Report 2018-030 Recommendation 14 Responses

Report 2018-030: State Bar of California: It Should Balance Fee Increases With Other Actions to Raise Revenue and Decrease Costs (Release Date: April 2019)

Recommendation #14 To: Bar of California, State

To further its ability to operate more efficiently and reduce the backlog of discipline cases, State Bar should use its performance measures and collected data going forward to evaluate its case processing goals and work with the Legislature to revise the 180-day statutory goal if necessary.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From September 2021

The State Bar conducted an analysis, and presented its case processing goals to the legislature.

The proposed statutory amendments, which included the case processing goals, as well as the analysis upon which the goals were based, have been provided to the Auditor.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From April 2021

The State Bar completed the data collection for its study of OCTC workload and is currently analyzing the data. During the course of the 2020-2021 audit, the State Bar also provided the auditor's team with an overview of the issues that would need to be addressed in the creation of any new case processing goals, in particular regarding backlog. Among the issues flagged that would make any backlog target problematic is the calculation of backlog using case counts rather than using counts of attorneys. Because attorneys often have multiple cases filed against them, the backlog numbers based on counts of cases often overstate the potential harm to the public by counting a single attorney multiple times. Estimated date for discussion with Legislature about backlog target: June 2021

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

The State Bar has begun a workload study for OCTC in 2020, to update the 2018 study of OCTC workload that estimated staffing needs required to meet the 180 day backlog standard.

Analysis of data from the 2020 workload study will take into account the changes to the work process necessitated by the implementation of the new case management system, and will develop case weights to reflect staffing needs based on caseload distribution. The study's findings regarding staffing needs will be assessed relative to resources available based on licensing fees, which will allow the State Bar to evaluate whether it is appropriate to work with the Legislature to revise the 180 day statutory goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending

1-Year Agency Response

The State Bar will conduct a workload study for OCTC in 2020, to update the 2018 study of OCTC workload that estimated staffing needs required to meet the 180 day backlog standard.

The 2020 workload study will take into account the changes to the work process necessitated by the implementation of the new case management system, and will develop case weights to reflect staffing needs based on caseload distribution. The study's findings regarding staffing needs will be assessed relative to resources available based on licensing fees, which will allow the State Bar to evaluate whether it is appropriate to work with the Legislature to revise the 180 day statutory goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

State Bar has expressed its intent to implement this recommendation. We anticipate receiving the results of its planned workload study.

6-Month Agency Response

"The State Bar has begun its evaluation of case processing goals, based on the analysis of initial data in conjunction with performance metrics. This evaluation will continue as further data is available.

The recently enacted 2020 State Bar fee bill (Senate Bill 176) provides for increased licensing fees that will be used, in part, to hire additional staff in the Office of Chief Trial. Recruitment for these positions has begun. The State Bar is hopeful that the addition of this staff, combined with process improvements and benchmarks guided by data collected via the new metrics, will result in improved case processing times.

After the new staff is fully trained and users are familiar with the newly-implemented case management system, the State Bar will evaluate whether it is appropriate to work with the Legislature to revise the 180-day statutory goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken

60-Day Agency Response

The State Bar's performance metrics were recently adopted and, in some cases, are still being documented and defined. OCTC has already begun collecting some data and will use the new performance metrics to evaluate case processing goals; it will take some time to collect sufficient data based on those metrics to allow us to draw definitive conclusions.

Many factors impact the ability to meet the 180 day statutory goal, and meeting this goal will not be feasible in most instances while OCTC remains under-resourced. The State Bar is hopeful that the addition of resources to fund positions, combined with process improvements and benchmarks guided by data collected via the new metrics, will improve our ability to meet this goal; this impact will be delayed until new staff are fully trained. Other long-term improvements may have short-term negative impacts on case processing speed. For example, the implementation of the new case management system (CMS) will allow data collection that will inform process improvements and the creation of benchmarks; however, CMS implementation will slow case processing until users become familiar with the new system, and business practices are adapted to conform to an off-the-shelf customizable system.

Once changes identified above have been fully implemented, the State Bar will evaluate whether it is appropriate to work with the Legislature to revise the 180-day statutory goal.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

State Bar has described steps it has taken or is considering in order to implement this recommendation. Many of these steps should lead to State Bar implementing this recommendation in the future.

All Recommendations in 2018-030

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.