Legal Resources

Free Legal Help Before Selecting an Attorney Working with an Attorney Resolving Problems with Your Attorney Resources for Immigrants Legal Help After a Disaster Legal Guide Pamphlets

Welcome to the Legal Resources page, the State Bar of California’s hub for helpful information and tips that can help you find legal assistance, work with your attorney, and avoid and resolve problems with your attorney. You can also explore our library of legal guide pamphlets, which cover a range of topics and are available in multiple languages.

Check Attorney Profile

Look up the status of an attorney’s license and their disciplinary and administrative history.

Find a Lawyer Referral Service

Connect with certified legal services that can help match you with a lawyer that best fits your situation.
Access to Legal Help

If you can’t afford a lawyer, you may be eligible for free or low-cost legal services through legal aid groups across California, which receive grants from the State Bar.

Access Free Legal Help

Find a Legal Aid Office

Legal Guide Pamphlets

Our pamphlets can help you find and hire an attorney or access legal aid. They also explain how to work with and avoid problems with attorneys, as well as discuss what to do if you encounter problems.

Legal Guide Pamphlets

Resolving Fee Disputes

If you have a problem with an attorney’s bill, you don’t have to go to court to resolve it. The State Bar can help you resolve a problem through an informal, confidential, and lower-cost alternative called Mandatory Fee Arbitration.

Resolve Fee Disputes

Mandatory Fee Arbitration

Resources for Immigrants

If you are an immigrant living in the United States, you may be looking for legal help with your immigration status. Or you may be looking for information about how to become a citizen. The State Bar has resources that can help.

Finding Help with Immigration

Buscando ayuda con asuntos de inmigración

Need Help with Attorney Discipline or Admissions Issues?

The Office of Public Trust Liaison can help educate you about how the State Bar can help within the areas of our public protection mission.

Office of Public Trust Liaison

Contact the Office of Public Trust Liaison

California Courts Self-Help Center

Do you need help navigating your court case? Visit the California Courts’ self-help website for resources and information to help you follow procedures and understanding your options.

Self-Help Guide to the California Courts

California Courts language access resources

Someone checking a document during a meeting.
Need to file a complaint?

The State Bar’s Office of Chief Trial Counsel handles complaints about unethical attorney conduct from several different sources, including clients, family and friends of clients, courts, opposing counsel, members of the public or other third parties, and anonymous submissions. Once you’ve decided to take your grievance about an attorney to the State Bar, you need to file an attorney complaint form.

How to File a Complaint

Complaint Review Process

Need more information?

Please browse our available resources to find what you are looking for.