Report 2015-030 Recommendation 5 Responses

Report 2015-030: State Bar of California: It Has Not Consistently Protected the Public Through Its Attorney Discipline Process and Lacks Accountability (Release Date: June 2015)

Recommendation #5 To: Bar of California, State

To assure the Legislature and the public that the data in the State Bar's discipline reports are accurate, the board should implement controls over the accuracy, consistency, and sufficiency of the data gathered and methods used to compute the information included in the report. For example, the board could expand the role of an existing board committee—such as the regulation and discipline committee—to include a review of the discipline report and the underlying discipline statistics

1-Year Agency Response

The Board of Trustees adopted an amendment to the charter of its Regulation and Discipline (RAD) Committee providing authority to RAD for oversight of the Annual Discipline Report process and underlying discipline statistics.

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

6-Month Agency Response

The Regulation and Discipline Committee will consider Charter amendments designed to formalize its role over review and approval of the Annual Discipline Report, including the underlying statistics, at its January 31, 2016, meeting.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

The State Bar is reviewing the methodology for gathering and reporting the information in the annual discipline report. It will document and report to the Regulation and Discipline Committee and the board controls, data collection methods and data validation methods in producing the annual discipline report. In addition, the State Bar will expressly add oversight of the annual discipline report process and underlying discipline statistics to the charge of RAD.

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

All Recommendations in 2015-030

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.