The State Bar seeks public comment on a new State Bar rule to implement a one-time Offer and Compromise Program.
Deadline: October 20, 2024, 11:59 p.m.
Comments should be submitted using the online Public Comment Form. The online form allows you to input your comments directly.
At its September Board meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the implementation of a one time Offer and Comprise Program to allow former and current licensees the ability to settle debt owed to the State Bar consisting of discipline costs, monetary sanctions and Client Security Fund (CSF) reimbursements.
A new State Bar rule is necessary to implement this program because the State Bar Rules of Procedure already provide a process for the reduction, waiver, and extension of time for payment of discipline costs and monetary sanctions by filing a motion in State Bar Court. As such, a new rule is necessary to provide an alternative process for licensees to seek reductions of such debt, as well as first-time process to reduce CSF debt by way of participation in the program, notwithstanding these established procedures.
The new rule indicates that there is good cause for the establishment of the program in order to afford licensees financial relief and to increase State Bar revenue. This language is necessary because the relevant statutes indicate that the State Bar’s discretion to reduce or waive discipline costs and CSF must be based on “hardship, special circumstances, or other good cause.”
The rule also specifies that licensees may participate in the program notwithstanding any other relevant State Bar Rule or State Bar Rules of Procedures. The rule leaves the criteria for participation in the program, as well as logistics of implementation, for guidelines to be authorized by the executive director. Lastly, the rule makes clear that this is a one-time program for debt that was accrued on or before January 1, 2025.
The cost to develop the platform to manage the Offer and Compromise Program is estimated to be $750,000.
From the Board of the Trustees Meeting September 19, 2024: Staff Report Item 6.1, Approval of Offer and Compromise Program, Related Contractual Expenditures and Delegations; Proposed New State Bar Rule and Proposed Amendments to California Rules of Court (Rule 9.23): Request to Circulate for Public Comment
Board of Trustees
October 20, 2024, 11:59 p.m.