BILL NUMBER: AB 1954	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 19, 2012
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  MARCH 29, 2012

INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Nestande

                        FEBRUARY 23, 2012

   An act to amend Section 6158.3 of, and to add Section 6157.6 to,
the Business and Professions Code, relating to attorneys.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 1954, as amended, Nestande. Legal advertising: class actions.
   Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and
regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California (the Bar), a
public corporation. The State Bar Act also provides for the
regulation of legal advertising, as defined, and, among other things,
prohibits an advertisement from containing any false, misleading, or
deceptive statement.
   This bill would require an advertisement soliciting plaintiffs for
a class action to include a disclosure stating that a plaintiff in a
class action may be financially liable for the  attorneys'
  attorney's  fees of the defendant where the
defendant is the prevailing party. The bill would  specify
that   require the Bar to impose a civil penalty of
$2,000 for  a violation of this  section  
provision  by a member of the Bar  is a cause for
discipline by the Bar  .
   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 6157.6 is added to the Business and Professions
Code, to read:
   6157.6.  (a) An advertisement soliciting plaintiffs for a class
action shall, in addition to meeting any other requirements imposed
by this article, include a disclosure stating that a plaintiff in a
class action may be financially liable for the  attorneys'
  attorney's  fees of the defendant where the
defendant is the prevailing party.
   (b)  A violation of this section by a member shall
constitute a cause for discipline by the   The 
  State Bar  shall impose a civil penalty of two
thousand dollars ($2,000) for a violation of this section by a
member, with penalty revenues to be deposited in the treasury of the
State Bar  .
  SEC. 2.  Section 6158.3 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   6158.3.  In addition to any disclosure required by 
Section   Sections  6157.2,  Section
 6157.3,  Section   and  6157.6,
and the Rules of Professional Conduct, the following disclosure shall
appear in advertising by electronic media. Use of the following
disclosure alone may not rebut any presumption created in Section
6158.1. If an advertisement in the electronic media conveys a message
portraying a result in a particular case or cases, the advertisement
must state, in either an oral or printed communication, either of
the following disclosures: The advertisement must adequately disclose
the factual and legal circumstances that justify the result
portrayed in the message, including the basis for liability and the
nature of injury or damage sustained, or the advertisement must state
that the result portrayed in the advertisement was dependent on the
facts of that case, and that the results will differ if based on
different facts.