News

At its July 18 meeting, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees voted to authorize the Board Chair and Executive Director to negotiate terms of and, if appropriate, execute a five-year bar exam agreement not to exceed $8.25 million with Kaplan North America, LLC.

Strategies and Stories, a free online program designed to support law students with stress-reduction strategies before taking the California Bar Exam, has helped over 1,000 applicants to achieve a passing score over the last six years.

The State Bar seized the Livermore practice of Robin Groth-Hill, aka Robin Hill, doing business as California Legal Services, announced Chief Trial Counsel George Cardona today.

The State Bar published its 2023 digital annual report today, which focuses on its accomplishments and challenges in a year when budgetary and staffing constraints impacted operations and when transparency and accountability took center stage.  

At its meeting on May 16, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees approved a plan to automatically expunge nondisbarment attorney discipline records after eight years, assuming no further discipline has since occurred.

The State Bar announced today that 1,337 applicants (33.9 percent) passed the February 2024 General Bar Exam, and 197 applicants (52.7 percent) passed the Attorneys’ Exam. If those who passed satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California.

The State Bar of California today released a report from an external investigation into former Deputy Executive Director Robert (Bob) Hawley’s “ghostwriting” of reports in connection with the Rule 2201 Program during the 2010 to 2015 period. Part of the State Bar Rules of Procedure, the Rule 2201 Program refers attorney discipline cases to outside Special Deputy Trial Counsel (SDTC) when the Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) has conflicts.

As required by the Legislature, the State Bar has published three reports detailing its funding needs to support its public protection mission in 2025 and beyond. The three interdependent reports provide lawmakers, who approve the fee bill every year, with recommendations and options to ensure that the State Bar’s funding adequately supports its mission. 

In a 128-page ruling, California State Bar Court Hearing Judge Yvette D. Roland found licensee John Charles Eastman (SBN 193726) culpable of 10 of the disciplinary charges filed by the State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) and recommended that he be disbarred. Absent a challenge, the recommendation goes to the California Supreme Court for review. 

The State Bar’s Annual Diversity Report Card released today highlights the demographic composition of California’s 2023 attorney population and, for the first time, analyzes changing trends in demographic representation since 2019. The report also explores racial/ethnic and gender patterns in recent cohorts of attorneys admitted to the State Bar.  

At its meeting March 21–22, the State Bar of California Board of Trustees approved a request for an increase in the 2025 mandatory licensing fee of $125 per active licensee.

As this week marks National Consumer Protection Week (March 3-March 9), the State Bar of California’s Public Trust Liaison (PTL) Enrique Zuniga advises consumers to take one simple step to avoid becoming a victim of fraud: use the State Bar’s Look Up a Lawyer search feature before signing agreements with anyone offering legal services.  

At a special meeting February 26, the State Bar of California Board of Trustees approved a 2024 budget that relies on last year’s building sale proceeds as a stopgap measure to stave off the impact of an ongoing structural deficit. The Board also reviewed and discussed plans for an April 1 set of reports to the Legislature that will articulate the State Bar’s needs for a fee increase in 2025.

For the first time in its 34-year history, the State Bar Court Reporter is now available online.    

The State Bar of California announced today that it has earned Gold level status in its DEI Leadership Seal Program, and the law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP has earned Bronze. The two join 34 other California legal organizations that earned a DEI Leadership seal in 2023, when the State Bar launched the initiative to recognize legal employers who implement research-driven actions that further workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion. 

At its meeting on January 18–19, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees discussed the State Bar’s significant budget challenges and provided direction on plans to request of the Legislature a licensing fee increase for 2025. When the Legislature authorized flat licensing fees for 2024 amid an ongoing structural deficit in the State Bar’s General Fund, it directed submission of reports by April 1 that will outline the State Bar’s future funding needs.

In a first-of-its kind move, the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) voted today to withdraw the registration and terminate the degree-granting authority of Los Angeles-based Peoples College of Law (PCL), effective May 31, 2024.

In a ruling issued on December 6, 2023, the Ninth Circuit’s en banc panel affirms the State Bar’s sovereign immunity as an arm of the state under the Eleventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.   

The State Bar of California’s first-ever comprehensive Law School Profile highlights the attrition, number of JD degrees awarded, and bar exam pass rates of California’s American Bar Association (ABA), California accredited (CALS), and unaccredited law schools by race/ethnicity and gender of the student body, exploring differences in outcomes for students. 

At its November meeting, the State Bar Board of Trustees approved forwarding to the California Supreme Court a plan to pilot a Portfolio Bar Examination (PBE) as a method for assessing a candidate’s minimum competence to practice law.