The Rules of Professional Conduct were the subject of comprehensive revisions that became operative on November 1, 2018. Go to the Current Rules page for the text of the rules. This page provides background on the development of the rules. For information on rule amendments that were adopted and became operative after November 1, 2018, go to the Ethics News page.
Just as reviewing the legislative history of a statute can aid in statutory interpretation, reviewing the history of a rule of professional conduct can help you interpret the rule. New and amended rules of professional conduct are promulgated by order of the Supreme Court of California. The Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California has authority to adopt rule amendments and submit them to the Supreme Court for approval. Only amendments approved by the Supreme Court become binding upon licensees. The background that is here provided includes reports and other materials produced by the special commission that was assigned by the Board to develop the proposed amendments.
The pdfs provided for each of the proposed rules include executive summaries, reports and recommendations, dissents (if any), and other additional background information which was provided in the filing submitted to the Supreme Court. The report and recommendations include clean and redline version of the rule and an analysis of changes. Full text of public comments received and public comment synopsis tables have not been included. These documents are available upon request by contacting Mimi Lee at: mimi.lee@calbar.ca.gov.