Newly issued rules from the California Supreme Court are designed to combat corruption and to prevent conflicts of interest like those resulting from the scandal surrounding disgraced, once-powerful personal injury lawyer Thomas Girardi.
These rule amendments will empower the Supreme Court and other appointing authorities to receive and consider information about candidates’ areas of actual and potential conflict of interests prior to making appointments to the Board of Trustees or State Bar Court, a State Bar spokesperson said in an email response to the Northern California Record.
The recent amendments to Rules 9.11 and 9.90 of California Rules of Court adopted by the Supreme Court add new conflict of interests screening to the evaluation process for candidates for State Bar Court and the Board of Trustees.
“The screening involves the confidential collection and review of each candidate’s financial and nonfinancial information for the purposes of identifying areas of actual and potential conflict of interests that might affect or be affected by service as a State Bar Court judge or member of the Board of Trustees, as applicable,” the spokesperson said. “Previously, assessment of potential conflicts of interest was not part of the evaluation process.”
The rule changes were driven by public embarrassment over the State Bar's failure to discipline Girardi until 2022, despite more than 200 ethics complaints that had been filed against him since 1982, in part because of Girardi's alleged connections to people overseeing the State Bar disciplinary process, according to published reports.
Girardi faces federal charges for allegedly taking more than $18 million that should have belonged to clients.
The State Bar spokesperson noted that the amendments to rules 9.11 and 9.90 pertain only to the evaluation of those attorneys or judges that apply for appointment to the State Bar Court or Board of Trustees, respectively.
The laws that define disqualification are as follows:
- Members of the Board of Trustees are required to disqualify themselves from decision-making where there is a personal or financial conflict pursuant to Business & Professions Code section 6036, and are further subject to disqualification and disclosure obligations set forth in the Conflict of Interest Code for the Board of Trustees of the State Bar of California. Additional related principles are also included in The Board of Trustees Policy Manual, Section 11.
- State Bar Court judges must disqualify themselves from decision-making where there is a personal or financial conflict pursuant to Business & Professions Code section 6036 (which applies to State Bar Court judges pursuant to Business & Professions Code section 6038), and are further subject to the Conflict of Interest Code for Designated Employees of the State Bar of California and the California Code of Judicial Ethics.
The spokesperson noted that the changes to these rules are in addition to reforms implemented by the State Bar in recent years to ensure that its work is conducted in a transparent, accountable, and impartial way.
"Additionally, as discussed at the January 2023 meeting of the Board of Trustees, the State Bar has been focusing this year on several conflict of interest-related reforms, including developing an enhanced Conflict of Interest Code for the Board of Trustees (which was approved by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on Nov. 21), updating the Conflicts of Interest Code for Designated Employees, reviewing and strengthening of processes around conflicts and filing of Statements of Economic Interests (known as Form 700s), and enhanced training,” the spokesperson said.
Also in November, the Board approved comprehensive amendments to the Board Policy Manual pertaining to Trustees’ ethical obligations, as well as a process for disqualifying a Trustee from voting on matters in which they might have a conflict of interest, and procedures for censure and sanction where Trustees violate their ethical obligations, the spokesperson said. Lastly, the State Bar also launched Transparency and Accountability public website page, which among other information, includes Forms 700 and 2201 Questionnaire filing compliance rates.
The spokesperson noted that tor the State Bar of California, transformative changes have been underway for five years. But those efforts were particularly moved forward following the release of reports from investigations into the State Bar's handling of Girardi's alleged misconduct.
“Following the release of these reports, on March 22, 2023, to better achieve the goal of selecting independent and unbiased candidates, the Supreme Court directed the State Bar to develop, for the Court’s consideration, amendments to rules 9.11 and 9.90 to help identify potential conflicts of interest among candidates to become members of the Board of Trustees and to serve as judges on the State Bar Court,” he said.
Girardi has been disbarred.
“While no candidate for these offices is likely to have no conflict of interest or potential conflict of interests (and State Bar Court judges and Trustees are required to recuse themselves from any decisions where they do have a conflict), the early identification and evaluation made possible by the amended rules will allow the Supreme Court and other appointing authorities to consider whether particular candidates are likely to have conflicts such that they would be required to recuse themselves too often, or have conflicts or potential conflicts that may impact the appearance to the public of the State Bar Court and State Bar Board of Trustees as bodies that conduct their work with disinterested skill and undivided loyalty," the spokesperson said.