The MCLE Compliance Department does not keep track of the education an attorney has completed: Attorneys are responsible for keeping certificates of attendance and a record of self-study activities. These records should be used to tally hours.

Certificates of attendance list the overall amount of credit available for an activity and whether any credit is available for legal ethics, prevention of substance abuse, or elimination of bias in the legal profession. Contact the provider directly regarding lost certificates of attendance or if information about an activity is incomplete.

• Provider Search: Telephone numbers for approved providers
• Compliance Information: Recording Keeping Requirement

Special Masters serve without compensation, but for purposes of immunities are considered public employees of the government entity causing the search warrant to be issued.

The issues to be decided in the fee arbitration are limited. The arbitrator will decide the amount of fees and costs, if any, you owe the lawyer or whether you should receive a refund from the lawyer.

If the fee agreement fails to comply with the law, you may "void" or reject it, but the lawyer may still be entitled to receive a reasonable fee. So, as discussed below, you must still be prepared to present a case to the arbitrator with the specific reasons why you believe the fee charged is not reasonable. You may present evidence of what a reasonable fee should be

The arbitration hearing is typically informal, although evidence is usually taken under oath. Arbitration hearings may be held in a conference room in the arbitrator's office or at the bar association. Generally, only the arbitrator, you, the lawyer, and maybe witnesses will be in the room. You do not need to be represented by a lawyer. However, you may choose to have a lawyer represent you if you wish.

There are two types of approved providers in California: Single Activity Providers and Multiple Activity Providers. A Single Activity Provider (SAP) is an organization approved to hold and grant Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) or Legal Specialty Minimum Continuing Legal Education (LSMCLE) credit for a single MCLE or LSMCLE activity for a period of two years from the date of the activity, provided that no substantive changes are made to the program. A SAP must apply for and receive approval of the activity in accordance with the State Bar’s procedures and pay applicable fee(s). More on becoming a Single Activity Provider

A Multiple Activity Provider (MAP) is an organization approved to hold and grant credit for any MCLE or LSMCLE activity for two years after applying for and receiving approval of MAP status in accordance with State Bar procedures and paying the applicable fee(s). Providers approved for MAP status do not have to submit separate applications to request approval for each program offered. More on becoming a Multiple Activity Provider

Yes, there is no exception in rule 8.3 for when a lawyer knows that a complaint was already filed with the State Bar, concerning the same conduct.

The dashboard provides a bird’s-eye view of your course availability and completion. The dashboard presents:

• New courses that have been launched recently.
• Messages: Check this section for important messages from the site administrator.

Although your Dashboard and Learning page update course completion in real-time, the LMS does not update completion progress for the system reports in real-time. The update of the reports will likely appear in your account the day following completion.

The MJP Program allows an attorney licensed in a U.S. jurisdiction other than California to receive limited rights to practice law in California, under one of the three destinations: Registered In-House Counsel (RIHC), Registered Legal Aid Attorney (RLAA), or Registered Military Spouse Attorney (RMSA). 

You can participate in the program if you are active, in good standing, and licensed to practice law in another U.S. jurisdiction and meet the other requirements pursuant to rules 9.41.1 and 9.45-9.48 of the California Rules of Court and Title 3 Division 3 Chapter 1 Articles 1-3 of the Rules of the State Bar. Other requirements to participate in the program include but are not limited to: 

• RIHC: reside in California and work at a qualifying institution, as defined by rule 9.46 of the California Rules of Court. 

• RLAA: work at an eligible legal aid organization, as defined by rule 9.45 of the California Rules of Court, and not have taken and failed the California bar exam within five years immediately preceding the initial application to register under the rule. 

• RMSA: reside in California; be married to, in a civil union with, or a registered domestic partner of, a Service Member; and not have taken and failed the California bar exam within five years immediately preceding the initial application to register as defied in rule 9.41.1 of the California Rules of Court. 

You are ineligible to participate in the MJP Program if you are only licensed in a foreign jurisdiction

Yes.

• RIHC: Within 30 days, you must notify the State Bar of the date that your employment with the qualifying institution ended. If you have new employment with a qualifying institution, you must submit the RIHC Change of Employer Notice to register as RIHC before beginning the employment.
• RLAA: Within 30 days, you must notify the State Bar of the date that your employment with the eligible legal aid organization ended. If you have new employment with an eligible legal aid organization, you must submit the RLAA Change of Employer Notice to register as RIHC before beginning the employment. 

• RMSA: Within 30 days, you must notify the State Bar of the date that the supervision by your supervising attorney ended. If you have a new qualified supervising attorney, you must submit the RMSA Change of Employer Notice to register as RMSA before beginning employment with the new supervising attorney. 

  If you are unable to secure new qualifying employment within one year from the date your employment or supervision ended, you will be terminated from the MJP Program. If you are terminated from the MJP Program, you will be required to submit a new application, not the change of employer notice. Additionally, if you are terminated from the MJP Program and your positive moral character determination has expired, you will be required to submit a new Application for Determination of Moral Character. 

  You must report the above information in the Applicant Portal by following the steps below or emailing mjp@calbar.ca.gov. 

  • Log in to the Applicant Portal. 

  • From the home page in the Applicant Portal:

  • Click “Support Requests” o Select “New General Request”
  • For type, select “Other” 

  • Provide the update in the description box and click “Confirm” when you are ready to submit the update. 

    You may find the change of employer notices in the Applicant Portal under the applications section called the “Multijurisdictional Practice Programs for Out-of-State U.S. Attorneys.” 

    If you are unable to access the Applicant Portal, please contact the Office of Admissions at Admissions@calbar.ca.gov or at 800-843-9053.

Applicants will receive hard copy examination materials for the written and MBE sessions through the February 2028 exam. When registering for the exam, applicants will choose to either use their personal laptop to type their answers or handwrite their answers. The multiple-choice session is comprised of 200 questions where applicants must record their answers by darkening circles using a Number 2 pencil on an answer sheet.

Applicants have approximately one hour for a lunch break. You are allowed to bring lunch but may not eat it in the exam room. Please review the sample schedules online, as lunch schedules vary. Each day may have one of three lunch designations: 

• No lunch break: Typically, you will not have a lunch break if you only take one session of the exam that day for no more than four and a half hours. 

• Lunch break between sessions: Typically, you will have a lunch break scheduled between sessions if you take two sessions of the exam that day, and they are each scheduled for no more than four and a half hours. You must leave the testing room and report at the designated time for the start of your next exam session. You are not allowed to eat lunch in the testing room unless you have received prior approval as an accommodation. 

• Lunch break during a session in the secure lunchroom: Typically, you will have a lunch break during the session if you only take one session of the exam for more than four and a half hours. The timing of your lunch break will be determined on the day of the exam with your proctor, and you must eat lunch in the secure lunchroom. There may be other applicants eating in the secure lunchroom. Applicants are not allowed cell phones or reading materials in the secure lunchroom. You must bring your lunch as you will not be allowed to leave the secure testing area. You will not be permitted to retrieve your lunch from your car or buy lunch at the exam site. You are not allowed to eat lunch in the testing room unless you have received prior approval as an accommodation.

At the joint meeting on August 14, 2025, the Board of Trustees and the Committee of Bar Examiners set the new fees for the PLP. Please find them below.

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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 laws and rules 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 in rule 9.49) where the Supervising Lawyer works, which must have an office located in California. 

• Immediately report the termination of supervision by their Supervising Lawyer to the State Bar.

You must file an application with the court to appear on behalf of the client in the related case. Please refer to rule 9.40(c) of the California Rules of Court. The filing submitted to the court must include a copy of a proof of service showing that all parties and the State Bar of California have been served. You must also remit the fee to the State Bar of California with a copy of the application.

The application must state: 

• The applicant's residence and office address; 

• The courts to which the applicant has been admitted to practice and the dates of admission; 

• That the applicant is a licensee in good standing in those courts; 

• That the applicant is not currently suspended or disbarred in any court; 

• The title of each court and cause in which the applicant has filed an application to appear as counsel pro hac vice in California in the preceding two years, the date of each application, and whether or not it was granted; and 

• The name, address, and telephone number of the active licensee of the State Bar of California who is the attorney of record.

No. You must contact the federal court clerk to ascertain if the filing must be served on a specific custodial record keeper.

At the time the application becomes available, applicants can check their eligibility to apply for the Pathway PLP through the Applicant Portal under the status tab. Only applicants who meet the qualification, specifically those who achieved a score between 1390 and 1439 at first read or as a total scaled score for any California Bar Exam between July 2015 and February 2020, will be granted access to the PLP application.

• Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts, commonly known as IOLTA, is a tool for raising money to increase access to justice by funding legal services for indigent Californians.
• Rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct requires that attorneys who handle money belonging to their clients—including settlement checks, fee advances for services not yet performed, or money to pay court fees—deposit the funds in one or more clearly identifiable trust accounts. If the amount is large or the funds are to be held for a long period of time, the attorney must place the money in an interest-bearing account for the benefit of the client. However, if the client funds are nominal or will be held only for a short time, then they are pooled in a single account with similar funds of other clients. The latter type of account is an IOLTA account.
• The interest generated by the IOLTA accounts is collected by the State Bar’s Legal Services Trust Fund Program and distributed to more than 100 nonprofit legal aid organizations that provide civil legal aid to indigent Californians.