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No. The State Bar is unable to extend the period to request administrative review. The CBE will decide whether to accept an untimely request for administrative review.
The CBE will review your request and your application. The CBE may take any action it deems appropriate, including but not limited to granting you a positive determination, requesting more information, extending an offer of abeyance, or rendering an adverse determination.
If the CBE declines to grant you a positive determination, it will decide how long you must wait before you may submit a new Application for Determination of Moral Character, which could be the same or different from the time that was set by State Bar staff when it made the initial determination.
The notice of the adverse determination will provide you with the date on which you may submit a new Application for Determination of Moral Character. You are encouraged to engage in affirmative rehabilitative activities during the period you must wait to reapply.
Alternatively, you may choose to request administrative review by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE). If you request review by the CBE, the date on which you will be eligible to reapply may change, as it will be determined by the CBE in the event it issues an adverse determination.
Please call 415-538-2450 and ask to speak with the Moral Character Person of the Day. Please be prepared to email a screenshot if the issue cannot be resolved over the phone. Some issues may take more time to resolve if technical assistance is necessary.
Some applicants have traveled extensively in the past three years and have numerous addresses to report on the moral character application. You are encouraged to provide as much information pertaining to each residence as can be reasonably recalled. You are responsible for the complete and accurate reporting of information on the application to the best of your ability, and the failure to provide complete responses could result in a delay in the processing of the application.
You must disclose all residences for the past three years, regardless of how long you resided at the location.
No. You are only required to disclose the addresses of the places you have lived within the past three years, including college and law school residences.
No. Some references may not be contacted. You may wish to remind your references to check their email spam folders periodically and to use the Google Chrome internet browser, if possible, when submitting the questionnaires to avoid potential technical issues.
Report military enlistment in the “Current/Previous Employment section” and the “Military Services” section of the moral character application. List your last duty station, supervisor, date of enlistment, and date of discharge (or the date you left active duty if you are currently on inactive status). An applicant who is discharged from active duty must also provide a DD-214 military discharge document that clearly indicates the type of discharge.
Contact the employer and attempt to obtain the information. If you do not remember your supervisor’s name or your supervisor is no longer with the business, please enter "Human Resources" into the Full Name of Supervisor field and enter the appropriate information into the Email Address of Supervisor and Phone Number of Supervisor fields.
If the company is no longer in business (defunct), contact information will not be required once you indicate that the company is no longer in business.
Do NOT use your own email address or phone number.
The State Bar does not refer clients to lawyers or provide legal advice. We provide a directory of certified Lawyer Referral Services in your area who may be able to help you find a lawyer. Please see our Find Legal Professionals section for resources. The State Bar also publishes free legal information for consumers.
If you believe your lawyer has done something wrong, you can file a complaint with the State Bar. Complaints may be submitted online or by mail. If you have questions or need assistance in completing the form, call the State Bar’s Attorney Complaint Hotline at 800-843-9053. For more information on reporting a lawyer to the State Bar and handling other problems, read the legal guide If You Have a Problem with an Attorney.
If you have a complaint about a certified or uncertified LRS, you can file a complaint against the service with the State Bar. In order to promote public protection, the State Bar will review your complaint to determine if the LRS has violated Business and Professions Code Section 6155 and State Bar Rules.
For more information on certified lawyer referral services, contact LRS@calbar.ca.gov.
The due date is by March 30, or the next business day if that date falls on a weekend or holiday, each year during the annual license renewal process. The 2025 annual deadline is April 1, 2025. If you miss the deadline, you will be charged a penalty ($103 for active attorneys, $31 for inactive attorneys).
Activities that qualify for general MCLE credit must: (1) relate to legal subjects that are directly relevant to California attorneys, and (2) offer current, significant educational, professional, or practical content with the specific objective of increasing each participant’s professional competency as an attorney. Programs created primarily for nonattorney audiences (for example, general public, clients, or business staff) do not qualify and will not be approved for general MCLE credit. More on Standards for MCLE activity Approval.
IOLTA stands for Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts. Attorneys deposit client funds that they plan to hold briefly, or that are too small to earn interest for the client, into larger shared accounts. Over 73,000 attorneys make deposits in approximately 49,000 IOLTA accounts in California. As of September 2019, IOLTA accounts hold nearly $5 billion. Any interest earned on these accounts is paid by financial institutions to the State Bar, which in turn distributes those funds as grants to qualified nonprofit civil legal organizations throughout the state.
Refer to the State Bar’s IOLTA FAQ page for more information.
No. You must use a California Live Scan vendor that is contracted to submit your fingerprint to the California DOJ. For more information, please go to Fingerprinting Rule Requirements for Out-of-State Attorneys.
Providing a social security number is not legally required; however, DOJ procedures recommend providing the social security number on the Live Scan form. Further, many Live Scan vendors will refuse to submit your information without a social security number.
If you are uncomfortable with a Live Scan vendor retaining your social security number, we recommend redacting the number from the Live Scan form after the Live Scan vendor enters your information into the Live Scan software for transmission to the DOJ. The Live Scan vendor will then retain the redacted Live Scan form for their records. If a social security number is not provided, processing can be delayed.
No. Attorneys who live out-of-state can request hard copy fingerprint cards from the State Bar to be mailed to their preferred location. The cards can be completed at any fingerprint processing location within the jurisdiction in which they are located. For more information go to Fingerprinting Rule Requirements.
The State Bar will receive criminal record information from both the DOJ and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). This information specifically includes a summary of arrests, pretrial proceedings, the nature and disposition of criminal charges, sentencing, incarceration, court-ordered rehabilitation conditions, and release. The DOJ will send the State Bar notification of subsequent California arrests and the disposition of those arrests. At this time, the FBI will not send notification of out-of-state arrests to the State Bar.
When logging credit for published articles, it is not necessary to put in a provider number on the summary log. The provider will be the name of the publication and the course will be the article title. This is self-study credit. When you submit your proof of compliance, articles should be noted on your self-study log along with the date of publication (or submission if publication is pending). Again please note the name of the publication and the title of the article.
In order to be eligible for MCLE the article must meet the following conditions:
No. But all bar members, both inactive and active, must pay annual fees.
Your official date of admission is considered the day you take your oath. Your membership fees will be calculated based on that date, and you should be able to access a fee statement within 30 days. Your fees will be due 45 days from the day you get your invoice. More information concerning fees is available through the State Bar website. If you have additional questions about fees after reading the material on the website, contact Member Records at 888-800-3400.
If an attorney takes a CLE course while physically outside California, it can be counted toward California MCLE requirements. However, the education activity must be approved by an Approved Jurisdiction.
That is fine, as long as the law practice relationship between the entities is acknowledged on the application.
Once your audit is complete, you will receive a letter confirming your successful completion of the administrative portion of the audit.
We will only accept a sign-in sheet if it includes the name of the course, course provider, date of activity and the number of MCLE hours afforded to attendees.
Every member of the bar must report continuing education credits even if he or she is new to the bar. The amount of MCLE you must complete is based on the date of your admission and begins accruing on the first day of the month in which you are sworn in as an active member of the bar.
If you have questions about MCLE requirements, read the MCLE FAQ or contact the Member Services Center at 888-800-3400.
No, not at this time unless specifically requested. The State Bar is in the process of acknowledging receipts of OSAAC Certificates. Also keep in mind that many arbitrators and/or arbitral panels accept the listing of the State Bar's name, address, and declaration of payment on a proof of service as sufficient proof that the State Bar has been served.
You may claim credit only for education activities taken on or after the first day of the month in which you are admitted (sworn in) to The State Bar of California.
A Special Master accompanies a peace officer serving a warrant. The Special Master informs the party being served of the specific items being sought and gives that person an opportunity to voluntarily provide the items requested. If the items are not voluntarily produced, the Special Master conducts a search in the areas indicated in the search warrant. All items, whether produced voluntarily or seized, are then sealed until a court hearing is held to determine if the items are privileged. Special Masters receive a handbook describing the program in greater detail.
Special Masters must be active members of the State Bar in good standing for at least five years. To avoid potential conflicts of interest, attorneys who devote a substantial amount of their practice to criminal law are not eligible to serve as Special Masters.
Questions should be directed to the administrator of the fee arbitration program you are using to arbitrate your dispute. Check the rules and/or forms given to you by the program for the administrator's address and telephone number or look under the Approved Programs. Unless the matter is urgent, the arbitrator assigned to hear your dispute should not be called.
The arbitrator is a neutral decision maker, who considers the evidence presented by all parties and makes a decision on the lawyer's fees. The arbitrator cannot represent either the lawyer or the client in the dispute. Nor does the arbitrator typically independently investigate or gather evidence to support either side's position. The arbitrator must make the decision based on the evidence given by the parties.
The arbitrator has the authority to decide how the arbitration hearing should proceed. You may be asked to present your case first. You will be allowed to discuss the fee agreement and the reasons why you dispute the lawyer's fees. You may also introduce relevant documents, such as written fee agreements and copies of the lawyer's bills. Your presentation should be simple, factual, and directly related to the issue of lawyer's fees. Usually, this is also the time when you would present any witnesses to help prove your case.
After you have fully presented your case, the lawyer will have a chance to ask you questions.
The lawyer may also make their presentation and present any witnesses. You will have an opportunity to ask relevant questions after the lawyer has fully presented their case. To avoid interrupting the lawyer's presentation, you may want to take notes so that you can remember any points with which you disagree.
Rule 8.3 requires lawyers to report certain misconduct by other lawyers to the State Bar or a tribunal with jurisdiction to investigate or act upon such misconduct.
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