State Bar’s settlement offer you will have the opportunity to provide feedback as to why you rejected the offer and submit a counteroffer. If your counteroffer is not accepted and you would like to return to the original State Bar offer, please email collections@calbar.ca.gov to reset your original offer.

Upon completion of your Fresh Start settlement payment, please allow two weeks for your billing record to be updated. This applies to nondisbarred and nonresigned attorneys only. Disbarred and resigned attorneys do not have active billing records.

Please email collections@calbar.ca.gov to request copies of judgments, Supreme Court Orders and Client Security Fund documents.

Committed employers should use the Tier Advancement form to identify and document which Action Items have been implemented. Tier Advancement forms are accepted on a rolling basis. Tier Advancement form due dates will be posted on our website.

The State Bar has created a Resource Guide that provides tips and best practices to consider when implementing the Action Items. The guide is intended to be one tool to help organizations develop and achieve their DEI goals and is not intended to provide step-by-step instructions.