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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.
Missed payments should be made up immediately. Failure to do so may result in your removal from the payment plan, and your outstanding balance becoming immediately due.
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.
Effective August 1, 2023, lawyers must comply with Rule of Professional Conduct 8.3, which requires a lawyer to report certain misconduct by another lawyer. The Rule 8.3 Reporting Requirements page provides more information about this reporting obligation.
California criminal prosecutors are required to notify the State Bar when they file criminal charges (felony or misdemeanor) against an attorney.[7]
California courts are required to notify the State Bar when an attorney is convicted of any crime;[8] when an attorney has been found in contempt;[9] when an attorney has been sanctioned $1,000 or more (except for discovery sanctions);[10] when an attorney has been found in violation of certain statutes;[11] or when a civil judgment has been entered against an attorney for fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, or gross negligence committed in a professional capacity.[12]
Insurance companies are required to notify the State Bar upon receipt of a claim or action against an attorney for fraud, misrepresentation, breach of fiduciary duty, or gross negligence committed in a professional capacity.[13]
The insurance commissioner reports workers’ compensation fraud to the State Bar.[14]
Banks submit reports to the State Bar when an attorney trust account is overdrawn.[15]
The State Bar is statutorily authorized to receive Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI)[16] from the California Department of Justice for purposes of admission, discipline, and regulation of attorneys.[17]
The State Bar is statutorily authorized to receive subsequent arrest notification services[18] for attorneys.[19]
Yes, and all courses can be accessed on desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. No special software is required. All you need is a modern web browser (Google Chrome is recommended) and a stable internet connection.
No. You are not allowed to establish or maintain a resident office or other continuous presence in California for the practice of law. You must maintain an office in a U.S. jurisdiction other than California in which you are licensed. (Rule 9.47 & 9.48)
An MJP attorney must be an active licensed attorney in good standing of the bar of at least one U.S. state, jurisdiction, possession, territory or dependency. The other requirements vary depending on the category. Please refer to the appropriate rule of court and FAQ for additional information.
The Leadership Bank program recognizes financial institutions that elect to waive fees and pay the established compliance interest rate, thereby increasing funding for free civil legal aid to low-income Californians through the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) program. Civil legal aid ensures that low-income individuals and families have access to attorneys and the legal system to address critical legal issues.
No. Out-of-state attorneys and out-of-country attorneys must obtain fingerprint cards through the State Bar. The cards can be requested by logging into the MSBP. If the out-of-state fingerprint vendor is unable to process the cards issued by the State Bar, the attorney must contact FingerPrinting Card Request for further assistance. Failure to follow State Bar procedures may result in non-compliance with the fingerprinting rule.
You can use any Live Scan service as long as the vendor has a contract with the California DOJ to submit your fingerprints and can provide you with an ATI number.
An alias is not required. Please see the Live Scan Form Check List.
Almost all active attorneys will need to be re-fingerprinted. The only exceptions are:
(1) attorneys for whom the State Bar has hard copy fingerprint cards. (Due to the State Bar’s previous retention policy of destroying fingerprint cards after 3 years, this applies only to a limited number of attorneys who applied from admission from outside California on or after July 1, 2014.)
and;
(2) attorneys who applied to the State Bar after July 1, 2017.
Your My State Bar Profile will indicate if you are required to be fingerprinted.
The State Bar is not in possession of the majority of attorney fingerprints. As part of the moral character review process, applicants provide the State Bar with fingerprint cards or fingerprints are submitted electronically directly to the DOJ. A contract with the DOJ is required in order for the State Bar to receive subsequent notification of arrests and conviction information from the DOJ for attorneys admitted to the State Bar or multijurisdictional practitioners. The State Bar entered into this contract on July 1, 2017. As a result, the vast majority of attorneys will need to be re-fingerprinted.
A Subsequent Arrest Notification (SAN) services contract between the State Bar and the DOJ was finalized on June 28, 2017, effective July 1, 2017, to address the error of not securing SAN services on all persons admitted to the State Bar. Due to DOJ policies, the SAN services cannot be applied retroactively. Accordingly, the Supreme Court of California is requiring the resubmission of attorney fingerprints to the DOJ.
MJP refers to multijurisdictional practice. New California Rules of Court 9.45, 9.46, 9.47 and 9.48 permit certain categories of attorneys not licensed in California ("non-California attorneys") to practice here to a limited extent.
The Client Security Fund reimburses clients who have lost money or property due to theft or other dishonest acts by a California lawyer acting in a professional capacity. Supported entirely by lawyers’ annual fees, the fund reimburses eligible applicants up to $100,000. See the State Bar pamphlet The Client Security Fund Can Help You for more information.
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