Report 2020-030 Recommendation 7 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 #7 To: Bar of California, State

To reduce its backlog of discipline cases and ensure that it has appropriately allocated resources to all phases of its discipline process, the State Bar should develop and recommend an appropriate backlog measure and goal as required by state law, including the number of days at which a case should be added to the backlog as well as a goal for the number of cases in the backlog.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022

Staff completed development of the case processing standards required by SB 211 as of October 31, 2022. The proposed standards include backlog metrics that define when cases are in backlog, and a goal for no more than 10% of cases to have case processing times that exceed the backlog metrics.

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

1-Year Agency Response

In consultation with state and national experts as directed by SB 211, the State Bar has developed a framework for case processing standards that considers the mechanics of the discipline process, case complexity, and risk to public protection. Staff presented an overview of the framework to the Regulation and Discipline Committee in March 2022. The next step in this work is to develop case processing standards for each of the eight types of cases the framework identifies.

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

We look forward to reviewing the State Bar's proposed case processing standards and the resulting backlog measure and goal.

6-Month Agency Response

This proposal was presented to the Legislature and rejected. Instead, the Legislature added language to Senate Bill 211 requiring the State Bar to develop case processing standards to be developed and reviewed by the Legislative Analyst's Office.

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

We look forward to reviewing the results of State Bar's collaboration with the Legislative Analyst's Office.

60-Day Agency Response

On June 21, 2021 the State Bar presented legislative staff with proposed case-processing time standards in lieu of the current static backlog measure that looks at a single point in time. The proposal is derived from the civil case processing standards that apply to trial courts. Conversations will continue regarding this proposal and the statutory changes that would be required to implement it. Further conversations will be held in the coming weeks.

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

The State Bar provided a draft proposal for discipline case processing goals. We look forward to reviewing the State Bar's efforts to collaborate with the Legislature in implementing the proposal.

All Recommendations in 2020-030

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.