The State Bar’s complaint system can be labyrinth for those
who don’t understand its complex disciplinary process. What happens to an
attorney complaint after a consumer lodges one? Find out how complaints are handled
with our interactive guide and learn more about proposed changes to the bar’s
disciplinary rules.
In his first months heading the State Bar Board of Trustees,
Craig Holden has already weathered a major change in the bar’s top management.
The board president discusses plans to recruit a new executive director and
maintain stability during the transition, as well as his goal of fostering a
mentorship program for lawyers in the new year.
After being on the upswing, the pass rate for the July bar
exam tumbled to its near-lowest point in more than a decade. In July, 48.6
percent of those who took the test passed – a 7-point drop from July 2013. In
July 2004, the rate was a 48.2 percent. The pass rate for the July exam had
been steadily rising since 2011.
It’s that time of year. Not just for the holidays, but for
the arrival of the bills for the 2015 State Bar annual membership fees. Fee
bills drop in the mail Dec. 1, and members have until Feb. 2 to pay.
After more than two years in
the making, a plan to introduce new training requirements aimed at
ensuring competency and professionalism among new lawyers won approval from the bar’s Board of Trustees.
Next stop: the California Supreme Court and Legislature.
Gov. Jerry Brown has chosen Leondra
Kruger, a deputy assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice,
to fill the Supreme Court seat left vacant by Justice Joyce L. Kennard. If
confirmed, Kruger, an African-American, would become one of the youngest on the
state’s high court.