Find a Certified Lawyer Referral Service Check Attorney Profile
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.
Eleven areas:
When a search warrant is issued for documents under the control of the specified professionals, the court appoints a Special Master to accompany the peace officer serving the warrant.
Yes. Parties are encouraged to discuss the dispute prior to arbitration and to try to settle it informally. Fee disputes sometimes occur because the lawyer and client have stopped communicating with each other. Sometimes, discussing the dispute may lead to early settlement. Some fee arbitration programs will refund a portion of the arbitration filing fee if the dispute is settled early in the process. Check the rules of the program you are using.
The arbitrator will expect the parties to be fully prepared to explain and support their positions on the value of the lawyer's services and to have all 2 Rev.4/7/2021 documents and witnesses organized and ready at the hearing. The arbitrator will not expect you to act like a lawyer, but they will expect your case to be presented in an organized and efficient manner. If you have documents to submit, provide copies to the arbitrator and the attorney whose fees you are disputing before the hearing.
The arbitrator may ask questions at any time. Sometimes the arbitrator will ask questions while you or the lawyer are presenting your case if clarification is needed.
Lawyers are often in the best position to know if another lawyer is not fulfilling their ethical obligations and violating the Rules of Professional Conduct. Reporting another lawyer’s possible misconduct assists the State Bar to protect the public, the courts, and the legal profession from lawyer harm; helps to maintain the integrity of the legal system; and furthers public trust in the legal profession.
If you are not sure whether you have a duty to report misconduct under rule 8.3, you may consult with another lawyer. See rule 8.3, comment [2]. A lawyer may, but is not required to, report any other violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct or the State Bar Act that is not required to be reported under rule 8.3. See rule 8.3(b), comment [4].
The Learning Page organizes the courses under two tabs: To-Do and Completed. The To-Do tab lists courses that are in-progress or that you have not started. The Completed tab lists courses that you have completed.
Yes. All persons newly admitted to the State Bar of California are required to complete the New Attorney Training Program.
Once your MJP application has been approved and the State Bar has issued you a certificate of registration, you may engage only in the activities permitted by the applicable rule of the California Rules of Court.
Once your MJP application has been approved, you may:
• RIHC: only provide legal services in California to the qualified institution that employs you. Upon submittal of a supplemental form, you may also provide pro bono legal services under the supervision of a California attorney for an eligible legal aid organization defined by rule 9.45(a)(1) of the California Rules of Court, or the qualifying institution that employs you.
• RLAA: under the supervision of a California attorney, provide legal services while working, with or without pay, at a qualified legal aid organization and only on behalf of its clients or customers. Practice under this rule is limited to a total of five years.
• RMSA: under the supervision of a California attorney, practice law in California in all forms of legal practice that are permissible for a licensed attorney of the State Bar of California. Practice under this rule is limited to a total of five years.
Once you become ineligible for the MJP Program, you must notify the State Bar within 30 days.
You must report the above information in the Applicant Portal by following the steps below or emailing mjp@calbar.ca.gov.
• Log in to the Applicant Portal.
• From the home page in the Applicant Portal
Make sure you complete all demographic information located in your Admissions Applicant Portal. To locate this section, go to My Profile at the top right corner and click on the Update the contact information link. Select the Edit button and scroll down to Demographic section.
If you have a pending request for testing accommodations, your Admittance Ticket will not be released until your testing accommodation case is concluded. If you launch or draft a testing accommodation case after a decision is sent to you, you will no longer have access to your Admittance Ticket. If you launched the testing accommodation in error or would no longer like to proceed with the submission, please contact testing.accommodations@calbar.ca.gov to have your application updated and your Admittance Ticket released.
The First-Year Law Students’ Exam (FYLSX) will be administered primarily in person at various Prometric test centers. Once approved to take the exam, you will receive an email detailing how to make your exam appointment with Prometric.
First-time takers of the February 2025 CBX in the PLP must complete the New Attorney Training Program five months from the approval of their PLP application or by May 31, 2026, whichever is sooner.
The New Attorney Training Program costs $55. After logging into the LMS portal, you will need to purchase the New Attorney Training Bundle.
Yes, the rules allow for multiple supervisors. The supervisors may work within the same law firm or at a different law firm if you will be employed or volunteer at more than one organization.
To add a Supervising Lawyer, replace your main PLP employer, or update your employer’s address or contact information, you must submit the PLP Employment Update Notice in the Applicant Portal. There is no fee associated with this change. You must submit a declaration from each Supervising Lawyer with your PLP Employment Update Notice. You may not work as a PLL at any organization or under a new supervisor until the State Bar has approved your PLP application.
Maybe. If you click "Pause" while you are in the application, you will be able to return to the pending PHV application.
To return to the paused PHV application:
• Log in to the Applicant Portal
• Click "Special Admissions"
• Click "Pro Hac Vice”
• Under drafted applications, locate your PHV application and click "Resume."
You cannot return to a pending PHV application if you exited the application without clicking "Pause" or if a technical issue occurred that prevented you from clicking "Pause" before exiting the application. If this happens, you'll have to start over from the beginning.
For those admitted to the program prior to December 31, 2022, the Supreme Court extended the Original PLP to May 31, 2023, or, in some cases, to December 31, 2025. The program will terminate on May 31, 2023, for any participant who has not yet satisfied all of the program requirements other than passing the California Bar Exam. If bar passage is the only remaining requirement to be satisfied, the PLL can continue in the program through December 31, 2025.
No, you can apply for the program before your moral character determination is completed. If your PLP application is based on having submitted a complete Application for Determination of Moral Character, please note that your PLP application will not be considered until the moral character application is deemed complete by the State Bar and placed in “filed” status. Filed status means that our office has all the preliminary documentation required to begin the background investigation. Moral Character Applications are processed in the order received and can take up to two to three months for the initial review. If you submit your PLP application before the Moral Character Application is in filed status, your PLP application will say “Pending Internal Review.”
Under rules 9.49 and 9.49.1, a PLL is allowed to provide a broad array of legal services for clients, including appearing before a court; drafting legal documents, contracts, transactional documents, and pleadings; engaging in negotiations and settlement discussions; and providing other legal advice, provided that the work is performed under the supervision of a qualifying supervising lawyer. The limits on what a PLL can do, or what needs to be done under direct versus general supervision, are largely left to the supervising attorney to determine the readiness of the PLL.
Need additional help? Visit our Contact Us page for additional resources.