Archived: Committee on Special Discipline Case Audit

This ad hoc committee of the Board of Trustees completed its work with recommendations to the Board in November 2021. Please see this news release.

Roster

Purpose

At its meeting in July 2021, the Board of Trustees established a special committee of the Board, to further analyze the audit report on the closed discipline cases, and to develop a proposed corrective action plan to be approved by the Regulation and Discipline Committee (RAD) or the Board of Trustees. The committee is directed to work with staff to conduct a study and develop recommendations for increasing the State Bar’s ability to effectively and proactively regulate attorney client trust accounts and attorney client trust account management, to include for example, but not limited to:

  1. Proactive, random audits of attorney client trust accounts held by California attorneys
  2. Requiring some or all attorneys to obtain audits of their trust accounts on a regular basis by a Certified Public Accountant
  3. Requiring annual self-funded audits and reporting of client trust accounts
  4. Requiring the use of third-party escrow accounts for some or all attorneys
  5. New and amended statutes, State Bar rules, rules of professional conduct, and other rules governing attorney conduct as well as standards governing discipline for client trust account violations
  6. Bonding requirements
  7. An assessment of technology and other tools that can be employed in this effort

Composition

The committee is comprised of six Board of Trustees members.