If a testing accommodations application is denied in whole or in part, applicants may request review of the decision by the Committee of Bar Examiners once for each exam cycle. However, if you submit your initial application less than 60 days before the filing deadline, there may not be enough time after receiving a decision to appeal for the upcoming administration of the exam. Requests for review must be submitted through the Applicant Portal no later than the first business day of the month in which that exam is scheduled to be administered. Launch a case via the Applicant Portal by clicking the Request for Review link on the right side of the page, under the column labeled Application Action Link. You must complete the required questions, including a statement of the reason you do not agree with the initial determination, and upload any documentation you wish for the committee to consider.

You can view your testing location by accessing the corresponding examination case in your Applicant Portal. Your exam location will be listed in the Details tab, underneath the Examination Event Information. Once your Admittance Ticket is available, you can view your assigned testing accommodations site on the ticket. The ticket will list the general location of the exam. Upon arrival at the test site, you may need to check in at the staff table to receive your room assignment.

Applicants who are eligible for the PLP as first-time takers were notified by the Office of Admissions in June 2025 via email. 

You may also verify your eligibility via the status screen in the Applicant Portal. There are multiple PLP programs listed in your applicant portal. Make sure you are checking your eligibility for the PLP for first-time takers of the February bar exam, and not the expansion program also listed on the portal.

Yes. Applicants who are eligible for the PLP as first-time takers, similar to the PLLs who qualified to participate as 2020 graduates, must pass the bar exam and meet all other requirements for admission to practice law. Participation in the PLP for these cohorts is not a pathway to licensure; however, it does provide valuable real-world experience practicing law under the supervision of an experienced California attorney. In response to a prior survey, the vast majority (89%) of the PLLs agreed or strongly agreed that the program was valuable in preparing them for the practice of law.

No. The license is suspended to give the PLL the opportunity to contest the determination. If no request for review or appeal is timely filed, the provisional license is terminated. If a request for review or appeal is timely filed, the provisional license will remain suspended until the final outcome, unless the provisional license is terminated as a result of other factors (such as failing to timely meet other program requirements).

Rule 9.40 of the California Rules of Court does not set a limit on the number of appearances an out-of-state attorney may make as PHV. However, the court determines if the applicant is ineligible for PHV due to multiple appearances.

Unfortunately, you cannot. The most recent amendments to rule 9.49 provide that the recently granted program extension applies to those 2020 law graduates who were admitted to the Original PLP prior to December 31, 2022.

No. An applicant does not need to live in California so long as they are employed by or volunteering with—or have a conditional offer of employment or to volunteer with a legal employer, as defined—with an office in California and are supervised by an eligible California lawyer.

While the PLP recognizes that some PLLs may engage in unpaid volunteer work, nothing in the program purports to exempt employers from any applicable employment and wage and hour laws. Employers interested in supervising a PLL in unpaid volunteer work should determine whether such an arrangement is legally permissible given the specific factual circumstances and should follow all applicable laws as required. Also, refer to the California Lawyers Association’s webpage about employing and paying a PLL.

No. The license is suspended to give the PLL the opportunity to contest the determination. If no request for review or appeal is timely filed, the PLL is terminated. If a request for review or appeal is timely filed, the PLL will remain suspended until the final outcome, unless the PLL is terminated as a result of other factors (such as failing to timely meet other program requirements).

Applications are considered individually. Processing times for applications are affected by variables such as the relative complexity of an applicant’s history. It may take 180 days or more from the date the application is deemed complete to finish the processing of a moral character application. You may submit a moral character application after you meet the eligibility requirements by commencing the study of law and registering with the State Bar as a law student or an attorney applicant. Applicants are encouraged to file a moral character application before the start of their last year of law study.

CTAPP includes an annual reporting obligation that is required to be completed by almost all licensees. (See FAQ 2.2 for more information on who must comply and FAQ 2.3 for who is exempt from CTAPP.) During each billing cycle, licensees are required to complete: 

• Annual client trust account reporting (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.8.5(a)(1)(A));
• Annual trust account registration (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.8.5(a)(1)(B));
• Annual client trust account self-assessment (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.8.5(a)(2)(A)); and
• Annual client trust account certification of compliance (Cal. Rules of Court, rule 9.8.5(a)(1)(A)).

Licensees must also submit a declaration saying the information they provided is true and correct. 

CTAPP also includes: 

• Public education and client outreach regarding attorney responsibilities and the rights of clients;
• Enhanced legal education on client trust account management for attorneys, such as the newly released Practical Trust Account Reconciliation course, which includes practical guidance on CTA recordkeeping and monthly reconciliations, and best practices guides;
• Compliance reviews of selected lawyers by a certified public accountant to ensure adherence to client trust account management requirements; and
• Where appropriate based on the results of the compliance reviews, investigative audits of the licensee’s trust accounts.

Your reporting is complete if: 

• You answered “no” to the CTAPP Screening Question and submitted your Final Declaration; or
• You answered “yes” to the CTAPP Screening Question and:
  • Completed Step 1 (Annual Client Trust Account Reporting);
  • Registered your trust accounts in Step 2 (Account Registration) or confirmed your firm registered your trust accounts on your behalf through Agency Billing and you or your firm updated the year-end account balance for all registered trust accounts;
  • Completed Step 3 (Self-Assessment);
  • Completed Step 4 (Annual Certification of Compliance); and
  • Submitted your Final Declaration.

You can verify your compliance status by logging in to My State Bar Profile and reviewing your Compliance Dashboard. Each box on the dashboard displays reminders related to each of your annual requirements, including your current CTAPP status. Click the blue button on the relevant tile to complete outstanding tasks. 

If your individual reporting is complete, you can review your responses and determine if your firm has registered accounts on your behalf using the “View a Summary of your CTAPP Annual Reporting” link on the CTAPP Annual Reporting tile on the Compliance Dashboard page. You will not invalidate your declaration by reviewing this summary.

While a licensee is on inactive status, that licensee cannot practice law. An inactive licensee who engages in the practice of law may be guilty of a misdemeanor. (See Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 6125–6126, 6068, subd.(a), & 6106. See also In the Matter of Burke (Review Dept. 2016) 5 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. 448.) Additionally, a licensee on inactive status may have a duty to inform their client(s) or a tribunal that they are ineligible to practice law. (See Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4 and 3.3.) If you have further questions about the unauthorized practice of law, please contact the State Bar’s Ethics Hotline research service at 800-238-4427 (toll-free in California). The Ethics Hotline cannot provide legal advice, nor tell you how to comply with any of the CTAPP requirements, including whether to answer “yes” or “no” in any portion of the CTAPP reporting requirements. 

Reinstatement of your license requires payment of any applicable fees, completion of the past due CTAPP reporting requirements, and applying for reinstatement. To submit payment of applicable fees, please log in to My State Bar Profile and click the “Pay Fee” link on the CTAPP Annual Reporting tile on your Compliance Dashboard or click the blue “Make a payment” button on the Profile Summary page to go to the “Annual Fee” page. You should go to the Annual Fee page to pay outstanding fees even if you have already paid your annual licensing fee for 2026. From there, click the blue “Calculate and pay my fees” button to see a breakdown of the fees owed. Click continue and follow the steps to complete your payment.

If you were involuntarily enrolled as inactive for noncompliance in 2026, you can complete your CTAPP reporting in My State Bar Profile and then complete and submit the first page of the CTAPP Noncompliance Reinstatement Form. If you were involuntarily enrolled as inactive for CTAPP noncompliance in 2023, 2024, or 2025, you will need to complete and submit the first page of the CTAPP Noncompliance Reinstatement Form and the attached CTAPP reporting forms for all missing years.

The State Bar is in the process of updating all bank names according to the names listed in the official Registrar of Routing Numbers for the American Bankers Association. Therefore, if your bank name changed, but your routing number and account number stayed the same, the State Bar will update the bank name to your existing trust account record. You do not need to do anything to change the bank name. You will still need to provide the year-end balance for your existing trust account.

Unless exempt (see FAQ 2.3, above), California licensees, regardless of where they practice, must still comply with the CTAPP reporting requirements. To answer Step 1 (Annual Client Trust Account Reporting) questions, licensees must determine whether they are responsible for client funds and funds entrusted by others under the provisions of rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct. (See Rules Prof. Conduct, rule 8.5.) If so, because rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct requires attorneys who handle trust funds to hold those funds in one or more client trust accounts labeled as a “Trust Account,” or words of similar import, the licensee must answer “yes” to at least one of the CTAPP Annual Client Trust Account Reporting questions of whether they maintained any trust accounts 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 trust accounts under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (b) where the interest is payable to a client or other person, also known as non-IOLTA trust accounts, and complete the remaining CTAPP requirements.

Only if the licensee is not responsible for any client funds and funds entrusted by others under rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct may the licensee answer “no” to the CTAPP Annual Client Trust Account Reporting questions. 

For information on reporting an IOLTA account outside California, please refer to CTAPP FAQ 4.3, below.

Yes. Some categories of attorneys are exempt from reporting pro bono hours. However, even licensees who are exempt from reporting their pro bono hours must declare their exemption status in My State Bar Profile. The reporting requirement applies to active licensees, including participants in the State Bar’s Pro Bono Practice Program. The reporting requirement does not apply to:

• Licensees employed by an organization primarily engaged in the provision of pro bono legal services, including qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers, legal aid organizations, and nonprofit public benefit corporations.
• Full-time employees, officers, or elected officials of the State of California, political subdivisions, or the federal government. This includes city and county employees (such as public defenders), trial court attorneys employed by the judicial branch, and employees of tribal governments and the University of California. Attorneys working for state governments outside California are not included in this exemption.
• Licensees whose current employer prohibits them from performing pro bono legal services (if declared on their My State Bar Profile by selecting the corresponding checkbox under this option).

For more information, see Business and Professions Code section 6073.2.

You must fulfill the pre-legal education requirements that apply to students who attend law school. This includes at least two years of college work or equivalent intellectual achievement by attaining a score of 50 or higher on specified College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations, as detailed on the College Equivalency Education webpage.

Your pre-legal and any completed legal education will be evaluated upon submission of your LOS application. You must register with the Office of Admissions, and the Registration Application must be approved before you can submit an LOS application. When submitting your Application for the Law Office Study Program, you must submit your official, sealed undergraduate transcripts, CLEP scores, or a course-by-course evaluation of your foreign study from an approved credential evaluation agency if you have foreign undergraduate study. All official, sealed legal education transcripts must also be submitted before your participation in the LOS Program can be approved.

All sealed official transcripts must be mailed to the Los Angeles Office of Admissions. Electronic transcripts are not acceptable.

You must submit a semi-annual report to the State Bar within 30 days after completion of each six-month period of study through the LOS Program. A semi-annual report submitted 31–60 days after completion of the six-month study period is subject to a late fee as set forth in the Schedule of Charges and Deadlines. Semi-annual reports submitted after 60 days will not be accepted nor receive credit. 

Your participation in the LOS Program will be terminated if you fail to submit a semi-annual report within a year of your last provided semi-annual report.

You must submit your semi-annual reports through the Applicant Portal. To submit a semi-annual report (i.e., Law Office Study Session):

• Log in to your Applicant Portal.
• Scroll down to “My Applications.”
• Click on the case number associated with your approved Application for the Law Office Study Program.
• Under Law Office Study Sessions, click “New.”
• Provide the requested information and click “Save.” A LOS Session ID will be created.
• Click on the new LOS Session ID number. Upload a completed LOS Session Semi-Annual Report Cover Sheet; your six graded exams, each with an appended LOS Session Exam Cover Sheet under the files section; and any other supporting documentation. Ensure the LOS Session Semi-Annual Report Cover Sheet has the correct dates and the total hours studied for the period.
• Click “Pay Now” and follow the steps to submit the study session.

An e-learning portal is a personalized website for accessing e-learning courses and other educational content.