You may also pay for your California Lawyers Association Section fees. All licensees will also have the opportunity to donate to the Greg E. Knoll Justice Gap Fund, California ChangeLawyers (formerly the California Bar Foundation), the Legislative Activities Fund, and the California Supreme Court Historical Society. 

Payments submitted by mail are required to include either a copy of your invoice or fee statement. Send the invoice/fee statement and check to:

The State Bar of California
P.O. Box 842142
Los Angeles, CA 90084-2142

The Government Code (Section 12011.5) sets forth certain evaluation criteria. Thus, in determining the qualifications of a candidate, the JNE Commission shall consider, among other appropriate factors, their industry, judicial temperament, honesty, objectivity, community respect, integrity, health, ability and legal experience. The State Bar shall consider broad legal experience including, but not limited to: litigation and non litigation experience; legal work for a business or nonprofit entity; experience as a law professor or other academic position; legal work in any of the three branches of government and; legal work in dispute resolution.

Any marketing of or other communication or publication regarding your institution’s participation in the State Bar’s Leadership Bank program must be limited to the fact that your institution has been recognized by the State Bar for paying higher rates on IOLTA accounts, resulting in increased funding of free legal services for those in need. Leadership Banks may not state or imply that the State Bar has endorsed them generally or made any other endorsements or representations about their products or services. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in, withdrawal of the Leadership Bank designation, and withdrawal of all State Bar approval, endorsement, and connection, including the ability to offer IOLTA products.

The mailing address for the State Bar of California is: 180 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94105. See the Contact Us page for more information.

(1) A candidate rated not qualfied may request rescission within 30 days of being notified of the NQ rating by the JNE director on behalf of the commission.

(2) The JNE Review Committee consists of five members who are appointed by the Board of Trustees.

(3) This committee's charge is to review all requests for reconsideration. In the event the Review Committee finds certain specified violations of the rules to have occurred, or after review of the candidate's record the commission's rating of not qualified is not supported by substantial evidence, it may, in its absolute discretion, rescind the opinion of the commission.

The definition of the ratings of judicial candidates to be used by the commission in reporting to the Governor's office are:

Definition of Ratings - vary by candidate type :

Candidates for the Superior Court:

Exceptionally Well Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes of remarkable or extraordinary superiority that enable them to perform the judicial function with distinction.

Well Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes indicative of a superior fitness to perform the judicial function with a high degree of skill and effectiveness.

Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes sufficient to perform the judicial function adequately and satisfactorily.

Not Qualified: Possessing less than the minimum qualities and attributes.

Candidates for the Court of Appeal or the Supreme Court:

Exceptionally Well Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes of remarkable or extraordinary superiority that enable them to perform the appellate judicial function with distinction.

Well Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes indicative of a superior fitness to perform the appellate judicial function with a high degree of skill, effectiveness, and distinction.

Qualified: Possessing qualities and attributes sufficient to perform the appellate judicial function with a high degree of skill and effectiveness.

Not Qualified: Possessing less than the minimum qualities and attributes.

• Superior Court candidates are expected to have the qualities of decisiveness, oral communication skills, and patience.
• Court of Appeal candidates are expected to have the qualities of collegiality, writing ability, and scholarship.
• Supreme Court candidates are expected to have the qualities of collegiality, writing ability, scholarship, distinction in the profession, and breadth and depth of experience.

The role of the JNE Commission is to gather information about the candidates and to conduct a confidential evaluation of the judicial qualifications of candidates whose names have been submitted to the commission by the Governor and to report its findings, in absolute confidence, to the Governor.

The commission, in evaluating candidates, functions independently of the Board of Trustees of the State Bar. Board liaison attend the commission meetings periodically but do not participate in discussions, express opinions, or vote, and are bound by the same rules of confidentiality as commission members.

Providers can use the State Bar’s Record of Attendance form, or its equivalent, to take attendance. In addition to the California licensee’s name, State Bar number, and signature, the form must include the following information:

• The title of the MCLE activity;

• Date of the MCLE activity; and

• Total hours awarded, including any credit hours or partial credit hours awarded for legal ethics, recognition and elimination of bias, implicit bias, competence issues, or legal specialization as a component of the activity.

Yes, a single program can be offered for either self-study or participatory credit. However, an attendee can only be given credit once as either participatory credit or self-study, not both. If the provider records the attendance, capturing the name and bar number, the attendee can receive participatory credit. If no attendance record is verified by the provider, the credit is self-study.

The speaker should receive credit for their attendance time less their speaking time. As an example, a speaker who speaks for 15 minutes during a 1-hour program would only be eligible for 45 minutes of attendance credit (i.e., 60 minutes of program time minus 15 minutes of speaking time = 45 minutes or 0.75 hours).

You must include 50 percent of any joint income (interest, dividends, business income, rent and royalties, for example) when determining your total gross annual individual income. 

However, you may exclude your spouse’s wages and salary in the calculation of your total gross annual individual income. 

If filing jointly, during an audit you will be required to provide all supporting documents including W-2’s of spouses.

The Fresh Start Settlement Program is the State Bar’s Offer and Compromise Program authorized by State Bar Rule 3.1000. It is a one-year program enabling the State Bar to allow current and former licensees to settle certain outstanding debt consisting of discipline costs, client security fund reimbursement, and monetary sanctions accrued prior to January 1, 2025 for less than the amount owed. The Board of Trustees determined there is good cause for this program to enhance repayment rates while mitigating the severe consequences of debt for current and former licensees. Eligible debt will be confidentiality listed within the Fresh Start Settlement Program Platform.

Call 1-855-394-5084. They will help you recover your PIN after authenticating your identity.

You can elect to pay immediately in one lump-sum payment or choose to pay in installments. If you chose to pay in installments, full payment must be received by December 31, 2025.

No, the State Bar is covering all transaction fees.

To be considered for participation, please complete the DEI Leadership Seal Application form and provide the required supporting documentation.

Unfortunately, currently, the program is not well-suited for or targeted to solo practitioners because the Action Items focus on improving diversity, equity, and inclusion among attorneys and staff of multiple people. The State Bar will consider opportunities for solo practitioners to engage in its DEI work in other ways and encourages feedback on how best to do so.

Committed participating employers that applied and were approved in 2024 must implement at least 5 of the 10 Action Items by September 23, 2025. Please use the DEI Leadership Seal Tier Advancement Application to submit this material by the September 23 deadline.

IOLTA is a primary source of funding for civil legal aid in California. Civil legal aid provides free legal services to those who would not otherwise be able to afford them. On average low-income Californians report experiencing twice as many civil legal problems in a year as nonindigent Californians. Approximately 20 percent of Californians live in poverty and rely on these services for their civil legal needs.

Currently, almost 100 organizations receive IOLTA grants from the State Bar. In 2018 the State Bar distributed over $51 million to support civil legal aid. (This includes other funds besides IOLTA, such as the Equal Access Fund and the Greg E. Knoll Justice Gap Fund.) Top areas where these organizations provided legal assistance included housing, immigration, and family law/domestic violence cases. In 2017, almost 5,000 families were able to stay in their homes, over $16 million in unpaid wages were recovered, and over 2,000 individuals were able to obtain or maintain their health insurance as a result of civil legal aid.

Sources: State Bar of California, The California Justice Gap Study: Measuring the Unmet Civil Legal Needs of Californians (2019); State Bar of California, Making a Difference: California Legal Aid Impact Report (January 2019), pp. 2, 4, 8, 10.