You will not receive credit for hours of study devoted to repetition of studies previously completed and you will lose credit for the entire six-month study session.

You may contact the assigned State Bar accountant or CPA firm’s accountant directly via the contact information they provide when the review begins. You may also reach out to the State Bar’s CTAPP team for questions. The contact information for the State Bar team was included in the initial notice of selection for audit.

After you select a CPA firm and the State Bar has assigned the compliance review engagement to the CPA firm, you will be contacted directly by the CPA firm, who may request additional records, ask clarifying questions, and coordinate with you for the remainder of the compliance review process. The State Bar will remain available to assist if needed.

Possibly. Uncompensated work with an LRS oversight panel may count toward the pro bono hours requirement if it enables the delivery of legal services at a charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, or education organization in matters in furtherance of its organizational purposes as defined under Business and Professions Code section 6073.1(c)(1)(C). Licensees should use their best judgment when determining whether the work performed, particularly non-legal tasks, enables the direct provision of legal work to the indigent or other nonprofit organizations.

No. Comparable courses from other providers do not satisfy the NAT requirement.

You may receive MCLE credit for qualifying NAT course hours, as applicable, but outside MCLE courses cannot be substituted for the required State Bar NAT courses. 

You must complete NAT by the last day of the month of your one-year anniversary as a State Bar licensee. (Rule 2.141.)

For example, if you were admitted on October 15, your deadline is October 31 of the following year. If you have a question about your deadline, complete the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.

Live Scan vendors are contracted through the DOJ and are not under the authority of the State Bar. Live Scan vendor complaints may be submitted to the State Bar, which will be sent to the DOJ. If you recently submitted your fingerprints through a DOJ-contracted Live Scan vendor and have had a negative experience, we encourage you to complete the Live Scan Vendor Complaint Form and email the completed form to the State Bar.

Failure to comply with the audit by the deadline will result in the assessment of a $103 late penalty and the issuance of a 60-day notice. Failure to pay the penalty and comply with the audit by the deadline on the notice will result in your placement on Administrative Inactive Status or Not Eligible to Practice status until you submit the required proof of compliance, pay the $103 penalty and an additional $205 reinstatement fee. You will not be eligible for reinstatement until you comply with the audit.  You may also be referred to the State Bar discipline system for filing a false declaration of compliance.

Please only submit letters printed on official letterhead. They may be scanned and sent as an attachment to the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry form.

The State Bar's Office of Information Technology is responsible for ensuring all data obtained and stored is kept secure and confidential. The data collection and storage process meets industry standards for retaining information in a secure and confidential manner. Survey data is stored on a secure server behind a firewall in a location accessible only by State Bar staff.  All State Bar surveys are subject to the following confidentiality statement: 

• Use of survey results: If published, survey results will be presented by the State Bar in an anonymous and aggregate summary format only.  

• Confidentiality: The State Bar takes reasonable measures to maintain the confidentiality of individual responses and will not disclose those responses to third parties unless we are legally required to do so.  

• Data handling: All participant information will be stored securely and will only be accessed by authorized State Bar personnel. We adhere to applicable laws and regulations regarding the collection, use, and protection of personal information. 

• Informed consent: By participating in this survey, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this notice. You agree to the handling of your information as described above. Your participation in this survey is completely voluntary, and you may choose not to answer any specific question or withdraw from the survey at any time. 

California Rule of Court Rule 9.9.5, requires all active attorneys to be re-fingerprinted. This is done to ensure that the State Bar is in compliance with Business and Professions Code Section 6054, which requires the State Bar to receive notifications of attorney arrests and convictions from the California Department of Justice (DOJ).

For the past 30 years the State Bar has been statutorily required to receive notification of subsequent arrests and convictions from the DOJ. Until 2018, the State Bar was out of compliance with this statutory mandate.

The only way for the State Bar to come fully into compliance is to re-fingerprint licensed attorneys. Although attorneys were fingerprinted at the time of admission to the State Bar, unfortunately neither the State Bar nor the DOJ retained those fingerprints for future notification services.

We apologize for our previous failure to comply with a statutory mandate, and for any inconvenience that may result from the re-fingerprinting attorneys will need to undergo. However this is a new State Bar focused on regulation and public protection. This Rule of Court enables statutory compliance and reflects the State Bar’s commitment to protecting the public.

Attorneys in the Pro Bono Practice Program may volunteer with a qualified legal services provider, a certified lawyer referral service, a court-based self-help center, or a nonprofit that provides free legal services to or on behalf of indigent Californians and has been approved by the State Bar as a pro bono legal services provide from the purposes of the Pro Bono Practice Program. See more information here.

A “qualified legal services provider” is one that receives funding from the State Bar’s Legal Services Trust Fund (IOLTA) Program. For a current list of grantees see theLegal Services Trust Fund Recipientson the State Bar’s website.

The State Bar's statutory mission includes support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system. This office takes the lead on many of the agency's access to justice and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. The State Bar is California's largest legal aid funder, and this office distributes over $100 million annually in grants to more than 100 legal aid organizations statewide. The office also leads development of policy initiatives and collaborates with other organizations working to expand legal services access for all Californians. These efforts include encouraging pro bono participation; supporting a statewide Disaster Legal Services Response network; studying law school attrition data and working with law schools to develop improved approaches to student retention. The office also oversees the State Bar's DEI Leadership Seal program, which recognizes California legal employers that commit to implementing or are already implementing actions that further DEI in the workplace. 

All foreign-language documents must be accompanied by an English translation by a certified translator; the original foreign-language documents must also be submitted. 

Your My State Bar Profile will indicate the steps you must take to satisfy the fingerprinting rule requirement. Compliance with the Rule will be effective on the date you submit proof that you were fingerprinted pursuant to the State Bar’s instructions. For more information go to your My State Bar Profile.

The State Bar does not have a list of low-cost MCLE programs, only a complete list of all approved providers. Attorneys may find the following resources useful in determining the most convenient and cost-effective method of fulfilling requirements:

• Online CLE (California Lawyers Association)
• A local bar association
• Provider websites
• Legal daily newspapers and practice magazines, which may advertise/list approved activities or offer self-assessment tests

Attorneys can fulfill up to one-half of their total required MCLE hours by utilizing self-study options and should consider:

• sharing self-study tapes with fellow practitioners
• contacting their county law library for approved tapes that can be checked out for self-study credit

IOLTA stands for "Interest on Lawyers' Trust Accounts." Rule 1.15 of the Rules of Professional Conduct requires attorneys who handle client funds or funds entrusted by others, including settlement checks, fees advanced for services not yet performed, or money to pay court fees, to hold those funds in one or more interest-bearing bank accounts labeled as a “Trust Account,” or words of similar import.

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 individual interest-bearing account for the benefit of the client.

However, if the amount of client funds is small or the funds will be held for such a short period of time that they are not capable of earning interest for the client in excess of the cost of maintaining a separate bank account,  then they are pooled in a single account with similar funds of other clients.

The interest on these pooled-fund, IOLTA accounts is forwarded to the State Bar of California and used to support approximately 100 nonprofit legal aid organizations that provide civil legal aid to indigent and low-income people, seniors, and persons with disabilities.

Provides the technology solutions that power the State Bar’s public service mission. IT is responsible for the State Bar’s business applications and infrastructure in support of its operations and programs and is continually updating and upgrading them to provide the highest quality and most cost-effective solutions. The office also provides a wide range of collaboration tools and end-user support to enhance the State Bar employees’ experience.

You can increase the font size by adjusting your browser settings to "zoom" in. This will increase the size in the printed version as well. 

If you fail the exam, the course will allow you to click “Retry” to retake the exam. You may retake the exam as many times as needed until you obtain a passing score. Because you must complete all lessons before reaching the Final Assessment, each lesson will be unlocked and available for review.

A failing score will allow you to review which questions you answered incorrectly. It is advisable to take your time and use the navigation menu to review the lesson covering that topic before retaking the Final Assessment.