State Bar
targets 1,300 for $8.5 million in collections
The State
Bar of California is broadening efforts to collect about $8.5 million owed by
about 1,300 disciplined attorneys in cases dating back to 2006.
In 2004, as a result of changes in the law, the organization began filing
judgments against attorneys ordered to pay the State Bar the cost of their
disciplinary proceedings. Judgments allow access to untapped assets, including,
for example, when a debtor attempts to refinance a mortgage.
General
Counsel Vanessa Holton, whose office is spearheading the broadened collections
effort, has committed an attorney and a paralegal from the Office of General
Counsel to work with other State Bar departments to bring the filing of
judgments current.
“Collecting these debts has always been challenging, but we must send a message
to disciplined attorneys that the State Bar will make its best effort to obtain
reimbursement, no matter the amount,” Holton said.
In 2014,
at the urging of the State Bar, the Legislature enacted a law allowing the
State Bar to intercept tax refunds through the Franchise Tax Board as an
additional collections tool. The intercepted money from this interagency
program – totaling $292,338 to date – is deposited into the Legal Services
Trust Fund, which provides free legal services to low-income Californians.