MCLE
audit results encouraging, but some attorneys still face discipline
By Laura Ernde
Staff Writer
Attorneys performed better overall in the second year of a
State Bar audit of compliance with Minimum Continuing Legal Education (MCLE) requirements,
a recent report showed. Even so, about 4.6 percent of lawyers failed the audit
and face possible disciplinary action as a result.
This year the bar audited 2,600 attorneys, or 5 percent of
those who were required to report their MCLE compliance by Feb. 1. The audit
revealed problems for 349 lawyers, or 13.4 percent. That was a decline from 21
percent last year.
“Attorneys who were paying attention took heed,” said Robert
McPhail, who supervised the audits for the State Bar, in his comments to the
State Bar Board of Trustees at its November meeting.
Some attorneys had done the required 25 hours of coursework
over three years but ran into trouble for not taking enough participatory
classes or missing credits on the subjects of legal ethics, detection and
prevention of substance abuse and elimination of bias in the legal profession. Attorneys
were largely able to resolve those kinds of minor problems.
McPhail estimated that 121 recalcitrant lawyers will be
referred to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel this month for serious compliance issues.
That includes about 27 lawyers who will be placed on administrative inactive
status for failure to comply with the audit, despite being notified seven times
by mail, email or a phone call. The referrals represented 4.6 percent of those
audited, which was about the same ratio as last year’s audit.
About a third of people with audit problems were either solo
and small firm practitioners or attorneys without active practices, McPhail
said.
To assist attorneys, the State Bar is developing an online
CLE tracking tool, said Pam Wilson, director of the Office of Section Education
and Meeting Services. Soon, lawyers will be able to sign into My State Bar Profile and see all the State Bar-provided CLE courses they have taken. Eventually,
the tracking tool will allow lawyers to log courses they have taken from other
CLE providers.
Meanwhile, State Bar prosecutors have begun to pursue
discipline against some of the 27 attorneys referred to them as a result of
last year’s audit. So far, two attorneys have agreed to 30-day license
suspensions as a result of misconduct. Of the remaining:
- Eight lawyers face disciplinary charges for either
misrepresenting their compliance or failing to cooperate with the investigation
- Two cases were resolved through an agreement in lieu of
discipline, which is a non-public, non-disciplinary outcome
- Two cases were closed with warning letters
- One investigation was closed without prosecution due to
insufficient evidence of professional misconduct
- 12 investigations remain pending
“It is truly unfortunate that we need to take this action
against any lawyer,” State Bar Executive Director/CEO Joe Dunn said. “Lawyers
can easily avoid this problem by simply meeting the well-known MCLE
requirements that have been in place for 20 years.”
Next year, the State Bar plans to audit an even larger
group. Ten percent of attorneys whose last names begin with A through G can
expect to receive audit letters next summer based on compliance reports that
are due on Feb. 1.