AB 3249 — State Bar Act: attorneys: discipline: annual membership fee.

Summary

(1) The State Bar Act provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation governed by a board of trustees. Existing law, until January 1, 2019, requires the board to charge an annual membership fee for active members of up to $315 for 2018. This bill would, until January 1, 2020, require the board to charge an annual license fee in the same amount for 2019. The bill would replace the terms "member," "membership," and "dues" with "licensee," "license," and "fees," respectively, throughout the act. The bill would provide that any reference to "member of the State Bar" in any provision of law is deemed to mean a "licensee of the State Bar." (2) The act requires protection of the public to be the highest priority for the State Bar and the board of trustees in exercising their licensing, regulatory, and disciplinary functions. This bill would provide that protection of the public includes support for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system. (3) The act provides that the officers of the State Bar are a president, vice president, secretary, and a treasurer and requires the officers of the State Bar to continue in office until their successors are elected and qualify. Existing law requires the treasurer of the State Bar to certify under oath the State Bar's financial statement for each fiscal year. This bill would instead provide that the officers of the State Bar are a chair, vice chair, and a secretary and that they shall continue in office until their successors are appointed or selected. The bill would instead require the chief financial officer of the State Bar to certify the financial statement. (4) The act authorizes the board to aid in all matters pertaining to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence or to the improvement of the administration of justice, including, but not by way of limitation, all matters that may advance the professional interests of the members of the State Bar. The act requires the State Bar to assist the sections to incorporate as a private, nonprofit corporation and to transfer the section functions to the nonprofit corporation, defined as the association in the act. Existing law requires the nonprofit corporation to be called any name meeting certain requirements and approved by the Chief Justice. This bill would eliminate the authorization of the board to aid in all matters that may advance the professional interests of the members of the State Bar. The bill would require the association to be called the California Lawyers Association, and would make various conforming changes in this regard. (5) The act requires applicants for admission to the State Bar to, among other things, take and pass a bar examination and offers the examination in February and July. The act requires an application to take the bar examination filed between the last business day of November and January 15, for the February examination, or between the last business day of April and June 15, for the July examination, to be accepted if it is accompanied by a timely filing fee and late fee. The act prohibits an application filed after January 15 for the February examination and June 15 for the July examination from being accepted. The act authorizes the board to establish an examining committee to be comprised of 19 members, 9 of whom shall be public members. The act provides that the public members shall serve a term of 4 years commencing at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the State Bar. This bill would change the filing time described above to before January 1 for the February examination and to before June 1 for the July examination and would prohibit an application for examination from being accepted after January 1 and July 1, respectively. The bill would require the State Bar to develop and implement a plan to meet certain goals relating to access, fairness, and diversity in the legal profession and the elimination of bias in the practice of law. The bill would require the State Bar to prepare and submit a report on the plan and its implementation to the Legislature, by March 15, 2019, and every 2 years thereafter. This bill would remove the provision providing that the terms of the public members of the examining committee begin at the conclusion of the annual meeting of the State Bar. (6) The act authorizes the State Bar to collect voluntary fees or donations on behalf of the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations, as specified. This bill would end that authorization on January 1, 2020. (7) The act requires the State Bar to establish and administer an Attorney Diversion and Assistance Program and requires the program to be funded by mandatory fees, as specified. Under existing law, these fees are for the support of the program and related programs, as provided. The act requires participants in the program to be responsible for all expenses related to treatment and recovery and requires the State Bar to establish a financial assistance program to ensure no member is denied acceptance into the program solely due to lack of ability to pay. The act authorizes applicants who are in law school or have applied for admission to the State Bar to enter the program, subject to the approval of the board of trustees. This bill, on and after January 1, 2019, would require $1 of that mandatory fee, as specified, to be transferred to a statewide nonprofit corporation, established by attorneys that has, for the last 25 years or more, provided peer support to attorneys recovering from alcohol and substance abuse in a confidential and anonymous manner, to fund the support and recovery efforts of the nonprofit corporation and would require the nonprofit corporation to submit an annual report to the State Bar accounting for use of the funds, as specified. The bill would instead require the State Bar to establish a program to provide financial assistance to a licensee and a person eligible for services who otherwise would be denied acceptance into the program solely due to the lack of ability to pay, as specified, and would also authorize the mandatory fees to be used for treatment services for those who demonstrate an inability to pay for treatment. (8) The act provides for the investigation and discipline of members of the State Bar, requires the board of trustees to establish a State Bar Court to act in the board of trustees' place in the determination of disciplinary proceedings, requires the board of trustees to appoint a chief trial counsel, and requires the board of trustees to enroll a member as an inactive member, as specified. The act requires the State Bar to enroll a member to inactive status under certain circumstances and authorizes the State Bar to enroll a member to inactive status under other circumstances, including upon a finding that the attorney's conduct poses a substantial threat of harm to the interests of the attorney's clients or to the public if certain factors are found, including, among other things, that the attorney has caused or is causing substantial harm to the attorney's clients or the public and that the attorney's clients or the public are likely to suffer greater injury from the denial of inactive enrollment than the attorney is likely to suffer if granted, or there is a reasonable likelihood that harm will reoccur or continue. Existing law requires the State Bar by December 31 of each year to report on the number of complaints filed against California attorneys and demand letters received, as specified. The act requires the Supreme Court to suspend an attorney convicted of a felony or if the crime involved moral turpitude upon the receipt of the certified copy of the record of conviction and requires the Supreme Court to disbar an attorney after the judgment of conviction if the offense is a felony and an element of the offense is the specific intent to deceive, defraud, steal, or make or suborn a false statement, or involved moral turpitude. The bill would revise and recast the disciplinary provisions of the act by, among other things, replacing the terms "agency charged with discipline" and "disciplinary agency" with the "State Bar" and the terms "board," "board or a committee," and "board or administrative committee" to "State Bar Court." The bill would instead authorize the State Bar Court to order the enrollment of a licensee to inactive status upon, among other things, the finding that the attorney's conduct poses a substantial threat of harm to the interests of the attorney's clients or to the public. The bill would instead require the State Bar Court to enroll a licensee as an inactive licensee in certain cases. The bill would require the State Bar Court to order the involuntary inactive enrollment of an attorney who is sentenced to incarceration for 90 days or more as a result of a criminal conviction and would require an attorney placed on inactive enrollment to comply with a specified rule of the California Rules of Court. The bill would instead require the State Bar by April 30 of each year to include in its Annual Discipline Report information regarding complaints filed against California attorneys and demand letters received. The bill would instead require the Supreme Court to disbar an attorney after the judgment of conviction if the offense is a felony and either the facts and circumstances of the offense involved moral turpitude or an element of the offense is the specific intent to deceive, defraud, steal, or make or suborn a false statement, or involved moral turpitude. (9) The act authorizes the board of trustees to create local administrative committees and to delegate to them such of its powers and duties as seems advisable, as specified. The bill would delete this authorization and make conforming changes in this regard. (10) The act requires the State Bar to annually submit its proposed baseline budget to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would instead require the board to submit its adopted final budget and the proposed budget for the following year. (11) The act requires the board to contract with the California State Auditor's Office to conduct audits of the State Bar's operations, as specified. The bill would require the 2019 audit to be a performance audit that assesses and reviews specific aspects of State Bar operations and would require the audit to be submitted to the board, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and to the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary by May 1, 2019. The bill would require the Legislative Analyst's Office to report to the Legislature regarding State Bar use of licensing fee revenues by July 1, 2019. (12) The act requires the nonprofit association to, among other things, offer low- and no-cost continuing legal education (MCLE) . This bill would require the State Bar to assist the California Lawyers Association in meeting the association's requirement to provide low- and no-cost MCLE, as specified. The bill would require the California Lawyers Association to establish criteria for membership in the California Young Lawyers Association and would authorize the California Lawyers Association to change the name of the California Young Lawyers Association to another name, as specified. (13) Existing law requires reports required or requested to be submitted to the Legislature to, among other things, be submitted as a printed copy to the Secretary of the Senate. This bill would authorize the State Bar to submit reports to the Secretary of the Senate electronically. (14) Existing law requires the State Bar to annually investigate and report on possible fraudulent activities of its licensees relating to workers' compensation, motor vehicle insurance, or disability insurance by March 1. This bill would instead require the State Bar to include that information on its Annual Discipline Report on or before April 30. (15) Existing law authorizes fines, state or local penalties, bail, forfeitures, restitution fines, restitution orders, or any other amounts imposed by a juvenile or superior court of the State of California that are due and payable in an amount totaling less than $100 to be referred to the Franchise Tax Board for collection. This bill would additionally authorize fines, state or local penalties, bail, forfeitures, restitution fines, restitution orders, or any other amounts imposed by the Supreme Court and amounts due under a public reproval on a licensee of the State Bar or due to the Client Security Fund by a licensee of the State Bar to be referred to the Franchise Tax Board for collection. (16) Existing law requires an applicant for licensure to the State Bar to provide a federal employer identification number or social security number at the time of the issuance of the license, and prohibits a person who in his or her course of duty has access to this information from disclosing that information. This bill would authorize the State Bar to disclose that information to a collections agency contracted to collect funds owed to the State Bar under a public reproval on a licensee of the State Bar or due to the Client Security Fund by a licensee of the State Bar. (17) This bill would also make various conforming changes and other nonsubstantive changes. (18) This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 30 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by SB 695 to be operative only if this bill and SB 695 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Bill Text

• Chaptered 09/21/18 - Chaptered Current pdf September 21, 2018
• Enrolled 08/31/18 - Enrolled pdf August 31, 2018
• Amended 08/22/18 - Amended Senate pdf August 22, 2018
• Amended 07/03/18 - Amended Senate pdf July 03, 2018
• Amended 06/18/18 - Amended Senate pdf June 18, 2018
• Amended 05/16/18 - Amended Assembly pdf May 16, 2018
• Amended 05/03/18 - Amended Assembly pdf May 03, 2018
• Introduced 02/27/18 - Introduced pdf February 27, 2018
• AB3249 View text html

Action History

1. September 21, 2018

   Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 659, Statutes of 2018.

2. September 21, 2018

   Approved by the Governor.

3. September 07, 2018

   Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 2:30 p.m.

4. August 29, 2018

   Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 80. Noes 0. Page 6899.).

5. August 29, 2018

   Assembly Rule 77 suspended. (Page 6773.)

6. August 28, 2018

   In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending. May be considered on or after August 30 pursuant to Assembly Rule 77.

7. August 28, 2018

   Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 5894.).

8. August 23, 2018

   Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

9. August 22, 2018

   Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

10. August 09, 2018

    Ordered to third reading.

11. August 09, 2018

    From Consent Calendar.

12. August 07, 2018

    Read second time. Ordered to Consent Calendar.

13. August 06, 2018

    From committee: Be ordered to second reading file pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to Consent Calendar.

14. July 03, 2018

    Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

15. July 02, 2018

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To Consent Calendar. (Ayes 7. Noes 0.) (June 26).

16. June 18, 2018

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

17. June 13, 2018

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

18. May 31, 2018

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

19. May 30, 2018

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 78. Noes 0. Page 5462.)

20. May 24, 2018

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

21. May 23, 2018

    From committee: Do pass. (Ayes 16. Noes 0.) (May 23).

22. May 17, 2018

    Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

23. May 16, 2018

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on APPR. Read second time and amended.

24. May 08, 2018

    From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (May 8). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.

25. May 07, 2018

    Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

26. May 03, 2018

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended.

27. March 22, 2018

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

28. February 28, 2018

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 30.

29. February 27, 2018

    Read first time. To print.

Sponsors

• Committee on Judiciary · Primary

Votes

Subjects