5,500 attorneys expected to go through
MCLE audit
By Laura Ernde
Staff Writer
The State Bar will send audit letters to
5,500 attorneys on July 7 to ensure compliance with Minimum Continuing Legal
Education (MCLE) requirements.
This is the fourth year that the State Bar
has conducted audits that could potentially result in disciplinary action. It’s
also the largest audit group to date. The sample represents about 8.5 percent
of attorneys whose last names begin with the letters N through Z, whose MCLE compliance
was due Feb. 1.
Attorneys will be asked to provide
certificates of course completion or prove they are statutorily exempt by Aug.
21. The State Bar requires active attorneys to take 25 hours of continuing
education courses every three years. Lawyers must keep documentation for at
least a year after their compliance is due.
The audit will include lawyers who had to
make up missing hours as a result of being audited in 2011. In addition, it
will include a higher proportion of those with other risk factors for doing
poorly on the audit, such as a history of administrative actions or late filing
of MCLE compliance. The remaining 3,200 or so will be chosen at random from
attorneys whose last names begin with the letters N through Z.
“We’re using the data we have from previous
audits to focus our regulatory efforts on lawyers who are at higher risk of
noncompliance,” State Bar President Luis J. Rodriguez said. “By doing so we can
fulfill our public protection mission without burdening the vast majority of lawyers
who are honest and doing the right thing.”
There are two components to the audit,
administrative and disciplinary. Those who do not respond to the audit or do
not bring themselves into compliance by Oct. 31 will be administratively
suspended on Nov. 1. In addition, those who appear to have falsely declared
they were compliant will be referred to the Office of Chief Trial Counsel for
possible disciplinary action.
To date, 24 attorneys have been disciplined
in connection with the MCLE audits and one has resigned with charges pending.
Nine discipline cases are currently awaiting approval by the California Supreme
Court and a number of other cases are still pending in State Bar Court.
For more information about MCLE requirements
and reporting, visit the State Bar’s MCLE web page.
You can also read the FAQs about what to do in case
you’re contacted for an MCLE audit.