Volunteer
as a special deputy trial counsel
The State Bar seeks
active members of the bar interested in volunteering as a special deputy trial
counsel (SDTC) for the discipline system. An SDTC is required to be appointed under
the State Bar’s Rule 2201(i) of the Rules of Procedure when the State Bar’s
Office of Chief Trial Counsel has a conflict with an inquiry or complaint about
an attorney. Under the rule, the chair of the Board of Trustees Committee on
Regulation, Admission and Discipline appoints an SDTC to conduct a preliminary
review to determine if further inquiry or action is warranted. If the review
determines that the factual allegations are sufficiently specific, the inquiry
is from a credible source and the factual allegations, if proven, may result in
discipline, the SDTC investigates and conducts proceedings as necessary or
appropriate to process the complaint. Those interested in serving as an SDTC can
email Assistant General Counsel Destie Overpeck at destie.overpeck@calbar.ca.gov
Apply to
evaluate future judges
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 2017 Commission on Judicial Nominees Evaluation (JNE). In
addition, former JNE Commission members are sought to fill a three-year term on
the Review Committee (RJNE), which reconsiders “not qualified” ratings by the
JNE commission. The application deadline for both is May
6. The application form and information on the commission are
available from the State Bar’s website or from the State Bar's
Appointments Office, 415-538-2370, appointments@calbar.ca.gov.
State Bar
volunteer application deadlines extended
If you are interested in participating on a State Bar committee
or commission or in leading a practice area section, it’s time to apply. Please
access the State Bar’s applications page for details on the volunteer
positions for which application deadlines have been extended.
Chief justice accepting award
nominations
The Judicial Council of California is accepting nominations
through May 16 to recognize extraordinary dedication,
outstanding leadership and significant contributions to advancing the council’s
strategic goals for the judicial branch. More information is on the California Courts website.
Register for the
Solo and Small Firm Summit
The State Bar of California will hold its annual Solo and Small
Firm Summit June 16 to 18 in Newport Beach.
Billed as “not your ordinary weekend CLE program!” the summit
offers solo and small firm practitioners and office staff an opportunity to
network and develop 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 web page at www.calbar.org/solosummit.
Subscribe to the Daily
News Digest
In between monthly
issues of the Bar Journal, you can keep up with the major legal news of the day
by visiting the new Daily News Digest on the Bar Journal’s home page. The State
Bar’s Office of Communications scours the day’s news and culls top headlines of
interest to legal professionals. You may also subscribe by visiting the Daily News Digest web
page.
Follow
us on Twitter, LinkedIn
Stay informed by
following @StateBarCA on Twitter and the State
Bar of California page on LinkedIn. We’ll give you a heads up about important
regulatory information and let you know about other happenings at the State Bar
or within the legal community. If you’re seeking information relevant to your
particular practice area, the State Bar’s voluntary sections and the California
Young Lawyers Association also have a presence on social media through
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Opt out of sharing certain
information
As of Jan. 1, 2016, the
State Bar of California is subject to the California Public Records Act (CPRA).
For more information regarding the impact of CPRA on the bar’s obligation to
release member information, please log on to My
State Bar Profile. Go to “account information” and select “update my mailing
preferences (opt out).”
Find a
certified/registered court interpreter
Under Government Code
Section 68561 (with definitions in Section 68560.5), a deposition in a civil
case filed in a court of record is a “court proceeding” and therefore an
interpreter used shall be either: 1) a certified court interpreter for
languages designated by the Judicial Council (see link for current languages: http://www.courts.ca.gov/documents/CIP-Certified-Languages.pdf) or 2) a registered
court interpreter for languages not designated by the Judicial Council (all
other languages). Attorneys can use the Judicial
Council master list (http://www.courts.ca.gov/3796.htm) to search for certified
and registered interpreters who are in good standing with the council.
Attorneys should also be
aware that effective Jan. 1, 2015, California Government Code Section 68561
was amended to include section (h), which requires certain information that a certified or
registered interpreter must state for the record in the deposition and the
documentation regarding the interpreter’s qualifications that a certified or
registered interpreter must present to both parties in a deposition.
Running for judicial office? Take this mandatory free course
California judges and
lawyers seeking judicial office must take an 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 in 2014.
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
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
staff 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
Attorneys who encounter
a fee dispute with a client are reminded to use the State Bar’s version of the Notice of Client’s Right to Fee Arbitration form. The form has been
approved by the State Bar Board of Trustees and contains the State Bar seal to
ensure that lawyers provide clients with the correct form.
Business and Professions
Code Section 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.