News Releases

Board of Trustees authorizes fee increase request

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 State Bar has made tremendous progress in its reform agenda over the last three years, but no amount of re-engineering and budget-cutting can make up for the fact that its core source of revenue is flat, while costs for labor, technology, and other necessities keep rising,” said Board President Jason P. Lee. “We cannot manage our way out of this crisis, and we’re hopeful that the State Bar’s ability to fulfill its public protection mission won’t be put in jeopardy.”

The State Bar’s annual attorney licensing fee has not increased since 1998. If the fee had been adjusted for inflation over that time, it would now surpass $500. 

Despite trimming millions of dollars from its budget over the last several years, the State Bar is running a structural deficit, with reserves used as backfill. The State Bar projects an operating deficit of approximately $19.5 million and an overall deficit of $32 million in 2020, well beyond available reserves. Absent a fee increase next year, drastic cutbacks in operations and programs would be necessary.

The Board authorized staff to work with the Legislature on a request that includes:

• Up to a 30 percent increase, $100, in the annual license fee for active attorneys in 2020, plus an annual adjustment in future years for inflation, to close the State Bar's structural deficit.
• A one-time fee of up to $250 to replenish reserves and fund infrastructure—both capital improvements and technology investments.
• A one-time fee of up to $80 to assure solvency of the Client Security Fund, the State’s only vehicle for financial restitution to victims of attorney fraud. The fund pays victims who have lost money or property due to theft or dishonesty by a California lawyer. The boost is needed because of a spike in claims caused by the loan modification crisis. 
• Fee-scaling options to lessen the impact of a fee increase on attorneys below certain income thresholds, with those details still to be finalized. 

Other actions taken by the Board of Trustees today included:

Strategic plan diversity goal adopted

Following adoption in January of new objectives supporting the diversity and inclusion elements of the State Bar’s mission, the Board adopted a revised strategic plan goal that articulates those elements:

“Support access to legal services for low-and moderate-income Californians and promote policies and programs to eliminate bias and promote an inclusive environment in the legal system and for the public it serves, and strive to achieve a statewide attorney population that reflects the rich demographics of the state’s population.”

The Board also approved the State Bar’s first report to the legislature on its work advancing access and diversity.

Legal Services Trust Fund Commission vacancies filled

Four reappointments and two new appointments were approved to fill vacancies on the Legal Services Trust Fund Commission. The Board agreed to maintain the commission’s current size. The Board also approved rule revisions needed to implement previously adopted changes in the responsibilities of the California Board of Legal Specialization.

Final report of the Malpractice Insurance Working Group accepted

For the past year, the Malpractice Insurance Working Group has conducted a statutory review of errors and omissions insurance for California attorneys. The working group recommended improvements in disclosure rules, ways to encourage attorneys to carry insurance, and further research on whether to make attorney malpractice insurance coverage mandatory. The Board accepted the working group’s final report and directed staff to plan implementation options and estimate costs by the July Board meeting.

Update on attorney fingerprinting

The State Bar has been working toward a deadline of December 1, 2019, for all active attorneys in California to be re-fingerprinted, under a rule of court adopted by the California Supreme Court in June 2018. To date, approximately two-thirds of California’s 190,000 active attorneys have submitted new fingerprint records. Penalties begin May 1 for those who have not complied by then. Staff updated the Board’s Regulation and Discipline Committee on progress toward the December final deadline and outreach plans before the May 1 penalty deadline.

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The State Bar of California's mission is to protect the public and includes the primary functions of licensing, regulation and discipline of attorneys; the advancement of the ethical and competent practice of law; and support of efforts for greater access to, and inclusion in, the legal system.