Yes, attorneys may pay their installments in advance if they wish to complete their payments before the final deadline of October 1, 2025.

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.  

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. 

The PLP will sunset for first-time takers of the February 2025 CBX on December 31, 2027. Provisional Licensure Program: First-Time Takers of the February 2025 California Bar Exam

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. 

Changes to your licensee record information may be made in the My State Bar Profile application.

Please use the forms listed here for other self-reporting.

• Nonattorneys: Click “Forgot Password” on the login page and follow the prompts.
• Attorneys: Reset your password through My State Bar Profile.

You may request a refund within 60 days of your purchase as long as the course has not been accessed. Refunds for courses with technical issues will be prioritized. Processing may take up to 90 days. Credit card fees are nonrefundable. 

An investigation of a complaint typically takes up to six months to be completed. In particularly complex cases, the investigation could take as long as a year. Many complaints are diverted out of the process along the way. For example, there could be a referral to mandatory mediation (an agreement requiring the attorney to meet certain conditions) or the attorney’s participation in other programs.

Attorneys are asked to provide their best, good faith effort at reporting the amount of pro bono and/or reduced fee legal services hours provided to low-income individuals, nonprofit organizations, or public law libraries during the past year to meet the requirement of Business and Professions Code section 6073.2. Per section 6073.2(g), failure to comply with any of the provisions of this section is not grounds for disciplinary or administrative recourse.

The Ethics Hotline:

• Cannot offer legal advice. Staff cannot tell you what to do, review documents, or recommend a specific course of action; they can only provide references to applicable rules and authorities.
• Cannot assist with administrative or compliance issues, such as:
  • Client Trust Account Protection Program (CTAPP)
  • Law Corporations or Limited Liability Partnerships
  • Agency billing
  • Admissions
  • MCLE compliance
  • Mandatory pro bono reporting

For these types of questions, please use the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry Form.

The operative date has not yet been set; it depends on completion of the public comment and Board approval processes.

Applicants enrolled in both programs, along with their respective supervisors, are expected to take proactive steps to avoid or address any actual or potential conflicts of interest or ethical issues. This includes exercising good judgment in situations where their dual roles may overlap. For example, an applicant who studies in the Law Office Study Program under the supervision of a judge should avoid appearing before that same judge when representing a client in the Certified Law Student Program.

Yes. To remain in the program, you must take your first eligible administration of the California Bar Exam, and your certification in the program will continue only until the State Bar releases results for that examination.

You can participate in the program if you are currently enrolled in or have graduated from:

• A Juris Doctor (JD) program: Have successfully completed one full year of studies and have passed or established exemption from the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, and be enrolled and in good academic standing in the second, third, or fourth year of law school.
• A Master of Laws (LLM) program: Have a degree from a law school in a foreign jurisdiction that authorizes the applicant to practice law in that jurisdiction and is acceptable to the State Bar of California under the State Bar’s Guidelines for Applicants with a Foreign Language Degree; have successfully completed one semester or two quarters in an LLM program; be enrolled and in good academic standing in a second or subsequent semester or third or subsequent quarter of an LLM program; and have not failed to take or received results for the first California Bar Examination for which eligible, since first registering with the State Bar of California.
• The Law Office Study (LOS) Program: Have successfully completed one full year in the Law Office Study Program, have passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, and be actively continuing the study of law in a law office through the Law Office Study Program.

Some of the most frequent compliance issues include:

• Not performing monthly three-way reconciliations of the trust accounts
• Errors in distribution calculations to both the law firms and clients
• Designated licensee failing to supervise trust account recordkeeping performed by staff, bookkeepers, or outside vendors
• Commingling personal and client funds, often through overpayment or underpayment of withdrawals from the trust account
• Delayed or missing written notice to clients when funds are received on their behalf
• Lack of documentation for deposits and disbursements, or incorrect amounts recorded
• Failure to promptly distribute undisputed funds to the client or third party within 45 days
• Missing or incomplete account journals that do not contain all required fields:

1. Date of each transaction
2. Client related to each transaction
3. Amount of each deposit and disbursement
4. Running balance

• Failure to maintain client ledgers that contain all required fields:

1. Date of each transaction
2. Source of funds (payor) or payee of each transaction
3. Amount of each deposit and disbursement
4. Purpose of each transaction
5. Running balance

All documents must be uploaded through the State Bar’s secure online portal. This system ensures encrypted, confidential transmission and complies with data privacy and privilege protections.

Initially, attorneys selected for compliance review will represent a cross-section of the legal community. In the future, the State Bar may select attorneys using a risk-based and random selection criteria. Factors may include prior trust account activity, self-reported information through CTAPP registration, or other factors driven by State Bar data and oversight priorities. Being selected for a compliance review is not, by itself, an indication of misconduct.

If, after investigation, the evidence does not establish a serious violation, the State Bar may:

• Issue a warning to the attorney;
• Place the attorney on diversion, under which the attorney agrees to take corrective action; or
• Issue an Agreement in Lieu of Discipline (ALD), under which the attorney agrees to take corrective action. 

A warning, diversion, or an ALD is not considered discipline.

No. Although certain federal or state employees may be exempt from the general MCLE requirement, there are no exemptions from the NAT requirement for new licensees. (Rule 2.143.) You must complete NAT by your one-year admission anniversary deadline.