While a licensee is on inactive status, that licensee cannot practice law. An inactive licensee who engages in the practice of law may be guilty of a misdemeanor. (See Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 6125–6126, 6068, subd.(a), & 6106. See also In the Matter of Burke (Review Dept. 2016) 5 Cal. State Bar Ct. Rptr. 448.) Additionally, a licensee on inactive status may have a duty to inform their client(s) or a tribunal that they are ineligible to practice law. (See Rules of Professional Conduct 1.4 and 3.3.) If you have further questions about the unauthorized practice of law, please contact the State Bar’s Ethics Hotline research service at 800-238-4427 (toll-free in California). The Ethics Hotline cannot provide legal advice, nor tell you how to comply with any of the CTAPP requirements, including whether to answer “yes” or “no” in any portion of the CTAPP reporting requirements. 

Reinstatement of your license requires payment of any applicable fees, completion of the past due CTAPP reporting requirements, and applying for reinstatement. To submit payment of applicable fees, please log in to My State Bar Profile and click the “Pay Fee” link on the CTAPP Annual Reporting tile on your Compliance Dashboard or click the blue “Make a payment” button on the Profile Summary page to go to the “Annual Fee” page. You should go to the Annual Fee page to pay outstanding fees even if you have already paid your annual licensing fee for 2026. From there, click the blue “Calculate and pay my fees” button to see a breakdown of the fees owed. Click continue and follow the steps to complete your payment.

If you were involuntarily enrolled as inactive for noncompliance in 2026, you can complete your CTAPP reporting in My State Bar Profile and then complete and submit the first page of the CTAPP Noncompliance Reinstatement Form. If you were involuntarily enrolled as inactive for CTAPP noncompliance in 2023, 2024, or 2025, you will need to complete and submit the first page of the CTAPP Noncompliance Reinstatement Form and the attached CTAPP reporting forms for all missing years.

The State Bar is in the process of updating all bank names according to the names listed in the official Registrar of Routing Numbers for the American Bankers Association. Therefore, if your bank name changed, but your routing number and account number stayed the same, the State Bar will update the bank name to your existing trust account record. You do not need to do anything to change the bank name. You will still need to provide the year-end balance for your existing trust account.

Unless exempt (see FAQ 2.3, above), California licensees, regardless of where they practice, must still comply with the CTAPP reporting requirements. To answer Step 1 (Annual Client Trust Account Reporting) questions, licensees must determine whether they are responsible for client funds and funds entrusted by others under the provisions of rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct. (See Rules Prof. Conduct, rule 8.5.) If so, because rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct requires attorneys who handle trust funds to hold those funds in one or more client trust accounts labeled as a “Trust Account,” or words of similar import, the licensee must answer “yes” to at least one of the CTAPP Annual Client Trust Account Reporting questions of whether they maintained any trust accounts under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (a) where the interest is paid to the State Bar, also known as an Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Account (IOLTA) or trust accounts under Business and Professions Code section 6211, subdivision (b) where the interest is payable to a client or other person, also known as non-IOLTA trust accounts, and complete the remaining CTAPP requirements.

Only if the licensee is not responsible for any client funds and funds entrusted by others under rule 1.15 of the California Rules of Professional Conduct may the licensee answer “no” to the CTAPP Annual Client Trust Account Reporting questions. 

For information on reporting an IOLTA account outside California, please refer to CTAPP FAQ 4.3, below.

Yes. Some categories of attorneys are exempt from reporting pro bono hours. However, even licensees who are exempt from reporting their pro bono hours must declare their exemption status in My State Bar Profile. The reporting requirement applies to active licensees, including participants in the State Bar’s Pro Bono Practice Program. The reporting requirement does not apply to:

• Licensees employed by an organization primarily engaged in the provision of pro bono legal services, including qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers, legal aid organizations, and nonprofit public benefit corporations.
• Full-time employees, officers, or elected officials of the State of California, political subdivisions, or the federal government. This includes city and county employees (such as public defenders), trial court attorneys employed by the judicial branch, and employees of tribal governments and the University of California. Attorneys working for state governments outside California are not included in this exemption.
• Licensees whose current employer prohibits them from performing pro bono legal services (if declared on their My State Bar Profile by selecting the corresponding checkbox under this option).

For more information, see Business and Professions Code section 6073.2.

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Yes, however, access to a course completion certificate and resource materials for a course that you have completed will be available for only 30 days from the date of completion.

E-Bill Express accepts debit cards, credit cards, and ACH payments.

Rule 9.40 of the California Rules of Court does not set a limit on the number of appearances an out-of-state attorney may make as PHV. However, the court determines if the applicant is ineligible for PHV due to multiple appearances.  

Client Trust Accounting (CTA) School provides an overview of the California Rules of Professional Conduct and relevant provisions of the State Bar Act and Rules of the State Bar relating to client trust accounting. The course is designed to help attorneys understand their fiduciary responsibilities, avoid common trust accounting violations, and maintain compliance. It is self-paced and available 24/7 on the State Bar’s E-Learning Portal. It replaces the previously offered live sessions.

The general requirement is that the report must be made within 30 days of the time you have knowledge of the triggering event.[1] Exceptions:

• If you have been newly licensed in another state or federal jurisdiction, or if your license in another jurisdiction has been terminated, you must report it on or before February 1 of each year.[2]
• If you employ a person who is disbarred, resigned, involuntarily inactive, or suspended, you must report it to the State Bar prior to or at the time the employment commences.[3]

Reporting duties are not stayed while a sanction order is on appeal.[4]