Make sure that you have completed all interactive elements on the screen. The “NEXT” button will only activate once all of the screen elements have been completed. In addition, please allow the screen seek bar to progress on its own. If you manually drag it to complete the course, the “NEXT” button may not activate properly.

The Office of Chief Trial Counsel handles complaints from both clients, members of the public, and other attorneys over unethical professional conduct. Attorney misconduct complaint form available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, and Chinese.

You may also call the State Bar’s multilingual Contact Center at 800-843-9053 (in California) or 213-765-1200 (outside California) to request the form or discuss the complaint-filing process. There is no fee for filing a complaint, and you do not have to be a U.S. citizen. Be sure to include copies of any documents that will help support your claim.

When you are done filling out the form, mail it to:

The State Bar of California, of Chief Trial Counsel, Intake Unit
845 South Figueroa Street Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515

An inquiry is opened for every written communication that involves a complaint about an attorney's conduct. After the inquiry is evaluated, the accused attorney may be diverted out of the system, or the inquiry may be closed.

If it appears, however, that the attorney may be a repeat offender or have committed a violation where there is a serious likelihood of discipline being imposed, an investigator and a Bar prosecutor from the Enforcement Unit take responsibility for the investigation.

The accused attorney is given an opportunity to respond, witnesses are contacted and documents are reviewed. At the investigation's conclusion, attorneys decide whether to:

• Dismiss the complaint
• Impose an informal confidential resolution, or
• File disciplinary charges.

The Notice of Disciplinary Charges is filed in State Bar Court, where it is assigned to a hearing judge. The accused attorney then must file an answer - or risk a default judgment or involuntary enrollment as an inactive bar member.

If a settlement cannot be reached, the case goes to trial in State Bar Court. After the trial, the hearing judge issues a written decision. Either side may appeal the decision to the State Bar Court's Review Department.

The California Supreme Court is the final arbiter in attorney discipline cases.

In addition to reporting pro bono legal services, Business and Professions Code section 6073.2(b)(2) requires attorneys to report the amount of reduced fee legal services hours performed for low-income individuals, nonprofit organizations, or public law libraries established under section 6360. Some examples of reduced fee legal services might include offering affordable help through programs like bar association reduced fee panels or legal clinics that provide services on a sliding scale. 

Per Business and Professions Code section 6073.1(d), reduced fee legal services means “providing or enabling direct delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced rate affordable to persons of limited means to either a person of limited means or a person or organization identified in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) in subdivision (c) of section 6073.1.”  

You can reach the Ethics Hotline in two ways:

• By phone: Call 1-800-238-4427 (within California) or 415-538-2150 (outside of California). Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m. to noon (PST). You may speak with a live agent or leave a callback number. Calls are returned in the order received.
• Online request form: Submit a Research Assistance Request Form at any time. A staff member will respond by phone within one to two business days in the order received.

Staff will compile and summarize comments for the Working Group, which may then revise its tentative proposal. Staff will submit the Working Group and staff recommendations to the Board.

Supervising Attorneys are required to notify the State Bar within 30 days if the supervision of a CLS is ending before the period stated in the CLS’s Notice. Please email special.admissions@calbar.ca.gov to provide this notification.

Generally, when you submit a complete and accurate CLS application through the Applicant Portal, the State Bar will process it within 30 days of receipt.

Incomplete applications will take longer to process. If your application is deemed incomplete, you will have 60 days from the date you received notification of the missing information or documentation to bring it to a complete status. If your application is not deemed complete within this period, your application will be abandoned without a refund of any fees paid, absent a showing of good cause.

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.

Possible outcomes of the compliance review include:

• Confirmation of compliance with no further action
• Recommendations for best practices for a compliance review with minimal findings
• A mandatory corrective action plan
• Escalation to an investigative audit
• Referral to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel for possible disciplinary action

If certain records are unavailable, you must notify the CPA or State Bar reviewer as soon as possible. You may be asked to explain the reason for the missing documents and provide any alternative documentation or context available.

No. Appellate counsel appointed to represent indigent defendants are not included in any of the categories of attorneys who are exempt from reporting pro bono or reduced fee hours under Business and Professions Code section 6073.2(d). Although work performed by appointed appellate counsel does not meet the definition of pro bono services under Business and Professions Code section 6073.1(c), this work may qualify as reduced fee or “low bono” legal services. Under Business and Professions Code section 6073.1(d), reduced fee legal services means providing or enabling the direct delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced rate that is affordable to persons of limited means to either a person of limited means or a person or an organization identified in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) in subdivision (c) of section 6073.1.” Attorneys are encouraged to use their best good-faith judgment when making these determinations.

The State Bar also accredits the following organizations, which certify attorneys in eleven additional practice areas: 

 American Board of Certification

• Business Bankruptcy Law
• Consumer Bankruptcy Law
• Creditors' Rights Law

National Board of Trial Advocacy

• Civil Trial Advocacy
• Criminal Trial Advocacy 
• Family Law Trial Advocacy
• Social Security Disability Law

National Elder Law Foundation

• Elder Law

American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys

• Legal Malpractice
• Medical Malpractice

National Association of Counsel for Children

• Juvenile Law (Child Welfare)

Retired attorneys or attorneys taking a break from the active practice of law can participate in a wide range of pro bono activities including mentoring, participation in a legal clinic or full representation. The State Bar waives the annual fee for those who practice solely for the purpose of providing pro bono legal assistance through pro bono legal services providers. For more information and an application see the Pro Bono Practice Program.

The State Bar sponsors professional liability insurance through CalBar Connect.

Most legal aid and pro bono programs provide malpractice insurance for attorneys and other advocates volunteering through their organizations. You should always check with your pro bono provider for more specific information about coverage.

Go to your MCLE summary log. Look for the course you’d like to edit and click the red “Edit” button on the right side of the log. Make your changes and save each one. Remember to hit “Submit” when you are done. Whenever you update your online log, please complete the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.

See Title 3, Division 3, Chapter 4 of the Rules of the State Bar. 

The evidence of security for claims may be a certificate of insurance, a letter of credit, a written guarantee, or a written agreement executed by the applicant. It must be provided in a form acceptable to the State Bar and must be computed in U.S. dollars.

Yes, you must submit an annual renewal application in the Applicant Portal along with:

• the required fee;
• current certificate(s) of good standing; and
• proof of security for claims.

Attorneys who meet the exempt criteria must report compliance by claiming their exemption every compliance period. They should do so online by logging on to "My State Bar Profile." Without a statement of compliance, the State Bar has no way of determining whether or not an attorney was exempt for any particular compliance period.

Because the amount the program collects varies depending on interest rates, grant distribution has ranged from a high accumulation of over $22 million in 2008 to a low distribution of grants of slightly more than $6 million in 2016.

More than 95 percent of the funds received are distributed in grants to legal services programs. All administrative costs are paid out of the funds received; no attorney fees or other State Bar income is used. Over the course of its 25-year history, the State Bar has used less than 5 percent of the funds received to administer the program.

California is the only state with an independent professional court dedicated to ruling on attorney discipline cases. The State Bar Court impartially adjudicates matters filed by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel and has the power to recommend that the California Supreme Court suspend or disbar attorneys found to have committed acts of professional misconduct or convicted of serious crimes. For lesser offenses, the State Bar Court may issue public or private reprovals. The court also adjudicates other regulatory matters, including attorney reinstatements, matters where applicants for admission are challenging an adverse moral character determination, and challenges to the denial of certification for a lawyer referral service.