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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.
Neither licensees nor providers report attendance at an approved activity to the State Bar of California. Rather, licensees are responsible for keeping track of their own education. Attorneys must keep the certificates of attendance that providers distribute when attending a participatory education activity. (Providers are required to keep a record for four years of licensee's attendance at provider's participatory activities. Duplicate certificates of attendance may be available from the provider.)
Please note that a personal CLE log of self-study education activities must also be maintained. See Compliance Information for Record Keeping Requirements.
The State Bar will not be informing attorneys when their fingerprinting results have been received by the State Bar. Rather, attorneys are advised when they are in compliance with California Rule of Court 9.9.5 and that their fingerprints have been successfully submitted to the DOJ. The State Bar cannot advise on how long an initial background check takes, as this may vary. Additionally, since the process is an ongoing one entailing subsequent notifications from the DOJ in the future, the State Bar cannot advise an attorney that a background check is “complete.”
Criminal information reports received by the State Bar from the DOJ are required to be kept confidential. If you would like to request a copy of a DOJ record relating to yourself, you must request that record from the DOJ pursuant to procedures set forth in the California Penal Code. See Ca. Penal Code sections 11122-11123.
Review the Live Scan Form Check List attached to your prepopulated Live Scan form that you obtained via your My State Bar profile. When completing the form you must write in the following: sex, height, weight, eye color, hair color, place of birth, social security and address. You may need to write in any additional middle names. Please contact the State Bar, if your personal information is inaccurate. The form is prepopulated with specific codes required by the DOJ.
It is important to verify with the Live Scan vendor to prevent the rejection of your fingerprints. Review the cover page and Live Scan form with your Live Scan technician. Confirm technician has accurately entered the information into the Live Scan program.
Yes. Attorneys residing outside of California can choose to travel to California to submit fingerprints through a California Live Scan vendor in lieu of submitting fingerprint cards. All attorneys impacted by the fingerprinting rule can download a prepopulated Live Scan form on their My State Bar profile. However, in the event an attorney’s Live Scan fingerprints are rejected by the DOJ and/or FBI, the attorney must return to a Live Scan vendor in California to resubmit their fingerprints without new processing charges. If the attorney chooses not to return to a California Live Scan vendor, they must be fingerprinted using a fingerprint card, which will incur additional costs.
Governmental entities and entities that provide legal services to others do not qualify.
You must submit a Change of Employment Form if you wish to continue to practice law in California as in-house counsel.
No. Notwithstanding a prior disciplinary history, if you are currently licensed and entitled to practice law, you may register as in-house counsel. However, a record of discipline could lead to an adverse moral character determination depending on the nature of the circumstances leading to the imposition of discipline, the nature and amount of rehabilitation that has taken place, and the length of time since the events that led to discipline. For more information, go to the page that discusses Moral Character
An active licensed attorney in good standing of the California bar who has practiced law as a full-time occupation for at least four years, and has actively practiced law in California as a full-time occupation for at least the two years immediately preceding the time of supervision. See rule 9.45 for additional requirements.
The office address of the attorney's employer (qualifying institution for in-house counsel and legal services attorney) will be considered your address of record. If your current employer changes its address, you must submit a written notice to:
Office of Admissions (MJP)
The State Bar of California
845 S. Figueroa St.
Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515
or
e-mail: mjp@calbar.ca.gov within 30 days of the change.
If your address change is due to new employment, you must submit a Change of Employment Form to the State Bar's Office of Admissions.
MJP attorneys are not allowed to practice law with other institutions without registration by the State Bar.
No. You are not permitted to make court appearances in California state courts or engage in any other activities for which pro hac vice admission is required. The only exception is if you are also registered as a legal services attorney and provide legal services in accordance with that rule.
No.
The proportional requirement rules specify that if a licensee is subject to the MCLE requirement for four months or less, s/he does not need to comply with the MCLE education requirement for that compliance period.
Thus, if an attorney was admitted in December and his or her Compliance Group's deadline is less than 2 months away, it is unnecessary to comply with the MCLE requirement for that compliance period. The next compliance period for this group begins on February 1, and an attorney can count only activities earned on or after February 1 toward the requirement for that next compliance period. (There is no carryforward of credit hours from one compliance period to the next. [Rule 2.72(D)])
Any marketing of or other communication or publication regarding your institution’s participation in the State Bar’s Leadership Bank program must be limited to the fact that your institution has been recognized by the State Bar for paying higher rates on IOLTA accounts, resulting in increased funding of free legal services for those in need. Leadership Banks may not state or imply that the State Bar has endorsed them generally or made any other endorsements or representations about their products or services. Failure to comply with these requirements may result in, withdrawal of the Leadership Bank designation, and withdrawal of all State Bar approval, endorsement, and connection, including the ability to offer IOLTA products.
The State Bar has no authority and involvement with the security training and certification of Live Scan vendors. California law requires any individual who rolls fingerprints manually or electronically for licensure, certification and/or employment purposes to be certified by the state Department of Justice (Penal Code section 11102.1). For more information go to the California Department of Justice website.
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