Report 2009-030 Recommendation 19 Responses

Report 2009-030: State Bar of California: It Can Do More to Manage Its Disciplinary System and Probation Processes Effectively and to Control Costs (Release Date: July 2009)

Recommendation #19 To: Bar of California, State

The State Bar should continue acting on recommendations from our 2007 report related to taking steps to reduce its inventory of backlogged cases.

1-Year Agency Response

In its six-month response, the State Bar stated that it continues to develop evolving strategies for backlog management in an effort to keep the backlog as low as possible. In its one-year response, the State Bar indicated there was a substantial increase in new client complaints arising out of the recession, mortgage crises and resultant misconduct by attorneys offering loan modification services, coupled with the absence of additional staff resources, that has made backlog management more challenging. As a result, the State Bar has not been able to reduce its backlog. However, the State Bar indicates that despite challenging workloads, it continues to take steps to manage case inventory. Specifically, the State Bar states that on a monthly basis, it tracks existing backlog of matters in investigation as well as cases expected to roll into backlog within the next 30, 60, and 90 days. Staff target these cases to ensure the lowest possible statutory backlog at all times consistent with office priorities, resources and public protection. (See 2011-406 p. 74)

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

All Recommendations in 2009-030

Agency responses received after June 2013 are posted verbatim.