On January 1, 2018, one of the most significant structural reforms in the State Bar of California’s history came to fruition: a restructuring that enabled the State Bar to focus solely on its regulatory role and its mission to protect the public.
This was accomplished by transferring the State Bar’s professional association functions—namely educating attorneys in substantive areas of law, advocating for changes in the law to further the legal profession, and otherwise providing member services and advancing the interests of lawyers—to a new organization, the California Lawyers Association.
This transformational change still reverberates today.
It took years to bring this major reform about, and in the years since, the State Bar has continued to improve its effectiveness and further its mission. This timeline spotlights many of the key steps taken in the years leading up to and after the 2018 separation, particularly to improve the State Bar’s governance and discipline functions. While not a comprehensive report of all important initiatives the agency has undertaken in recent years, this timeline illustrates the State Bar’s ongoing commitment to continuous reform and improvement.
The work continues.
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