Message from the Executive Director

Happy Fall!

This month’s newsletter tees up a couple of issues that I want to elevate in my message.

First, our plans to ensure our financial stability and responsibly transition to being a smaller organization in a way that reflects our core values. Below you’ll find a brief blurb regarding revised case processing targets for OCTC. This change is directly related to our recognition of three realities:

The Legislature has not formally approved the more aggressive targets (that it asked us to develop!) that the State Bar proposed last year.
The Legislature has not funded the implementation of the more aggressive targets.
The 2025 fee contemplates instead a reduction in overall headcount.

As a result, George, our Chief Trial Counsel, presented to the Board at its last meeting revised case processing targets—reflecting, for the most part, what we can achieve rather than aspirational performance goals. These targets form the basis of quarterly reporting to the Board and the public; revising them was an important reality check for ourselves, our governing body, and our stakeholders.

On the financial stability front, you’ll see details below about an upcoming offer and compromise program. This initiative will allow attorneys, both current and former, to settle their outstanding debts with the State Bar for a fraction of the original amount owed; we anticipate generating millions in new one-time revenue through this effort.

Equally important to me is how the program reflects our commitment to fairness and equity. The outstanding work of the Ad Hoc Commission on the Discipline System revealed that discipline costs imposed by the State Bar not only outpaced those of any other attorney licensing agency nationwide, but also exceeded those of any other professional licensing entity in California. I’m proud that our Board recently approved a revised cost structure, significantly reducing these fees moving forward. Through the offer and compromise program, we are addressing past inequities as well, by giving debtors the chance to settle burdensome debts often stemming from those previously exorbitant fees. Kudos to us for creatively identifying ways to generate new revenue while also making our system more fair and just.

Lastly, you all must have a sense of the seismic shifts coming to the California Bar Exam. As referenced in the newsletter below, we have gone through a number of hurdles to advance two important petitions to the Supreme Court:

February 2025 Bar Exam. This petition in effect seeks authorization for the State Bar to:
- Use Kaplan to develop the multiple-choice section of the bar exam.
- Transition to a hybrid remote/test-center based form of exam administration.
- Use Meazure Learning for exam proctoring services.
Bar Exam Experiments. This petition seeks authorization to offer bar exam scoring incentives to applicants who participate in one, two, or both of the following planned experiments:
- November 2024. This experiment will field-test an initial set of Kaplan questions.
- July 2025. This experiment will test a number of exam administration conditions including open book formats and expanded response times.

While we continue to await the Court’s direction on these petitions, the Court acted on two other bar exam related ones! You can read about those here. More to come on the bar exam front in a future newsletter.

Phew! I’m tired just writing this. But excited as well. I hope you are too.

Thank you for being such an amazing team!

September Board Meeting

Board Approves 2025 Debt Relief Program

At its September meeting, the Board of Trustees approved the 2025 offer and compromise program, which conservatively could generate $9 million–$11 million by allowing attorneys to settle State Bar debt at a discounted rate.

Why it matters: AB 3279 allows much-needed revenue from the program to be split between the Client Security Fund and the General Fund for 2025.

While the State Bar’s total 2024 uncollected debt is $168 million, less than $2.5 million is currently collected annually.

Still to come:

The Board approved circulating for public comment a new State Bar rule and amendments to a California Rule of Court needed to implement the program, along with contracting authority for the chair and executive director.

Other Board meeting updates:

Inactive status deadlines: Effective immediately, the Board approved an updated deadline for licensees to request inactive status in 2025 to December 1, 2024, with that status taking effect on December 31, 2025.

Case processing targets: Heard a presentation by the Chief Trial Counsel about possible adjustments to case processing targets, particularly for complex cases, reflecting the reality of the State Bar’s need to reduce its headcount in the coming years.

February 2025 bar exam: Heard an update from Admissions staff after the California Supreme Court denied without prejudice a petition regarding the proposed modifications to the February 2025 bar exam. The Court directed the State Bar to seek formal approval from the Committee of Bar Examiners. Staff shared plans to hold a September 30 Committee of Bar Examiners meeting to address the Court’s requests, file a new petition, and move forward with opening exam registration on October 1.

Read the full State Bar news release.

Guidance Grove

Guidelines for attending free MCLE events

State Bar employees can attend free MCLE or professional education events, but there are specific guidelines to follow.

Why it matters: Understanding the rules for accepting gifts, including free event attendance, ensures compliance with the Conflict of Interest Code and avoids potential ethical violations.

General rule: If the event is free and open to the public, it’s not considered a gift, and you have nothing to report.

Exceptions: If the event is not public or if you receive a discounted admission, you must report the value on your Form 700 if the provider falls within your disclosure categories and the total value is $50 or more. Such gifts are also subject to the $590 per year limit.

Informational materials exception: This may apply if the admission was provided to assist you in your State Bar duties. For more details, refer to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s gift fact sheet.

Additional note: Different reporting rules may apply if you attend events as part of your assigned State Bar duties.

Questions? Guidance Grove addresses ethical questions and challenges relevant to our work. For future topics, contact Brady Dewar or Shelby King, or make an anonymous suggestion through Incogneato.

Questions of the Month

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Here is a question submitted through Incogneato that we thought would be of interest to all staff. Submit your Incogneato questions here.

Question: Does the State Bar provide government discounts to gym memberships, spas, and other wellness organizations?

Answer: You have access to discounts like this through Working Advantage. Discounts include gyms, electronics, apparel, travel, theme parks, concerts, etc. Additionally, employees likely also have various fitness and wellness benefits through their health care provider if they have Kaiser. Signing up is easy: register with your email address and use code SBOCPERKS.

Staffing Updates

Welcome

Deven Armstrong| Program Specialist III | Admissions, LA

Stephany Benitez | HR Coordinator | Human Resources, LA

Darla Cababaro | Court Clerk | State Bar Court, SF

Natalie Cohen | Attorney II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Nathaniel Dozier | Program Analyst | MAAD, LA

Kirsha Fields | Program Specialist I | Admissions, LA

Lilly Fine | Senior Program Analyst | MAAD, SF

David Gates | Investigator II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Terrell Green | Program Analyst | Communications, LA

Christable Lee | Attorney II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Ron Lee | Investigator II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Dionne McNeff | Attorney III | Client Security Fund, LA

Kayla Melton | Investigator II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Sheina Morrison | Paralegal | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Marittza Padilla | Translator/Interpreter | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Guillermo Pereyra | Attorney II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Joseph Perez | Investigator II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Erik (Fernando) Rodriguez | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Ryan Sullivan | Legal Secretary III | General Counsel, SF

Sam Tesoro | Program Coordinator | Finance, SF

Leslie Torres | Public Trust Representative II | Public Trust Liaison, LA

Kim Turner | Senior Program Analyst | Access & Inclusion, SF

Mara Vejby | Senior Program Analyst | Access & Inclusion, SF

Barry Ziegler | IT Analyst II (Webmaster) | Communications, LA

Promotions

Kenneth Advincula | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Karen Aguilar | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Drew Aresca | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Jennifer Baltazar | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Alexander Binder | Attorney IV | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Michael Bosch | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Arizvel Chaudhari | Attorney III | Client Security Fund, LA

Ryan Chin | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Lillian Clagett | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Rick Coca | Principal Program Analyst | Communications, LA

Jennifer Coote | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Concha Cuellar-Roque | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Juan Daza | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Erika Dowdell | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Julianne Finnila | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Kirsten Galler | Deputy General Counsel | General Counsel, LA

Carlos Gonzalez | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Collin Grant | Supervising Attorney | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Lupe Gutierrez | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Bryan Joelson | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Scott Karpf | Attorney IV | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Maryam Khorasani | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Michelle King | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Shelby King | Attorney I | General Counsel, LA

Peter Klivans | Attorney IV | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Jennifer Ko | Attorney III | General Counsel, LA

Natalie Leonard | Principal Program Analyst II | Admissions, SF

Timmy Leong | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Betlhem Martisius | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Christopher McConkey | Program Manager I | Access & Inclusion, LA

Devan McFarland | Program Analyst | Admissions, SF

Paulette Ortiz | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Diana Pauli| Attorney IV | State Bar Court, LA

Florence Porter | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Mary Oushana | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Sandy Ramirez | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Michelle Sampley | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Sam Siu | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Court, SF

Heidi Slater | Program Manager I | Access & Inclusion, LA

Madhavan Somasundaram | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Jose Tapia | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Robert Tenney | Investigator II | Admissions, SF

Leonard Todd | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Jaime Vogel | Supervising Attorney | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Tiffiny Vuong | Senior Human Resources Analyst | Human Resources, LA

Elgin Webb | Program Analyst | Judicial Nominees Evaluation, SF

Cecilia Woodard | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Sangin Yuan | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Farewell

David Aigboboh | Attorney II | Chief Trial Counsel, SF

Allegra Anvari | Attorney III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Jennifer Keefe Cantore| Program Specialist III | Professional Competence, LA

Carlos Dominguez | IT Business Systems Analyst | Information Technology, LA

Simon Dominguez | IT Analyst II | Information Technology, LA

Jason Draper | Principal Program Analyst | MAAD, SF

Suzanne Farrell | Investigator III | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Adriana Flores | Public Trust Representative II | Public Trust Liaison, LA

Victoria Hamdi | Program Specialist III | Admissions, LA

Gustavo Sanchez | Investigator I | Public Trust Liaison, SF

John Yi | Senior IT Analyst | Information Technology, LA

Alex Yufik | Program Analyst | Admissions, LA

In Memoriam

Shant Gharibian | Program Specialist II | Chief Trial Counsel, LA

Ashley Lewis | Program Coordinator | Communications, LA

Employees Go Camping: S'more Fun at the Summer Appreciation Event!

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the annual employee summer appreciation event on August 20! The camping-themed celebration was a huge success with staff coming dressed for the "outdoors." Staff in the Los Angeles office enjoyed a delicious barbeque lunch from Maple Block, featuring their famous brisket, pulled pork and more. Staff in the San Francisco office enjoyed a classic American fare of burgers and hot dogs from Peninsula Catering. For dessert, we enjoyed gooey s'mores by the "campfire" and also enjoyed delicious churros. It was a great opportunity to relax and connect with colleagues.

Check out photos from the event in the slideshow below:

Celebrating Bar Exam Success: A Message of Gratitude

Judge Brody extends his heartfelt thanks to all State Bar staff for their outstanding work during the July 2024 bar exam, particularly at the Pasadena location. Managing over 1,300 applicants across multiple venues was no easy task, but Elvia Espinoza and her team ensured a seamless, professional environment for all. Your commitment and hard work truly make a difference, reflecting the State Bar’s dedication to excellence. Thank you for consistently rising to the occasion!

October 2024