BILL NUMBER: SB 817 CHAPTERED 07/05/01 CHAPTER 46 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE JULY 5, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR JULY 4, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY JUNE 25, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE MAY 17, 2001 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 3, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Senator Johnson FEBRUARY 23, 2001 An act to amend Sections 6060, 6060.3, and 6062 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to attorneys. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 817, Johnson. Attorneys: State Bar. (1) The State Bar Act regulates the practice of law of attorneys in this state. The act provides for the creation of an examining committee within the State Bar of California, and the State Bar administers the requirements for eligibility to practice law in this state. Existing law requires that a person, in addition to meeting other requirements, have graduated from an accredited law school requiring 3 years of full-time study, or 4 years of part-time study in order to be eligible to take the examination to be licensed to practice law in the state or to meet other specified requirements. This bill would revise that requirement to instead require that the person has a juris doctor (J.D.) degree or a bachelor of laws (LL.B.) degree from an accredited law school. (2) Existing law requires that an applicant taking the bar examination meet application deadlines. An application must be filed between the last business day of November and first business day of February for the February bar examination and between the last business day of April and first business day of July for the July examination. This bill would change the deadline for applications to January 15 for the February examination and June 15 for the July examination. (3) Existing law allows a person who has been an active member in good standing in a United States or sister state jurisdiction for at least 4 years immediately prior to the filing of his or her application to take the Attorneys' Examination rather than the general bar examination. This bill would provide that the 4-year requirement would apply from the date of the first day of the examination instead of from the date of the application. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 6060 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6060. To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission and a license to practice law, a person who has not been admitted to practice law in a sister state, United States jurisdiction, possession, territory, or dependency or in a foreign country shall: (a) Be of the age of at least 18 years. (b) Be of good moral character. (c) Before beginning the study of law, have done either of the following: (1) Completed at least two years of college work, which college work shall be not less than one-half of the collegiate work acceptable for a bachelor's degree granted upon the basis of a four-year period of study by a college or university approved by the examining committee. (2) Have attained in apparent intellectual ability the equivalent of at least two years of college work by taking any examinations in such subject matters and achieving the scores thereon as are prescribed by the examining committee. (d) Have registered with the examining committee as a law student within 90 days after beginning the study of law. The examining committee, upon good cause being shown, may permit a later registration. (e) Have done any of the following: (1) Had conferred upon him or her a juris doctor (J.D.) degree or a bachelor of laws (LL.B.) degree by a law school accredited by the examining committee or approved by the American Bar Association. (2) Studied law diligently and in good faith for at least four years in any of the following manners: (A) In a law school that is authorized or approved to confer professional degrees and requires classroom attendance of its students for a minimum of 270 hours a year. A person who has received his or her legal education in a foreign state or country wherein the common law of England does not constitute the basis of jurisprudence shall demonstrate to the satisfaction of the examining committee that his or her education, experience, and qualifications qualify him or her to take the examination. (B) In a law office in this state and under the personal supervision of a member of the State Bar of California who is, and for at least five years last past continuously has been, engaged in the active practice of law. It is the duty of the supervising attorney to render any periodic reports to the examining committee as the committee may require. (C) In the chambers and under the personal supervision of a judge of a court of record of this state. It is the duty of the supervising judge to render any periodic reports to the examining committee as the committee may require. (D) By instruction in law from a correspondence law school authorized or approved to confer professional degrees by this state, which requires 864 hours of preparation and study per year for four years. (E) By any combination of the methods referred to in this paragraph (2) of this subdivision. (f) Have passed any examination in professional responsibility or legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe. (g) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining committee. (h) (1) Have passed a law students' examination administered by the examining committee after completion of his or her first year of law study. Those who pass the examination within its first three administrations upon becoming eligible to take the examination shall receive credit for all law studies completed to the time the examination is passed. Those who do not pass the examination within its first three administrations upon becoming eligible to take the examination, but who subsequently pass the examination, shall receive credit for one year of legal study only. (2) This requirement does not apply to a student who has satisfactorily completed his or her first year of law study at a law school accredited by the examining committee and who has completed at least two years of college work prior to matriculating in the accredited law school, nor shall this requirement apply to an applicant who has passed the bar examination of a sister state or of a country in which the common law of England constitutes the basis of jurisprudence. The law students' examination shall be administered twice a year at reasonable intervals. SEC. 2. Section 6060.3 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6060.3. (a) An application to take the California bar examination administered in February must be filed with the examining committee not later than the first business day of the preceding November, and an application to take the California bar examination administered in July must be filed with the examining committee not later than the first business day of the preceding April. However, an applicant who was unsuccessful on the examination last administered shall be allowed 10 business days from the date of the general announcement of results of that examination in which to timely file an application to take the next scheduled examination. (b) The examining committee may accept applications to take the California bar examination filed after the timely deadlines specified in subdivision (a) from applicants if the application is accompanied by the timely application fee and the late filing fee fixed by the board as follows: (1) An application to take the California bar examination filed between the first and last business days in November for the February examination or between the first and last business days of April for the July examination shall be accepted if it is accompanied by the timely filing fee and a late fee not to exceed fifty dollars ($50). (2) An application to take the California bar examination filed between the last business day of November and January 15 for the February examination or between the last business day of April and June 15 for the July examination shall be accepted if it is accompanied by the timely filing fee and a late fee not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars ($250). (3) An application to take the California bar examination filed after January 15 for the February examination and after June 15 for the July examination shall not be accepted. (c) Application fees for the California bar examination, including fees for late filing, shall be refunded if the applicant does not take the California bar examination because of the death of an immediate family member or the serious illness or disabling injury of the applicant or a member of his or her immediate family. A deduction may be made from the refund for administrative costs. The board shall adopt regulations for the administration of this subdivision. This subdivision shall not be construed to prohibit the refund of fees in instances other than those specified. SEC. 3. Section 6062 of the Business and Professions Code is amended to read: 6062. (a) To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission, and a license to practice law, a person who has been admitted to practice law in a sister state, United States jurisdiction, possession, territory, or dependency the United States may hereafter acquire shall: (1) Be of the age of at least 18 years. (2) Be of good moral character. (3) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining committee. However, if that person has been an active member in good standing of the bar of the admitting sister state or United States jurisdiction, possession, or territory for at least four years immediately preceding the first day of the examination applied for, he or she may elect to take the Attorneys' Examination rather than the general bar examination. Attorneys admitted less than four years and attorneys admitted four years or more in another jurisdiction but who have not been active members in good standing of their admitting jurisdiction for at least four years immediately proceeding the first day of the examination applied for must take the general bar examination administered to general applicants not admitted as attorneys in other jurisdictions. (4) Have passed an examination in professional responsibility or legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe. (b) To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission, and a license to practice law, a person who has been admitted to practice law in a jurisdiction other than in a sister state, United States jurisdiction, possession, or territory shall: (1) Be of the age of at least 18 years. (2) Be of good moral character. (3) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining committee. (4) Have passed an examination in professional responsibility or legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe. (c) The amendments to this section made at the 1997-98 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be applicable on and after January 1, 1997, and do not constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law.