Looks like the California Bar is in dire financial straits. Do you practice in the Golden State? Thank you for volunteering to do your part! These completely voluntary donations will be compelled and collected by the Bar at some point — they’re still figuring out the details. From Reuters:
The State Bar of California will seek a $150 increase in the annual fees it collects from attorneys licensed in the state, saying the additional revenue is necessary to keep the agency afloat.
The state bar’s board of trustees on Friday decided to ask California lawmakers to approve a 24% hike in mandatory fees, which will address a projected $24 million deficit in 2025. That change would bring the total mandatory attorney fees to $608 from the current $463, which accounts for the elimination this year of a special $5 information technology assessment.
Looking at a price hike of almost a quarter is eye popping, but it should also be tempered with knowing that the last time the Cali Bar did a price hike, Bill Clinton was in office. The extra funds will, among other things, be used to address staffing costs and the ever-climbing cost of leasing office space in San Francisco. Seems like some of the impetus for the price hike could be remedied by making sure the employees have good work-from-home infrastructure. Who knows? Reducing the need for a brick-and-mortar headquarters might make it a little easier to balance the deficit — lowering overhead costs are magic in that way.
The Trustees are trying to be creative about who owes what and why; there are early hints at a triaged payment system:
The board is also recommending a new fee structure based on a lawyer’s practice sector. Under that scenario, lawyers in large and medium-sized law firms would pay more than solo practitioners and nonprofit attorneys. The trustees also hope to add an annual automatic fee increase based on the Consumer Price Index, which is tied to inflation and typically rises between 1% and 3% a year. Both of those changes also require the approval of state legislators, who have previously rebuffed any automatic inflation increase.
All in all, a couple extra hundred a year is chump change if it means avoiding another Tom Girardi! Pay those dues!
California Bar Wants Lawyers To Pay 24% More In Annual Dues Amid Budget Woes [Reuters]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
