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The State Bar of California receives a complaint about an attorney from one of his purported clients. The complainant shares a letter, supposedly from the attorney, written on State Bar letterhead. However, the attorney works at the San Diego District Attorney’s Office and does not represent individual clients. All signs point to fraud.
The State Bar Board of Trustees today authorized restructured fee-scaling options to expand reduced or waived licensing fee increases among attorneys whose incomes fall below certain thresholds. The new model will be proposed during the legislative process for setting the State Bar’s licensing fee for 2020.
Today the State Bar released results of the February 2019 California Bar Exam and announced that 1,458 people (31.4 percent of applicants) passed the General Bar Exam. This is an increase of 4.1 percentage points over last year’s February pass rate of 27.3 percent. If those passing applicants satisfy all other requirements for admission, they will be eligible to be licensed by the State Bar to practice law in California.
The Office of the California State Auditor today issued its 2019 Report and Recommendations on the State Bar of California.
The State Bar of California will hold its 23rd Annual Ethics Symposium on April 12. The day-long event provides training and education on legal ethics topics for practicing attorneys.
The State Bar of California is looking for the individuals who have yet to claim dozens of valid work permits, green cards, and social security cards from the offices of Judith Gil, a purported immigration specialist whose office was shut down in February because of the unauthorized practice of law.
The State Bar Board of Trustees today formally authorized a much-needed increase in licensing fees in 2020, the first in over 20 years. The Board set the fee increase as the agency’s number one legislative priority, essential to the agency’s fiscal health and ongoing reform.
The California Bar Exam Strategies and Stories Program, designed to help applicants navigate the challenges they face when preparing for the bar exam, will be offered again to applicants studying for the July 2019 exam. Online registration for the study program begins March 1.
A State Bar effort to maximize revenue in the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) fund—a major source of legal aid grants—will help boost those funds to a projected record of $39 million in 2019.
The State Bar of California has seized the unauthorized law practice of a Los Angeles woman who scammed dozens of immigrants by posing as an attorney who could help them obtain legal residency.