BILL NUMBER: AB 2746 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JUNE 18, 2014
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 12, 2014
INTRODUCED BY Committee on Judiciary (Assembly Members Wieckowski
(Chair), Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, Garcia, Muratsuchi, and Stone)
MARCH 4, 2014
An act to amend Sections 6140 and 6140.03 of
6031, 6033, 6073, 6140, 6140.03, 6216, and 6218 of, and to add
Section 6140.04 to, the Business and Professions Code, relating
to attorneys.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2746, as amended, Committee on Judiciary. Attorneys: annual
membership fees.
Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and
regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public
corporation. The State Bar is governed by a board of trustees.
Existing law authorizes the board, among other duties, to aid in all
matters pertaining to the improvement of the administration of
justice, including all matters that may advance the professional
interests of the members of the State Bar. Existing law, until
January 1, 2015, requires the board to charge an annual membership
fee for active members of up to $315 for 2014. Existing law requires
the board to charge an annual membership fee for inactive members of
up to $75.
This bill would authorize the board to collect reasonable
charges from members with respect to all matters incident to
licensing, regulation, and discipline, and would include the
voluntary support and delivery of legal services to indigent persons,
among other duties of the board. The bill would, until January
1, 2016, require the board to charge the annual membership fee for
active members described above for 2015.
Existing law requires the board to increase each of the annual
membership fees described above by an additional $30, to be allocated
only to support nonprofit organizations that provide free legal
services to persons of limited means, except to the extent that a
member elects not to support those activities. Existing law requires
that the invoice provided to members for payment of the annual
membership fee provide each member the option of deducting $30 from
the annual membership fee if the member elects not to have this
amount allocated for these purposes. Existing law also requires
the State Bar to pay administrative costs from funds received to
provide civil legal services to indigent persons before paying other
specified costs in connection with the program.
This bill would increase that optional, additional amount to $38.
The bill would add $7 to the annual membership fees for active
members to be allocated only for the purpose of paying the
administrative costs of the programs of the State Bar. The bill would
also delete provisions requiring the State Bar to pay administrative
costs before paying other specified costs from funds received to
provide civil legal services to indigent persons, as specified. The
bill would make other related changes.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 6031 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
6031. (a) The board may aid in and collect reasonable
charges authorized by statute from members with respect to all
matters incident to licensing, regulation, and discipline,
including all matters pertaining to the advancement of the
science of jurisprudence or to the improvement of the administration
of justice, including, but not by way of limitation, all matters that
may advance the professional interests and responsibilities
of the members of the State Bar , the support
and delivery of legal services to indigent persons, including
qualified nonprofit legal aid organizations and pro bono, the
advancement of equal access, and such matters as concern the
relations of the bar with the public.
(b) Notwithstanding this section or any other provision
of law, the board shall not conduct or participate in, or
authorize any committee, agency, employee, or commission of the State
Bar to conduct or participate in any evaluation, review, or report
on the qualifications, integrity, diligence, or judicial ability of
any specific justice of a court provided for in Section 2 or 3 of
Article VI of the California Constitution without prior review and
statutory authorization by the Legislature.
The provisions of this
This subdivision shall does
not be construed to prohibit a member of the
State Bar from conducting or participating in such an evaluation,
review, or report in his or her individual capacity.
The provisions of this
This subdivision shall does
not be construed to prohibit an evaluation
of potential judicial appointees or nominees as authorized by Section
12011.5 of the Government Code.
SEC. 2. Section 6033 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
6033. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of
law, the State Bar is expressly authorized to facilitate
the professional responsibilities of members by collecting, in
conjunction with the State Bar's collection of its annual membership
dues or otherwise, voluntary financial support for nonprofit
organizations that provide free legal services to persons of limited
means. All funds received for programs related to this section
shall be devoted to the support of qualified legal services projects
without deduction for administrative fees, costs, or expenses by the
State Bar.
(b) To implement this section, the State Bar, in consultation with
the Chief Justice of California, shall appoint a task force of key
stakeholders to analyze the mechanisms and experience of bar
associations that have adopted programs for the collection of
financial contributions from bar members and shall propose an
appropriate method for facilitating the collection and distribution
of voluntary contributions that is best calculated to generate the
greatest level of financial support and participation from State Bar
members, taking into account such issues as the justice-gap between
the legal needs of low-income people in California and the legal
resources available to assist them. The method and any recommended
voluntary contribution amount adopted by the Board of Trustees of the
State Bar of California shall be implemented for the 2008 fiscal
year, and shall be reviewed and adjusted as needed after two years
and, thereafter, every five years as needed, in consultation with
affected service providers and other key stakeholders.
SEC. 3. Section 6073 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
6073. It has been the tradition
traditional obligation of those learned in the law and licensed
to practice law in this state to provide voluntary pro bono legal
services to those who cannot afford the help of a lawyer. Every
lawyer authorized and privileged to practice law in California is
expected to make a contribution. In some circumstances, it may not be
feasible for a lawyer to directly provide pro bono services. In
those circumstances, a lawyer may instead fulfill his or her
individual pro bono ethical commitment, in part, by providing
financial support to organizations providing free legal services to
persons of limited means. In deciding to provide that financial
support, the lawyer should, at minimum, approximate the value of the
hours of pro bono legal service that he or she would otherwise have
provided. In some circumstances, pro bono contributions may be
measured collectively, as by a firm's aggregate pro bono activities
or financial contributions. Lawyers also make invaluable
contributions through their other voluntary public service activities
that increase access to justice or improve the law and the legal
system. In view of their expertise in areas that critically affect
the lives and well-being of members of the public, lawyers are
uniquely situated to provide invaluable assistance in order to
benefit those who might otherwise be unable to assert or protect
their interests, and to support those legal organizations that
advance these goals.
SECTION 1. SEC. 4. Section 6140 of
the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
6140. (a) The board shall fix the annual membership fee for
active members for 2015 at a sum not exceeding three hundred fifteen
dollars ($315).
(b) The annual membership fee for active members is payable on or
before the first day of February of each year. If the board finds it
appropriate and feasible, it may provide by rule for payment of fees
on an installment basis with interest, by credit card, or other
means, and may charge members choosing any alternative method of
payment an additional fee to defray costs incurred by that election.
(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2016, and, as of that date, is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2016, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 2. SEC. 5. Section 6140.03 of
the Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
6140.03. (a) The board shall increase each of the annual
membership fees fixed by Sections 6140 and 6141 by an additional
thirty-eight dollars ($38), to be allocated only for the purposes
established pursuant to Section 6033, except to the extent that a
member elects not to support those activities.
(b) The invoice provided to members for payment of the annual
membership fee shall provide each member the option of deducting
thirty-eight dollars ($38) from the annual membership fee if the
member elects not to have this amount allocated for the purposes
established pursuant to Section 6033.
SEC. 6. Section 6140.04 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
6140.04. Seven dollars ($7) shall be added to the annual
membership fees fixed by Section 6140 to be allocated only for the
purpose of paying the administrative costs of the programs of the
State Bar.
SEC. 7. Section 6216 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
6216. The State Bar shall distribute all moneys received under
the program established by this article for the provision of civil
legal services to indigent persons. The funds first shall be
distributed 18 months from the effective date of this article, or
upon such a date, as shall be determined by the State Bar, that
adequate funds are available to initiate the program. Thereafter, the
funds shall be distributed on an annual basis. All distributions of
funds shall be made in the following order and in the following
manner:
(a) To pay the actual administrative costs of the program,
including any costs incurred after the adoption of this article and a
reasonable reserve therefor.
(b)
(a) Eighty-five percent of the funds remaining
after payment of administrative costs allocated pursuant
to this article shall be distributed to qualified legal services
projects. Distribution shall be by a pro rata county-by-county
formula based upon the number of persons whose income is 125 percent
or less of the current poverty threshold per county. For the purposes
of this section, the source of data identifying the number of
persons per county shall be the latest available figures from the
United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Projects
from more than one county may pool their funds to operate a joint,
multicounty legal services project serving each of their respective
counties.
(1) (A) In any county which is served by more than one qualified
legal services project, the State Bar shall distribute funds for the
county to those projects which apply on a pro rata basis, based upon
the amount of their total budget expended in the prior year for legal
services in that county as compared to the total expended in the
prior year for legal services by all qualified legal services
projects applying therefor in the county. In determining the amount
of funds to be allocated to a qualified legal services project
specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 6213, the
State Bar shall recognize only expenditures attributable to the
representation of indigent persons as constituting the budget of the
program.
(B) The State Bar shall reserve 10 percent of the funds allocated
to the county for distribution to programs meeting the standards of
subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) and paragraphs (1) and (2) of
subdivision (b) of Section 6214 and which perform the services
described in subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of Section 6214 as
their principal means of delivering legal services. The State Bar
shall distribute the funds for that county to those programs which
apply on a pro rata basis, based upon the amount of their total
budget expended for free legal services in that county as compared to
the total expended for free legal services by all programs meeting
the standards of subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) and paragraphs (1)
and (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 6214 in that county. The State
Bar shall distribute any funds for which no program has qualified
pursuant hereto, in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph
(A) of paragraph (1) of this subdivision.
(2) In any county in which there is no qualified legal services
projects providing services, the State Bar shall reserve for the
remainder of the fiscal year for distribution the pro rata share of
funds as provided for by this article. Upon application of a
qualified legal services project proposing to provide legal services
to the indigent of the county, the State Bar shall distribute the
funds to the project. Any funds not so distributed shall be added to
the funds to be distributed the following year.
(c)
(b) Fifteen percent of the funds remaining
after payment of administrative costs allocated for the
purposes of this article shall be distributed equally by the State
Bar to qualified support centers which apply for the funds. The funds
provided to support centers shall be used only for the provision of
legal services within California. Qualified support centers that
receive funds to provide services to qualified legal services
projects from sources other than this article, shall submit and shall
have approved by the State Bar a plan assuring that the services
funded under this article are in addition to those already funded for
qualified legal services projects by other sources.
SEC. 8. Section 6218 of the Business
and Professions Code is amended to read:
6218. All legal services projects and support centers receiving
funds pursuant to this article shall adopt financial eligibility
guidelines for indigent persons.
(a) Qualified legal services programs shall ensure that funds
appropriated pursuant to this article shall be used solely to defray
the costs of providing legal services to indigent persons or for such
other purposes as set forth in this article.
(b) Funds received pursuant to this article by support centers
shall only be used to provide services to qualified legal services
projects as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 6213 which are used
pursuant to a plan as required by subdivision (c)
(b) of Section 6216, or as permitted by
Section 6219.