Report 2020-030 Recommendation 8 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 #8 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 determine the staffing level necessary to achieve the goal it develops and recommends, as required by state law.
Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2022
Staff completed a preliminary estimate of staffing resources necessary to achieve the proposed case processing standards, and this estimate is included in the report proposing the new case processing standards. Staff plans to conduct a more complete staffing needs analysis once the Legislature provides guidance regarding the acceptability of the proposed case processing standards.
- Estimated Completion Date: 12/31/2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Pending
We look forward to reviewing the State Bar's more complete staffing analysis after the Legislature assesses the proposed case processing standards.
1-Year Agency Response
Once the case processing standards have been developed, staff will estimate the staffing resources necessary to achieve these standards.
- Estimated Completion Date: October 31, 2022
- Response Date: April 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: No Action Taken
State Bar has not yet performed the recommended analysis.
6-Month Agency Response
Senate Bill 211 requires that the State Bar develop case processing standards for the attorney discipline system. The State Bar is currently evaluating measures that will capture four dimensions of this work: efficiency, effectiveness, timeliness, and fairness. As required under Senate Bill 211, the State Bar will estimate the resources necessary to achieve these goals and present that analysis to the Legislative Analyst's Office for review.
- Estimated Completion Date: August 31, 2022
- Response Date: October 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: No Action Taken
State Bar has not yet performed the recommended analysis.
60-Day Agency Response
Assuming the current trend in the number of new complaints received by the discipline system continues, the proposal presented to legislative staff is largely intended to capture the case processing times the State Bar is able to meet with the current resources. In addition, to addressing the current backlog, State Bar staff and Board members proposed to legislators and legislative staff that one time funding be provided to assist the State Bar in reducing the current backlog.
- Estimated Completion Date: November 30, 2021
- Response Date: June 2021
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
The State Bar's response does not address our recommendation. To ensure it is using its resources efficiently and effectively, in our 2019 report, we recommended that the State Bar develop benchmarks for the duration of each step in its investigation process. In 2020 the State Bar asserted that it had established these benchmarks. However, as indicated on page 17 of our report, the State Bar does not track the performance of its discipline system staff for comparison against these benchmarks.
Although the State Bar asserts that the proposal it has submitted matches its current case processing times, without tracking the performance of its staff it is not clear if the current case processing times represent an effective and efficient use of its resources.
All Recommendations in 2020-030
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.