Report 2020-030 Recommendation 10 Responses
Report 2020-030: The State Bar of California: It Is Not Effectively Managing Its System for Investigating and Disciplining Attorneys Who Abuse the Public Trust (Release Date: April 2021)
Recommendation #10 To: Bar of California, State
To ensure that the State Bar's discipline report presents accurate, complete, and consistent information as state law requires, the board should require the designated committee to review, evaluate, and approve the discipline report before submitting it to the board. Additionally, the committee should develop procedures outlining how the State Bar should compile the report in accordance with statutory requirements. The committee should approve these procedures for the State Bar's use before finalizing its 2021 discipline report.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
The State Bar has developed internal guidelines and procedures for the full Board of Trustees (which now sits as the Regulation and Discipline Committee) to review the ADR. The internal guidelines and procedures were approved by the Board at its September 2022 meeting. The annual ADR report has been completed and submitted for review and approval by the Board as part of a special October 2022 meeting.
- Completion Date: October 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented
It is not clear whether the level of detail in the guidelines and procedures the State Bar has established will result in a review of sufficient rigor to prevent errors of the type we identified during our audit. Nevertheless, the State Bar has established procedures, as we recommended.
1-Year Agency Response
SB 211 changed the deadline for submitting the Annual Discipline Report (ADR) to October 31. The State Bar will develop guidelines and procedures for the Regulation and Discipline Committee's review of the ADR and present a proposal to the Board of Trustees in July 2022.
- Estimated Completion Date: July 22, 2022
- Response Date: April 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken
The State Bar is still in the process of developing its plan to implement this recommendation.
6-Month Agency Response
Statutory amendments that will be discussed with legislative staff surrounding the case processing standards will also address other reporting requirements for the ADR to ensure a common understanding of what is to be reported. Any statutory changes will guide the procedure for how to review the report. Proposed guidelines and procedures for review of the report will be presented to the Board of Trustees in January of next year.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2022
- Response Date: October 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken
State Bar's discussion of potential changes to the content of the report misses the point of our recommendation. Our recommendation is related to the review process, and improvements to the process for compiling, reviewing, and ensuring the accuracy of the report are not dependent on its content.
60-Day Agency Response
Statutory amendments that will be discussed with legislative staff surrounding the case processing standards will also address other reporting requirements for the ADR to ensure a common understanding of what is to be reported. Any statutory changes will guide the procedure for how to review the report. Proposed guidelines and procedures for review of the report will be presented to the Board of Trustees in January of next year.
- Estimated Completion Date: January 2022
- Response Date: June 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: No Action Taken
The State Bar indicated that it does not intend to propose guidelines and procedures for review of the annual discipline report until January 2022, because the content of the report may change. However, it is not clear how much of the report's content may change. Further, some guidelines and procedures for ensuring the accuracy of the information presented in the annual discipline report could be established regardless of the nature of that information. Thus, it is unclear why the State Bar has chosen not to establish and implement these guidelines immediately, so as to better ensure the accuracy of the 2021 discipline report due April 30, 2022.
All Recommendations in 2020-030
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.