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Both arbitration and mediation involve a neutral third party. In arbitration, the arbitrator hears evidence and arguments, and then issues a decision that may be binding or nonbinding. In mediation, the mediator helps the parties reach their own voluntary agreement.
No. Both sides must agree to mediation. The State Bar will notify the opposing party if mediation is requested.
If you received a Notice of Client’s Right to Fee Arbitration form from the attorney, you have 30 days from the date you received it to submit your arbitration request form to the program. You must also submit your arbitration request if you first wish to mediate the fee dispute.
If you do not file the request form within 30 days of receiving the notice, you will lose your right to arbitrate your fee dispute. A telephone call or letter to the program requesting arbitration will not protect that right. You must be sure that the request form is complete and submitted with any required filing fee.
If the attorney has already filed a lawsuit against you for unpaid fees, you may elect either to respond to the lawsuit or request fee arbitration. If you file a response to the lawsuit, you will lose your right to arbitrate the fee dispute. If you request arbitration, the lawsuit will be stayed, but you should file the appropriate notice of automatic stay with the court. To preserve your right to arbitrate, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.
Your request for mediation is part of the State Bar request for arbitration, so it will follow the same timelines listed above.
No. The mediator will not decide any issues related to attorney misconduct and/or malpractice and has no authority to make any determinations regarding the attorney’s conduct or to discipline attorneys for professional misconduct.
If you wish to file a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar of California about your attorney’s conduct, you may do so online. Please keep in mind that a discipline complaint and a request to arbitrate and mediate a fee dispute are separate matters. Filing a complaint may result in disciplinary action against the attorney; however, the result may or may not require the attorney to refund fees.
To help you decide whether to file a complaint, visit the Want to File a Complaint webpage.
If you think you have a separate claim for legal malpractice, you should seek legal counsel.
If you are seeking a refund of attorney’s fees that you have already paid, you may request fee mediation as a preliminary option along with arbitration as long as you are still within the legal time limit for filing a lawsuit about the fee dispute. To preserve your right to arbitrate, and to potentially mediate a fee dispute, you should file a request for arbitration promptly.
For disputes filed with the State Bar, simply check the box agreeing to mediate on the request for fee arbitration form. Some local bar associations offer fee mediation in addition to fee arbitration. Find local fee arbitration programs.
Yes. Mediation is voluntary and either side can decline to mediate. All parties must agree for a mediation to go forward.
Mediations will take place by videoconference. Usually, the parties are in separate areas to start but may be brought together later in the process. The mediator will typically meet separately with one party, and then the other, to understand their perspectives and to identify areas of potential agreement. This “shuttle diplomacy” will take place until an agreement is reached, or until it is clear to the mediator that it is not possible for the parties to reach an agreement. If an agreement is reached, it will be memorialized in a writing called a settlement agreement.
You may be represented by an attorney, but it is not required. You can arrange for an interpreter to attend the mediation with you.
The mediation is confidential. This means that nothing said in a mediation can be used as evidence in any later proceeding by any party at the mediation.
The decision to agree to mediate is entirely up to you, but the attorney will also have to agree in order for the mediation to occur.
If the dispute is eligible to be filed with the State Bar for fee arbitration, you will have the option of agreeing to mediation as part of the request for arbitration. Some local bars also offer fee mediation, but most local programs only offer fee arbitration.
When you complete the Request for Arbitration with the State Bar, you will be asked to indicate whether you are interested in mediating the fee dispute. Once your request is accepted, including receipt of payment of the applicable fee arbitration filing fee, the State Bar will serve your request to the opposing party. As part of the opposing party’s written reply to the request, they will indicate whether they agree to mediate the fee dispute prior to arbitration.
If both parties agree to mediation, a mediator will be assigned to help you and attorney try to reach a settlement of your dispute, and you will receive further instructions at that time.
If you paid $25 for a particular test, you can take only that test. If you wish to take a different test, you must pay $25 for that article and test. If you wish a refund, please contact us at feedback@calbar.ca.gov. Be sure to close and restart your web browser before trying to take a new test.
You may request a refund within 60 days of your purchase as long as the course has not been accessed. Refunds for courses with technical issues will be prioritized. Processing may take up to 90 days. Credit card fees are nonrefundable. To request a refund, email elearning@calbar.ca.gov. Please provide your name, your bar number, the name of the course you are requesting a refund for, the reason for the refund request, the date of purchase, and a copy of the transaction receipt.
There is no set time for Support LAP. It is completely voluntary. Participants can enroll, withdraw, and re-enroll whenever they want to.
The program is generally designed so that a client may require their attorney to participate in fee arbitration. However, an attorney may require the client to participate if the client and attorney have a signed agreement to submit fee disputes to a mandatory fee arbitration program. In general, binding arbitration agreements are not enforceable if they were entered into before the dispute arose.
Yes, however, a live podcast can only be approved retroactively. A prerecorded podcast may be approved in advance of air date if a transcript of the podcast is submitted as part of the application.
No, the same instruction time cannot be allocated to more than one subfield. The instruction time can, however, be divided among multiple subfields.
Any active status attorney who can demonstrate total 2024 gross annual individual income from all sources of less than ($60,478.35) may qualify for a 25 percent reduction in their annual license fee.
The State Bar may conduct a random audit of scaling applications during the billing year and applicants may be required to submit tax forms and other proof of financial condition.
No, only those paying the active rate qualify for fee scaling.
The State Bar is using eConciliador to administer the Program. eConciliador is a secure online platform that helps settle claims efficiently and quickly.
No, you don’t need to provide any financial documents to receive an offer to settle for less than what you owe. For attorneys not allowed to practice law as of January 1, 2025 and who cannot afford the settlement offer, the State Bar will ask for more information to determine if extreme financial hardship should be considered in accepting a lower settlement for collections purposes only.
When you sign the Settlement Agreement, the State Bar will recall your debt from FTB within two weeks. Any payments already in transit from FTB to the State Bar at that time belong to the State Bar and will not be refunded to you.
Please email collections@calbar.ca.gov for information on how the outcome of your bankruptcy proceeding affected debt owed to the State Bar.
Employers, regardless of sector, that employ California-licensed attorneys are eligible to participate in the DEI Leadership Seal Program. This includes, but is not limited to, law firms of all sizes, in-house legal departments, legal academia, nonprofit organizations, and government agencies with attorney staff.
DEI Leadership Seal recipients must submit an annual attestation form to confirm that they continue to have at least five of the ten Action Items implemented. Current seal recipients must submit the DEI Leadership Seal Attestation form annually.
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