Finance Committee

Roster | Upcoming Meetings | Past Meetings: after July 2024 | prior to July 2024

Purpose

The Finance Committee leads the Board’s participation in oversight, and review of the State Bar’s budget preparation. 

Given these myriad efforts, the Board determined that the attorney discipline system could benefit from a comprehensive examination of its policies and procedures. This review will examine and evaluate completed efforts as well as work currently in progress. The review will build upon existing initiatives and integrate them into a coherent whole to develop additional insight into ways the discipline system could be further improved. To ensure a keen focus on the State Bar’s public protection mission, the review will evaluate fairness and equity in an ongoing effort to understand and address disparities that may exist based on race or gender.

Charter

The Finance Committee shall develop and lead the Board’s participation in all State Bar budget preparation. The Finance Committee shall:

  • Budget Process: Consult with the chair, vice-chair and executive director on the detailed design of the State Bar’s budget development cycle and work with the executive director and chief financial officer to vet the proposed budget, as well as any midyear updates or proposed changes to the budget, before presentation and recommendation to the Board of Trustees. Recommend to the Board any amendment to the adopted budget.
  • Financial Review: Ensure that the financials are thoroughly examined on a quarterly basis; develop a functional and detailed understanding of the State Bar’s revenue streams, expenditures, and overall fiscal conditions and issues in order to be engaged proactively in the budget preparation, development and planning process on an ongoing basis; monitor the State Bar’s performance relative to the budget; and ensure that appropriate actions are taken to address any material variances to the budget.
  • Oversight: Ensure as part of the annual operational planning/budget preparation process that a office-by-office fiscal review is performed to evaluate budget projections.
  • Work Plan: Develop and adopt a Finance Committee work plan for approval by the Board Executive Committee; for each Finance Committee project, the work plan shall include a description of the project, the Strategic Plan Goal(s) and Objective(s) that are furthered by the project, and an estimated timeline for completion and presentation to the Finance Committee and/or the Board.
  • Perform such other functions relevant to the Finance Committee’s subject area as the Board of Trustees may from time-to-time assign.

In so doing, the commission will review research studies that have been completed and determine whether additional research is needed. It will also review research studies in progress and generate policy recommendations as results become available. Another key element of the State Bar’s discipline system is the State Bar Court, which on its own initiative also continually evaluates its processes to improve the adjudication of cases. With the participation of the State Bar Court, the commission may examine the structure of the court, principally issues involving its independence and autonomy. As a guiding principle, the commission will focus on the dual goals of ensuring public protection and fairness in the discipline system.

Staff contact

Sam Tesoro, 415-538-2283, sam.tesoro@calbar.ca.gov
Chair: Arnold Sowell, Jr.

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