At its November 14 meeting, the State Bar of California’s Board of Trustees approved a proposed rule change that would automatically expunge nondisbarment attorney discipline records after eight years, assuming no further discipline has since occurred. The rule change now goes to the California Supreme Court for review and approval.
The change originates from recommendations of the State Bar’s Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System, which identified reforms to improve the system’s fairness and effectiveness. Expungement of discipline history other than disbarment was viewed by the commission as a means of redressing historical racial disparities in discipline and aligning the State Bar with broader criminal justice trends and the practices of other regulatory agencies. The Board also directed staff to remove administrative suspensions from attorney profile webpages pursuant to a new policy on website removal.
“I applaud the Board for its careful deliberation and forward-thinking approach in approving a new attorney expungement rule for submission to the California Supreme Court and in directing the removal of administrative suspensions from the State Bar’s website,” said Board Chair Brandon Stallings. “These decisions reflect our dedication to safeguarding the public while fostering fairness and equity. By recognizing the efforts of those who have rehabilitated or encountered administrative setbacks, we are striking a thoughtful balance between accountability, transparency, and the opportunity for redemption within the legal profession.”
The Board also approved changes to the State Bar Court’s Alternative Discipline Program—also based on recommendations from the Ad Hoc Commission—to address declining attorney participation. The program provides support services to attorneys with mental health or substance use issues through the Lawyer Assistance Program as an alternative to discipline. The approved changes will broaden eligibility for the program.
In other action, the Board:
- Received an update on the State Bar’s five-year effort to reshape the California Bar Exam (not related to the upcoming changes in the February Bar Exam). The long-term effort will include collaboration with and insight from the Committee of Bar Examiners, the Office of General Counsel, Admissions’ Board liaisons, the California Supreme Court, and others.
- Heard about plans to form a stakeholder working group that will flesh out details of the new voluntary certification program for alternative dispute resolution providers, established by Senate Bill 940.
- Approved the 2024 Fiscal Year Annual Discipline Report, which highlights a rise in complaints for both attorney misconduct and unauthorized practice of law to record highs. The Office of Chief Trial Counsel (OCTC) disciplined 229 attorneys during the fiscal year, including 68 disbarments, 85 suspensions, 33 probations with stayed suspensions, and 43 reprovals. OCTC met case processing goals for 84 percent of cases closed or otherwise resolved.
- Received reports on client trust account reconciliations and plans to expand the Client Trust Account Protection Program. To date, the State Bar has identified 4,344 client trust accounts that have gone unreported, as well as 261 accounts held by deceased attorneys. These deceased attorney accounts hold $9.5 million that cannot currently be distributed.
- Received a review of discipline system performance metrics, reflecting, for the first time, the performance of the State Bar Court. In the most recent quarter, the court met case closure targets in both the Hearing and Review Departments, and its caseload clearance rate consistently exceeded the target of 100 percent.
- Approved numerous changes that returned from public comment, including changes to convert the Lawyer Assistance Program’s financial aid from loans to grants; to ease remote appearance requests for State Bar Court hearings; to reduce recommended sanctions for disbarment cases from $5,000 to $1,000 and eliminate sanctions for suspension or resignation with charges pending; and to amend rules that would allow licensees to reduce money judgment debts under the planned Offer and Compromise program.
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