For the FYLSX, applicants receive the multiple-choice questions electronically and must select their answers using a computer.

Pursuant to the California Rules of Court, rule 9.49(d)(1)(C), you must complete the legal ethics courses of the New Attorney Training Program within 30 days of the date of approval of your PLP application if you did not have a passing MPRE score on file when you submit your PLP application.

If you take the MPRE in August 2025, you may wish to apply for the PLP once your passing MPRE score has been uploaded to your Applicant Portal. We anticipate that scores from the August 2025 administration of the MPRE will be uploaded by the end of September. Please note that you must have designated California to receive your MPRE score and have your accurate NCBE number and Social Security Number in the Applicant Portal for the State Bar of California to upload your MPRE score.

No. You must have a Supervising Lawyer who is committed to supervising you by May 31, 2026. However, you are still permitted to change supervisors, if the need arises, and in compliance with rules 9.49(e)(7)-(8), by submitting a PLP Employment Update application in the Applicant Portal with a declaration from each new Supervising Lawyer. You may not work at any organization unless you have submitted a declaration from a Supervising Lawyer with that organization, and the State Bar has approved your PLP Employment Update.

No. However, you may submit Certificates of Admission or Certificates of Good Standing for each court to which you are admitted in lieu of listing each court and your standing in that court.

The program will terminate on May 31, 2023, for any participant who: 

• Has not completed the State Bar’s 10-hour New Attorney Training; or
• Has not received an 86 or higher on the MPRE; or
• Does not have an active positive moral character determination*; or
• Does not submit all documentation required by the State Bar; or
• Does not have an eligible supervisor committed to supervise the participant through the end of 2023.

*If you have received a negative determination, you will be immediately suspended from the PLP and cannot practice as a PLL. However, you will not be terminated from the program until time has passed to request a review or final appeal, or the review or appeal has concluded. If following the review or appeal you are issued a positive moral character determination, you can continue in the program through December 31, 2025, while you seek to pass the bar exam. If you had other outstanding requirements as of May 31, 2023 (for example, you hadn’t yet received an 86 or higher on the MPRE), you will be terminated from the program as of May 31, 2023, regardless of the status of your moral character determination.

No, but once your positive moral character determination expires, if you don’t have a completed application for extension on file, you will be suspended from the program. Applications for Extension of Moral Character Determination are simpler and can be filed up to six months before the expiration of your positive determination.

Hours must be tracked and submitted to the Office of Admissions on a weekly basis. Specifically, PLLs will be required to note the total number of hours worked, the total number of hours spent performing legal services (whether paid or unpaid), and a description of the supervised legal practice duties assigned that specific week. When the hours are submitted, the State Bar will contact the supervising lawyer to sign that week’s completed log. To access the time-tracking log:

• Log in to the Applicant Portal.
• At the top, click “Applications.”
• Then click “Timesheet.”
• Click “New” to create a new timesheet.
• Enter all information and click “Save.”

Once that timesheet record has been saved, the applicant will receive an email with a link to capture their electronic signature. After receipt of that electronic signature, an email will be sent to the supervising attorney to confirm the hours reported.

Once a PLL has logged a total of 300 hours of supervised legal practice, an email will be sent to the supervising lawyer requesting an evaluation of the PLL’s overall work performance. Once that evaluation has been completed, it will be reviewed by the eligibility team to determine whether the PLL has satisfactorily met the requirements of California Rule of Court 9.49.1 (i).

Yes, the rules allow for multiple supervisors. The supervisors may work within the same law firm or at a different law firm if you will be employed or volunteer at more than one organization. You must submit a declaration from each supervising lawyer with your application in the Applicant Portal. You may not work at any organization unless you have submitted a declaration from a supervising lawyer with that organization, and the State Bar has approved the supervisor as eligible.

You are required under rule 4.42 of the Rules of the State Bar of California to update your responses within 30 days when information provided in the application has changed or there is new information relevant to the application until you have taken the attorney’s oath. To update your application, please log in to the Applicant Portal and access your moral character case. Use the feed on your moral character case to post an update or upload a document.

Figure 1: Posting an update or document to a Moral Character Case

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The State Bar is unable to provide advice concerning the completion requirements of law school applications, including whether disclosure of certain criminal matters is required. An applicant should consult the law school concerning the completion requirements for its application.

Yes. The moral character application requires disclosure of all debt that is delinquent at the time the application is submitted. Applicants must also disclose all incidents of student loan default, even if the loan is current at the time the moral character application is submitted.

Yes. The moral character application requires the disclosure of applications submitted to any jurisdiction for admission to practice law including, but not limited to, applications to be admitted by examination, on motion, or on diploma privilege; applications for reinstatement to a State Bar; and applications for determination of moral character. All submitted applications must be disclosed regardless of whether you were admitted, including applications that are withdrawn or otherwise did not result in a final determination.

Yes. Current and past employers are contacted during the moral character investigation.

Yes. Prior to submitting your moral character application, certain fields are editable by you. The editable fields are visible on each type of record. 

If you cannot edit the information on the application, you should upload a document (Word, PDF, etc.) with the correct information to any file upload section.

The notice of the adverse determination will provide you with the date on which you may submit a new Application for Determination of Moral Character. You are encouraged to engage in affirmative rehabilitative activities during the period you must wait to reapply. 

Alternatively, you may choose to request administrative review by the Committee of Bar Examiners. If you request review by the Committee, the date on which you will be eligible to reapply may change, as it will be determined by the Committee in the event it issues an adverse determination.

The only licensees who are exempt from the annual reporting requirement are licensees who were on voluntary inactive status for the entirety of the reportable time period. All other licensees, including those who were active, suspended, or not entitled to practice law at any point in the reportable time period, are required to complete the CTAPP reporting requirements for that reportable time period.

When a licensee performs both legal and non-legal professional services for a client, the licensee is subject to the Rules of Professional Conduct with respect to all of those services. (See Cal. State Bar Formal Opn. Nos. 1982-69, 1995-141, and 1999-154.) 

Therefore, a key question is whether the licensee is performing legal services and, as a result, is subject to rule 1.15 and the other Rules of Professional Conduct. If not, and the licensee is merely a real estate broker who happens to be a lawyer, rule 1.15 may not apply. Similarly, if the licensee is a trustee but did not perform any legal services related to the creation of the trust and does not perform any legal services related to the trust, rule 1.15 may not apply. On the other hand, if the licensee is acting as both the real estate lawyer and broker, and the lawyer receives entrusted funds from, or for, the transaction, rule 1.15 would apply, and any accounts need to be reported and registered as part of the licensee’s CTAPP compliance. The same is true of lawyers providing other non-legal professional services, regardless of whether they, as a trustee, for example, report to the probate court.

If you have further questions on dual capacity, including whether you are responsible for complying with any of the requirements or prohibitions in rule 1.15, please contact the State Bar’s Ethics Hotline research service at 800-238-4427 (toll-free in California). The Ethics Hotline cannot provide legal advice, nor tell you how to comply with any of the CTAPP requirements, including whether to answer “yes” or “no” in any portion of the CTAPP reporting requirements.

The State Bar collects information on attorneys’ pro bono and reduced fee hours to better understand how these services are being provided across the profession. The data will be analyzed to identify trends, support efforts to expand access to legal services, and help address the justice gap. All reported data will be aggregated and not linked to individual attorneys.

The State Bar’s Pro Bono Practice Program (PBPP) allows attorneys who would otherwise be inactive to maintain an active license, free of fees, to exclusively provide pro bono legal services in partnership with a pro bono legal services provider. To qualify for the PBPP, an attorney must maintain an active license, submit an application annually for the program, be certified as a pro bono practice attorney, and exclusively provide pro bono legal services through an approved or qualified pro bono services provider. For more information, see the Pro Bono Practice Program webpage.

You may request to study under a different attorney or judge by submitting a new LOS application, the required documentation, and the fee in the Applicant Portal at least 15 days prior to beginning study with the new supervisor. The new application must include a completed declaration signed by the new supervising attorney or judge and a new law study outline.

If you change the attorney or judge under whom you are studying during a six-month study period, you must submit a report from your previous attorney or judge that indicates all study completed with that person, along with the semi-annual report fee in the Applicant Portal, within 30 days of beginning study with the new attorney or judge. Within 30 days of completion of the six-month study period, you will also have to submit a semi-annual report reflecting the study conducted under the new attorney or judge that covers the remainder of the six-month study period.