Whistleblower and Whistleblower Retaliation Complaints

The Whistleblower Antiretaliation Program allows individuals to submit whistleblower and whistleblower retaliation complaints against the State Bar or its officials, employees, agents, or officers directly to the California Department of Justice (DOJ) for review and investigation, as appropriate.

The program is designed to ensure a fair and impartial complaint investigation process. Read more information about the State Bar’s Whistleblower Antiretaliation Program.

What are whistleblower and whistleblower retaliation complaints?

The DOJ accepts complaints about improper governmental activities by the State Bar and its employees, agents, and officers (including, but not limited to, current and former employees of the State Bar or the State Bar Court, volunteer members of the Board of Trustees and other State Bar entities and subentities, State Bar Court judges, and Special Deputy Trial Counsel). Anyone, including members of the public, attorneys, employees, agents, and officers of the State Bar, may submit complaints.

Improper governmental activity is defined as any activity by the State Bar or its employees, agents, or officers that is unlawful; economically wasteful; involves gross misconduct, incompetency, or inefficiency; or constitutes retaliation for bringing a whistleblower complaint or participating in an investigation of such a complaint.

How can I submit a complaint against an attorney licensed by the State Bar?

The Whistleblower Antiretaliation Program only accepts complaints about improper governmental activities by the State Bar and its employees, agents, and officers. The DOJ forwards disciplinary complaints against attorneys who are not employees, agents, or officers of the State Bar to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel for action as appropriate. If you wish to file a complaint against a California-licensed attorney, please visit the attorney complaint webpage for information on submitting a complaint directly to the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel.

How to submit a complaint

To submit a whistleblower complaint against the State Bar, please download and complete the Whistleblower Complaint Form. Your complaint will be reviewed by the DOJ without prior review by the State Bar.

Include in your complaint any information that supports your allegations, such as the identities of witnesses, relevant documents, and other sources of factual information. It is important to provide as much of the following information as possible for each allegation:

  • Who? Who are the State Bar employees, agents, or officers responsible for the improper activity? If other individuals or businesses also are involved, who are they, and who owns the businesses? Who else may have knowledge of the activity?
  • What? What is the improper activity? Why is it improper? What laws or rules make the activity improper? What documents exist that could verify the improper activity?
  • Where? Where did the activity occur (provide the location and address)? Where can an investigator locate the individuals involved or those with relevant information? Where can documents or other evidence be found?
  • When? When did the activity occur? When did you discover the activity?
  • Why? Why did the activity occur? Did those involved obtain any benefit from it?
  • How? How was the activity able to occur? Were controls absent or inadequate? If controls were in place, how were they bypassed?

Once you have completed the form, you can email it to StateBarWhistleblowerComplaint@doj.ca.gov.

Or you can send your completed complaint form by U.S. mail to:

State Bar Whistleblower
Attention: Chris Knudsen, Senior Assistant Attorney General
1300 I Street
Sacramento, CA 95814

If you choose to submit your complaint by postal mail, please enclose it in an envelope marked “Confidential.”

What happens after you submit a complaint

The complaint is submitted directly to the DOJ for review. The State Bar does not screen or review these complaints. Each complaint is carefully evaluated by the DOJ to determine whether it constitutes a good faith allegation of improper governmental activity with enough potential merit to warrant an investigation. The DOJ does not automatically investigate every complaint received, however. A decision about whether to investigate will be based on whether the complaint shows sufficient evidence for an investigator to confirm that what is being alleged has a reasonable basis in fact.