Find a Certified Lawyer Referral Service Check Attorney Profile
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.
No. If you already reported criminal information to the State Bar in the moral character process or under the self-reporting mandate, you are not required to report the same information again.
Replace with the following:
The State Bar certifies specialists in 11 areas: Admiralty & Maritime, Appellate, Bankruptcy, Criminal, Estate Planning, Family, Franchise & Distribution, Immigration, Legal Malpractice, Taxation, and Workers' Compensation. If you have questions, please fill out the Licensee Records and Compliance Inquiry Form or call 415-538-2120.
No. County employees are not exempt. Employees of California Superior Courts are exempt from MCLE requirements.
You may apply the MCLE credit from courses approved by many states and a few overseas jurisdictions if you were physically outside California when you completed them. This is by rule, so no special forms or requests are needed. Check the approved jurisdictions list on the State Bar website.
Calculate your total gross annual individual income for 2024 using your 2024 W-2’s, 1099’s, and any other source of gross income that would be included in your 2024 federal tax return.
Gross individual income means all income from whatever source derived, including (but not limited to) the following items: wages, salaries, tips, interest, rents, social security, unemployment, disability, royalties, dividends, annuities, retirement distributions, pensions, etc. (exception: spouse’s wages and salaries, as noted above).
For example, when using the 2024 Form 1040, you may refer to Total Income on Line 9 to determine if you are eligible. If you use Schedule C to calculate profit or loss from your business, then the grossincome amount on line 7 would be included in yourtotal gross annual individual income.
Refer to the IRS Form 1040 instructions to determine what items are included in your Total Income on Line 9.
You will be required to enter into a Settlement and Release of Claims Agreement with the State Bar and pay the full settlement amount either immediately in one lump sum or in installments by December 31, 2025. The State Bar will thereafter consider the eligible debt as itemized in the Fresh Start Settlement Program Platform paid in full for all purposes, including for purposes of return to active status or reinstatement to the practice of law. The State Bar will make no further effort to collect on the debt, including but not limited to, referral of debt to the Franchise Tax Board (FTB), credit reporting agencies, entry of a Superior Court money judgment, our pursing other legal action.
You will enter your State Bar Number and PIN, and you will see how much you owe the State Bar. Click “Settlement Offer” to receive an offer to settle your debt.
Paying the settlement all at once entitles you to an additional five percent reduction in the amount owed.
The State Bar is authorized to participate in the FTB tax intercept program pursuant to Business and Professions Code section 6034. Section 6304 provides that the State Bar is authorized to participate in this program for the “collection of any unpaid amount owed to the State Bar of California, including any fine, penalty, assessment, cost, or reimbursement imposed under sections 6806.10, 6140.5c, and any other applicable law.”
The State Bar is also authorized to participate in the FTB Court Ordered Debt program pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 19280 (as revised in January 2019). Revenue and Taxation Code section 19280 provides that the State Bar is authorized to participate in this program for “any amounts due pursuant to Section 6086.10 or 6140.5 of the Business and Professions Code.”
An employer may participate in the program as either a committed participating employer or a seal recipient. To be recognized as a committed participating employer, an employer must commit to implementing at least five of the ten Action Items. Committed participating employers will have one year to implement the selected Action Items. The one-year implementation window starts when an employer’s application is approved. Once an employer implements at least five of the ten Action Items, it may be deemed a seal recipient.
Committed participating employers will be listed on the State Bar website. DEI Leadership Seal recipients will also be listed on the State Bar website and receive a seal that they can use on their web and print materials to signal their participation in the program to employees, job candidates, clients, and more.
No. The DEI Leadership Seal Program is voluntary.
DEI Leadership Seal recipients can use the seal on their website and print materials, including on their career website and job postings, promotional materials to clients, email signatures, and more.
CTAPP includes an annual reporting obligation that is required to be completed by almost all licensees. (See FAQ 2.2 for more information on who must comply and FAQ 2.3 for who is exempt from CTAPP.) During each billing cycle, licensees are required to complete:
Licensees must also submit a declaration saying the information they provided is true and correct.
CTAPP also includes:
Your reporting is complete if:
You can verify your compliance status by logging in to My State Bar Profile and reviewing your Compliance Dashboard. Each box on the dashboard displays reminders related to each of your annual requirements, including your current CTAPP status. Click the blue button on the relevant tile to complete outstanding tasks.
If your individual reporting is complete, you can review your responses and determine if your firm has registered accounts on your behalf using the “View a Summary of your CTAPP Annual Reporting” link on the CTAPP Annual Reporting tile on the Compliance Dashboard page. You will not invalidate your declaration by reviewing this summary.
Need additional help? Visit our Contact Us page for additional resources.