Register for
the Solo and Small Firm Summit
The State Bar of California will hold its annual Solo and
Small Firm Summit June 19 to 21 in Newport Beach.
Being billed as “Not Your Ordinary MCLE Weekend!” the summit
offers solo and small firm practitioners and office staff an opportunity to
network and come away with workable strategies to manage their offices, build a
client referral network and stay on top of key developments in various
substantive areas of law.
For more information or to register, visit the event’s
website at www.calbar.org/solosummit.
Serve on the Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation
The State Bar seeks active members of the bar, former
members of the judiciary and members of the public who are interested in
volunteering to serve on the 2015 Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation
(JNE Commission). The application deadline is June 2. The application
form and information on the commission are available from the
committees and commissions page of the State Bar website or by calling 415-538-2370.
New program paves a path
from community college to law school
A project announced last month is designed to make it easier
for low-income and minority students to pursue a law degree.
The Community Colleges Pathway to Law School initiative
will give students at 24 community colleges individual counseling and LSAT exam
preparation as well as waived application fees to six of the state’s top law
schools. The project is sponsored by the State Bar’s Council on Access and
Fairness, the bar’s “diversity think tank.”
“We know that our community colleges have the diversity and talent
that the State Bar seeks to enhance the diversity pipeline into the legal
profession, as evidenced by the many prominent judges and lawyers who attended
community colleges,” State Bar CEO Joseph Dunn said.
Participating law schools are USC’s Gould School of Law,
Loyola Law School, the University of San Francisco School of Law, Santa Clara
University School of Law, UC Davis School of Law and UC Irvine School of Law.
Bar foundation launches first crowd funding effort
The California Bar Foundation is launching its first crowd funding
effort to raise money for its Public Interest Bar Exam Scholarships. The
community effort will help graduating California law students committed to
public interest practice (nonprofit, legal services) by providing a no-cost
BarBri Bar Review course and a stipend for living expenses as they prepare to
take and pass the California Bar Exam.
This unique initiative is the only crowd funding community effort
designed to help aspiring public interest attorneys. Several leading law firms
are making gifts to the initiative.
Committed to public interest practice? Want to see more than
one public interest attorney for every 800 Californians? Join the crowd funding
campaign today by visiting the website.
Memorialize someone committed
to public interest law practice
The California Bar Foundation offers family, friends and
colleagues the opportunity to remember recently departed individuals who have demonstrated
a commitment to public interest practice by underwriting its Public Interest
Bar Exam Scholarship in the individual’s memory.
The scholarship helps an aspiring public interest attorney
studying for the California Bar Exam by providing a no-cost BarBri bar review
course and a stipend for living expenses while studying for and taking the bar
exam.
Those interested in setting up a Public Interest Bar Exam
Scholarship Memorial Fund may contact Joe Swimmer at 415-856-0780 or jswimmer@calbarfoundation.org.
Serve
on the California Bar Foundation
The
California Bar Foundation invites applications for open positions on its board
of directors for terms beginning Jan. 1, 2015. Ideal candidates will be
attorneys, judges or members of the public with a demonstrated interest in and
commitment to the purposes and goals of the foundation. Applicants must have
previous board, public or community service experience, and be knowledgeable
about and comfortable with charitable fundraising.
The
foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. As the center of philanthropy
for California’s legal profession, and with strong ties to the State Bar of
California, the California Bar Foundation mobilizes and leverages the financial
resources of individuals, law firms, corporations and foundations to build a
better justice system for all Californians. More information is available at www.calbarfoundation.org.
Through
grants, scholarships, public education and community collaboration, the foundation
strategically invests the resources of donor partners. It champions full and
equal access to the law, invests in the next generation of California’s
lawyers, educates Californians about their rights and responsibilities under
law and promotes philanthropy throughout the legal community.
The
board of directors consists of up to 35 members and three ex officio members. Appointed members serve two-year terms and are expected to attend four
board meetings per year while actively participating in up to three board
committees. Board meetings alternate between San Francisco and Los Angeles,
while most committee meetings are conducted by conference call.
Each
board member is expected to make a personally meaningful financial contribution
to the California Bar Foundation and to actively participate in fundraising
from personal and professional contacts on behalf of the foundation. Board
members are required to attend the scholarship and award Ceremony held in
conjunction with the fall board of directors meeting. Board members may also be
asked to participate in other California Bar Foundation-related events or
activities.
Complete
applications must be submitted via email to Carlos Aguilar by 4 p.m. Friday, Aug.
15. A complete application includes a resume or CV and a statement of
interest and qualifications.
The
California Bar Foundation’s Board of Directors will approve a slate of new
director candidates during its fall board meeting.
Incubator workshop
scheduled for June 10
The California Commission on Access to Justice will hold a
workshop for the Modest Means Incubator Project at 10 a.m. Tuesday, June 10,
at the State Bar offices at 845 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles.
The project is part of a national movement to connect
practical training for new lawyers with providing excellent and affordable
legal assistance to low- and moderate-income clients on a range of topics
including family and housing law, labor code violations and consumer debt. The
commission’s promotion of the project includes regional meetings and subsequent
seed grants to applicants that propose the best projects.
At the meeting you will learn about successful incubator
models that train new attorneys to address the modest means justice gap, meet
and collaborate with key stakeholders and learn about funding opportunities.
Registration is available online.
New law affects immigration attorneys
Attorneys and immigration consultants are prohibited from
collecting money for services related to federal immigration reform until
Congress acts under a State Bar-sponsored bill that went into effect last fall.
The consumer protection legislation, authored by
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, was introduced in response to
reports from law enforcement that the federal debate over immigration reform
was prompting scams aimed at undocumented immigrants.
The legislation, which went into effect upon Gov. Jerry
Brown’s signature Oct. 5, also:
- Requires attorneys and immigration consultants to account for any
money already accepted for immigration reform services and either refund the
money or deposit it in a client trust account.
- Requires attorneys to inform clients receiving immigration reform
act services where they can report complaints. A notice for attorneys to use has been posted on the State
Bar’s website and has been translated into multiple languages.
- Increases the amount of bond that immigration consultants must
carry from $50,000 to $100,000 as of July 1.
- Prohibits the use of the term “notario,” which has been
misconstrued as someone who is qualified to give legal advice.
- Provides that a person who violates the ban on the use of the
term “notario” is subject to a civil penalty of up to $1,000 a day for each
violation.
Running for judicial office? Take this mandatory free course
California judges and lawyers seeking a judicial office must
take a new online judicial ethics course within 60 days of filing for office,
creating a campaign committee or receiving a campaign contribution. The mandatory
judicial ethics course went online last month.
The course was developed by a working group of justices,
judges and lawyers after the Supreme Court adopted the mandatory rule, along
with other changes to the California Code of Judicial Ethics, almost a year
ago. The Rules of Professional Conduct require a lawyer candidate
for judicial office to comply with the Code of Judicial Ethics.
“The Supreme Court changed the rules to promote and enhance
public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the judiciary and to
provide guidance on the ethical obligations and responsibilities of those
running for judicial office,” Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye said.
The rule came out of the work of the Commission for
Impartial Courts.
Consult the Ethics Hotline
Time is money and legal research takes time. California
legal ethics research can be particularly time-consuming. First, California is
not an ABA Model Rule jurisdiction, so dusting off your law school textbook or
simply Googling won’t always cut it. On top of that, the applicable California
law is often found in multiple sources, many of which are unfamiliar to most
lawyers. If you consult the California Rules of Professional Conduct, that’s great, but
you can’t stop there. Consider the following questions:
- May an attorney use inadvertently disclosed confidential
information?
- Does the “no contact” rule permit an attorney to imply
opposing counsel’s consent?
- Is a “virtual law office” an ethical alternative for
starting a solo practice?
You can get assistance in researching these questions by
calling the State Bar of California’s Ethics
Hotline. This call-back service is free, staffed by live people and
typically has a turnaround time of one business day or less.
If you’ve never tried calling the Ethics Hotline, here’s the
official pitch: The Ethics Hotline is a confidential telephone research service
for attorneys. This service is staffed by specially trained paralegals who can
refer callers to the California Rules of Professional Conduct, State Bar Act
sections, published bar association ethics opinions and other relevant
authorities. Although the Ethics Hotline does not render opinions or give
advice, this guidance serves as a valuable resource that can jump-start legal
ethics research and aid lawyers in making informed decisions about their legal
ethics questions.
Attorneys can reach the Ethics Hotline from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
on weekdays by calling 800-238-4427
(800-2-ETHICS) from within California, or 415-538-2150 when calling from outside of California.
Use this form for fee disputes with clients
As of July 1, attorneys who encounter a fee dispute with a
client are required to use the State Bar’s updated version of the Notice of Client’s Right to Fee Arbitration form.
The form, approved by the State Bar Board of Trustees on
March 7, incorporates a handful of changes, including clarifying who can
request fee arbitration and making it clear that more than one bar association
may have jurisdiction to hear a fee dispute. The new version also contains the
State Bar seal, a change made to ensure lawyers are providing clients with the
correct form.
Business and Professions Code § 6201(a) requires that
lawyers send the notice to their clients before or at the time of initiating a
lawsuit, or other action to collect fees. Attorneys are legally required to use
the State Bar’s form – not their own version put on their firm’s letterhead.
Mandatory fee arbitration is designed to reduce the number
of fee disputes that end up in court. The vast majority of fee disputes handled
through the mandatory fee arbitration process are resolved without filing an
action in superior court, saving the courts valuable time and money, said Doug
Hull, director of the State Bar’s Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program.
Have your voice heard in evaluating judges
The State Bar commission that evaluates the governor’s
candidates for judgeships is seeking the help of attorneys to solicit
information electronically.
For more than 30 years, the Commission on Judicial Nominees
Evaluation, commonly known as the JNE (“Jenny”) Commission, has gathered
information about candidates by mailing paper comment forms to attorneys.
During the past few years, the commission has successfully implemented the use
of email to gather comments, but continues to encounter one barrier: the spam
filter. Most of JNE’s emails do reach their intended recipients. However, some
are blocked.
Attorneys can solve this problem by authorizing the spam
filters serving their email address listed with the State Bar to accept the
following email address: jneccf@calbar.ca.gov.
Those who work in legal offices, public agencies and the court system can help
by asking their IT specialists to authorize the JNE email address for all spam
filters serving office computers.
The electronic comment forms are identical to the written
forms. A hyperlink in the email takes the commenter to a website where a form
identical to the written comment form can be completed electronically. The
electronic comments are maintained confidentially, with access only by
investigating commissioners and staff. The use of email appears to result in
response rates at least as high as the use of written forms. It has proven to
be a cost-effective and efficient method of transmitting time-sensitive,
confidential data.
Questions and comments about the process can be directed to jneccf@calbar.ca.gov.
Bar rules book available for e-Reader
To facilitate a lawyer’s ability to readily identify and
address legal ethics issues, the State Bar has published an e-Reader version of
the Rules of Professional Conduct and the State Bar Act. The e-Reader version
of the rule book is compatible with the Kindle Reader App, a free e-Reader
application available for iPads, iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones,
MacBooks and PC laptops. The book also works on all versions of Amazon.com’s
Kindle.
The 2014 edition of the e-Reader version of the rule book
can be purchased at Amazon.com for $6.99, a significant discount from the price
of the hardcopy book. It offers several useful features including a search
function, bookmarking, highlighting and annotating. In addition, once
downloaded to a tablet, smart phone or other compatible device, the book can be
accessed at any time, even without an Internet or cellular data signal.
The bar’s rule book has been published for more than 65
years. The 30-page edition published in 1949 has grown to 411 hard copy pages.
In addition to the rules and State Bar Act, the book includes other related
authorities such as selected Rules of Court, code sections, the Federal
Mortgage Assistance Relief Services Rule, the State Bar Pro Bono Resolution,
the Lawyer Referral Service rules, MCLE rules and more.
Legal ethics and technology resource page is online
The general Ethics Information page on the State Bar website has an
area dedicated to Ethics and Technology ― a collection of resources
that address professional responsibility issues raised by the use of websites,
email, chat rooms and other technologies. The resources include advisory ethics
opinions, articles and MCLE programs.
Most of the resources are internal links to other pages on
the bar’s website and some are external links to local or specialty bar
associations. The page is organized both by the type of resource (ethics
opinion, article, etc.) and by subject matter (law firm websites, electronic
files, social networking, etc.).
The service focuses on providing basic legal research leads
on how the rules apply to new technologies rather than specific law office
systems, hardware or software options. For the latter, the resources of the
State Bar’s Law Practice Management & Technology Section can be
considered.
Register a law corporation
Law corporations are required to register with both the
California Secretary of State and the State Bar of California under
Corporations Code §13404. Registration requirements are set forth in Business
& Professions Code §§6160 and 6161.
Rules and application materials are available on the State
Bar website. Information required to register a law corporation includes:
- Proof of registration with the Secretary of State
- Submission of bylaws and a sample share certificate
containing the appropriate restrictions on share ownership
- A completed application that reports all the attorneys who
are associated with the corporation
- Submission of the Guarantee for Claims in the appropriate
amount
- A Declaration of Compliance with Rule 1-400
Limited Liability Partnerships providing legal services are
also required to register with the State Bar. If not registered, attorneys
should be particularly aware of California Corporations Code § 16306(f), which
specifically removes the protection from liability for claims based upon legal
work.
Prior to registering with the Secretary of State, be sure to
check with the State Bar to determine if the entity name complies with rules
and has not already been registered. Additional information is available at the
Law Corporations page, LLP page, or the Law Office Management page. For questions or help, send an
email to LLP@calbar.ca.gov
Create a surrogacy agreement
An “Agreement to Close Law Practice in the Future” is
available on the State Bar website for attorneys who want to plan for the
possibility they will not be able to continue to work. The sample agreement,
available to all lawyers, spells out the responsibilities of the primary
attorney and his or her successor in the case of death or incapacity.
If a lawyer designates a successor using the new sample
contract, the designated surrogate goes to court for appointment as the
practice administrator who can take control and dispose of the practice. A
lengthy list of duties is part of the contract and includes the ability to open
mail, become a signatory on bank accounts, notify clients and transfer files,
pay bills and handle funds, and accept the original attorney’s clients and
cases. The practice administrator also will have the power to sell the
practice.
Feeling stressed? The Lawyer Assistance Program can help
Attorneys struggling to cope with the stress of a
challenging economic environment or a difficult employment situation are
invited to contact the Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP), which now offers new
support programs in addition to its traditional help with substance abuse and
depression. Support is offered for issues like stress, relationship and
personal problems, grief and anxiety.
The LAP is designed for attorneys who might wish to
participate in a weekly group with other lawyers and would like the support of
a mental health professional (group facilitator) or a trained peer counselor
who is familiar with attorneys’ particular challenges.
The LAP also offers a free Orientation and Assessment
(O&A) to any attorney who wants professional assistance to cope with
personal problems, work problems, substance abuse or other mental health
issues. The O&A provides a confidential assessment completed by one of the
LAP clinicians located throughout the state. Referrals to outside resources and
an opportunity to participate in a LAP group for a short period of time also
are provided. There is no fee for this service.
Interested attorneys should call 877-LAP-4-HELP (877-527-4435) or contact LAP@calbar.ca.gov. All
calls are confidential.
Membership benefits from CalBar Connect
State Bar members can save up to 25 percent every time they
rent with Hertz, a participant in CalBar Connect, the State Bar’s member
services and benefits initiative. Visit the Hertz page for details.
CalBar Connect, which provides discounts to all State Bar
members, also offers a variety of insurance plans including professional liability insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, group and individual disability plans, life insurance, accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D), auto, home and business office plans.
Leverage the law through a State Bar section membership
Join
other leading attorneys and legal professionals who are passionate about
their practices. Each State Bar section provides its members with valuable
tools including e-newsletters, publications and more. Highly regarded as a
premier provider of legal education, the 16 sections deliver specialized
training and practical programs including symposiums, one-day seminars and
multi-day conferences, on-line seminars, self-study curriculum as well as
updates on trends and changes in the law. Visit our online catalog,
which contains more than 1,000 individual seminars.
Sections can also figure heavily when initiating or
advocating legislation and regulations. Plus, most of the sections participate
in major public education efforts and community service activities, such as
consumer radio shows and booklets that explain legal rights. Your minimal
annual membership helps to fund all these essential programs and services.
What’s more, your membership is a tax-deductible investment.
Opt out of lists
Attorneys who wish to remove their names from lists the
State Bar provides to qualified outside entities may do so by logging on to My State Bar Profile. Go to “account information” and
select “Update my mailing preferences (opt out).”