One of the first things the arbitrator will look at is whether there is a written fee agreement. If there is, the parties should submit a copy of the agreement to the arbitrator. In most instances, lawyers are required to use written fee agreements. If they do not, however, they are still entitled to a reasonable fee. The arbitrator will also consider the testimony of the parties, the billing statements, and other relevant evidence presented.

You may want to consider submitting any letter or documents that may support your claim. These include but are not limited to the lawyer’s billing statement, evidence of payments to the lawyer (e.g., copies of void checks), and any written fee agreements. Any other letters or documents that support your claim. You should have your documents organized in the order in which you plan to present them. Putting them in order by date is one common way to do this. You should also plan to have additional copies of the documents you intend to present so that you can give the copies to the arbitrator and the attorney whose fees you are disputing.

The award is the decision of the arbitrator and specifies whether you owe money to the lawyer, whether the lawyer owes money to you or whether neither of you owes any money.

No. E-learning courses can be completed on your schedule, at your own pace. Leave the course at any time and your progress will be saved until you return. Depending on the type of screen you are on when you exit, the course will resume at that point or at the beginning of the same section. Once you complete the course, you will be given access to a certificate that can be saved or printed to document course completion.

IMPORTANT: Upon returning to the course, you must answer “Yes” to the introductory question “Would you like to resume where you left off?” If you answer “No” to the introductory question, the course will be reset to the beginning and any record of your prior progress will be lost.

Yes. The State Bar New Attorney Training is not MCLE, however, new licensees can apply State Bar New Attorney Training hours to their MCLE requirement, provided that the hours are completed within the licensee’s MCLE compliance period. (Rule 2.142 of Title 2, Division 6, Chapter 1 of the Rules of the State Bar.)

By completing the entire New Attorney Training Program, you will complete 10 hours of MCLE credit, including 5.25 hours of legal ethics, 1.75 hours of general, 1 hours on competency, 1 hour on civility, and 1 hours on recognition and elimination of bias.

The title and the amount of credit offered by each course will depend on when the course was complete. See the table below.

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No. You may not claim in any way to be a licensed attorney of the State Bar of California. You must use the applicable title in connection with your activities performed under the MJP Program: 

• Registered In-House Counsel 

• Registered Legal Aid Attorney 

• Specially Registered Attorney (in lieu of Registered Military Spouse Attorney)

Processing may take up to 60 days from the date your Testing Accommodations Application is deemed complete by the State Bar. If you submit an application on or close to the final filing deadline, there may not be enough time after receiving a decision to submit a request for review. However, you can submit a request for review for a subsequent administration of the exam, if needed. Early filing is strongly encouraged.

Sample schedules for extended time are posted online. Detailed testing schedules for each administration of the CBX will be sent to applicants via a Testing Accommodations Notice once logistics are finalized. Please note that schedules for subsequent exam administrations are subject to change.

The PLP will sunset for first-time takers of the February 2025 CBX on December 31, 2027.

Once you are no longer supervised by your Supervising Lawyer, you must immediately: 

• Log in to the Applicant Portal. 

• Click on your most recent PLP case number. 

• Report the termination by posting the information, including the date and reason for termination, to your most recent PLP case. 

• Alternatively, you can also submit a general request through the Applicant Portal by clicking on the Help Center.

No. Pursuant to rule 9.40 of the California Rules of Court, the application must include the out-of-state attorney's residence and office address.

The program will terminate on May 31, 2023, for any participant who: 

• Has not completed the State Bar’s 10-hour New Attorney Training; or
• Has not received an 86 or higher on the MPRE; or
• Does not have an active positive moral character determination*; or
• Does not submit all documentation required by the State Bar; or
• Does not have an eligible supervisor committed to supervise the participant through the end of 2023.

*If you have received a negative determination, you will be immediately suspended from the PLP and cannot practice as a PLL. However, you will not be terminated from the program until time has passed to request a review or final appeal, or the review or appeal has concluded. If following the review or appeal you are issued a positive moral character determination, you can continue in the program through December 31, 2025, while you seek to pass the bar exam. If you had other outstanding requirements as of May 31, 2023 (for example, you hadn’t yet received an 86 or higher on the MPRE), you will be terminated from the program as of May 31, 2023, regardless of the status of your moral character determination.

No, but once your positive moral character determination expires, if you don’t have a completed application for extension on file, you will be suspended from the program. Applications for Extension of Moral Character Determination are simpler and can be filed up to six months before the expiration of your positive determination.

Hours must be tracked and submitted to the Office of Admissions on a weekly basis. Specifically, PLLs will be required to note the total number of hours worked, the total number of hours spent performing legal services (whether paid or unpaid), and a description of the supervised legal practice duties assigned that specific week. When the hours are submitted, the State Bar will contact the supervising lawyer to sign that week’s completed log. To access the time-tracking log:

• Log in to the Applicant Portal.
• At the top, click “Applications.”
• Then click “Timesheet.”
• Click “New” to create a new timesheet.
• Enter all information and click “Save.”

Once that timesheet record has been saved, the applicant will receive an email with a link to capture their electronic signature. After receipt of that electronic signature, an email will be sent to the supervising attorney to confirm the hours reported.

Once a PLL has logged a total of 300 hours of supervised legal practice, an email will be sent to the supervising lawyer requesting an evaluation of the PLL’s overall work performance. Once that evaluation has been completed, it will be reviewed by the eligibility team to determine whether the PLL has satisfactorily met the requirements of California Rule of Court 9.49.1 (i).

Yes, the rules allow for multiple supervisors. The supervisors may work within the same law firm or at a different law firm if you will be employed or volunteer at more than one organization. You must submit a declaration from each supervising lawyer with your application in the Applicant Portal. You may not work at any organization unless you have submitted a declaration from a supervising lawyer with that organization, and the State Bar has approved the supervisor as eligible.

You are required under rule 4.42 of the Rules of the State Bar of California to update your responses within 30 days when information provided in the application has changed or there is new information relevant to the application until you have taken the attorney’s oath. To update your application, please log in to the Applicant Portal and access your moral character case. Use the feed on your moral character case to post an update or upload a document.

Figure 1: Posting an update or document to a Moral Character Case

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The State Bar is unable to provide advice concerning the completion requirements of law school applications, including whether disclosure of certain criminal matters is required. An applicant should consult the law school concerning the completion requirements for its application.

Yes. The moral character application requires disclosure of all debt that is delinquent at the time the application is submitted. Applicants must also disclose all incidents of student loan default, even if the loan is current at the time the moral character application is submitted.

Yes. The moral character application requires the disclosure of applications submitted to any jurisdiction for admission to practice law including, but not limited to, applications to be admitted by examination, on motion, or on diploma privilege; applications for reinstatement to a State Bar; and applications for determination of moral character. All submitted applications must be disclosed regardless of whether you were admitted, including applications that are withdrawn or otherwise did not result in a final determination.