Amended in Senate July 1, 2014

Amended in Senate June 18, 2014

Amended in Assembly May 12, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2746

Introduced by Committee on Judiciary (Assembly Members Wieckowski (Chair), Alejo, Chau, Dickinson, Garcia, Muratsuchi, and Stone)

March 4, 2014

An act to amend Sections 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 begin delete Bar end delete begin insert Bar, and would provide that if the authorization for that administrative fee ceases to be in force and effect, the State Bar may deduct moneys received under other provisions of law to pay the reasonable administrative costs of performing its obligations end insert . 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 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.

This subdivision does not prohibit a member of the State Bar
from conducting or participating in such an evaluation, review, or
report in his or her individual capacity.

This subdivision does not 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 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 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.

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. 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:

begin insert

(a) If the authorization for fees pursuant to Section 6140.04 to
fund the administration of programs under this article ceases to
be in force and effect, the State Bar may deduct moneys received
under this article to pay the reasonable administrative costs of
performing its obligations under this article.

end insert begin delete

(a)

end delete

begin insert (b) end insert  Eighty-five percent of the funds 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.

begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  Fifteen percent of the funds 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 begin delete (b) end delete begin insert (c) end insert of Section
6216, or as permitted by Section 6219.