Bill Text: CA AB2505 | 2023-2024 | Regular Session | Amended

California Assembly Bill 2505

Bill Title: Attorneys: pro bono legal services.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-06-13 - Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading. [AB2505 Detail]

Download: California-2023-AB2505-Amended.html

Amended IN Senate June 13, 2024

Amended IN Senate May 30, 2024

Amended IN Assembly April 03, 2024

Amended IN Assembly March 18, 2024

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill

No. 2505

Introduced by Assembly Member Gabriel

February 13, 2024

An act to add Sections 6073.1 and 6073.2 to the Business and Professions Code, relating to attorneys.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 2505, as amended, Gabriel. Attorneys: pro bono legal services.

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California (State Bar), a public corporation governed by a board of trustees. The act provides that it has been the tradition of those learned in the law and licensed to practice law in this state to provide voluntary pro bono legal services to those who cannot afford the help of a lawyer and further provides that every lawyer authorized and privileged to practice law in California is expected to make a contribution, whether by directly providing pro bono legal services or, if that is not feasible, by providing financial support to organizations providing free legal services to persons of limited means, as specified.

This bill would provide that every lawyer should aspire to fulfill their individual commitment to provide pro bono legal services each year and contribute financially to California legal aid organizations. The bill, except as specified, would require an active licensee to report annually whether they have provided pro bono legal services and certain other information through the licensee’s My State Bar online profile on the State Bar’s internet website, as prescribed. The bill would require the State Bar to retain and maintain the reported information reported for purposes of historical record for at least 5 years. The bill would make the reported information confidential and exempt from disclosure as a public record, but would authorize the State Bar to publish aggregated and anonymized reports based on that information. Under the bill, the failure of a licensee of the State Bar to comply with its provisions would not be grounds for disciplinary or administrative recourse. The bill would prohibit the State Bar from using specified moneys for any costs associated with these provisions. The bill would define terms for its purposes.

Existing constitutional provisions require that a statute that limits the right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies be adopted with findings demonstrating the interest protected by the limitation and the need for protecting that interest.

This bill would make legislative findings to that effect.

Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: NO Local Program: NO

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

Section 6073.1 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

6073.1.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

(a) “Legal aid organization” has the meaning provided in Section 6159.51.

(b) “Person of limited means” means an individual qualified as “low-income,” “very low income,” or “extremely low income” under the current Department of Housing and Community Development’s Official State Income Limits as set forth on the State of California’s internet website.

(c) (1) “Pro bono legal services” means providing or enabling the direct delivery of legal services without expectation of compensation from the client other than reimbursement of expenses to any of the following:

(A) An indigent person, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 6213.

(B) A charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, or educational organization in matters that are designed primarily to address the needs of persons of limited means.

(C) A charitable, religious, civic, community, governmental, or educational organization in matters in furtherance of its organizational purposes.

(2) “Pro bono legal services” does not include legal services written off as bad debts.

(d) “Reduced fee legal services” means providing or enabling direct delivery of legal services at a substantially reduced rate affordable to persons of limited means to either:

(1) A person of limited means.

(2) A person or organization identified in subparagraph (A), (B), or (C) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (c).

SEC. 2.

Section 6073.2 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read:

6073.2.

(a) Pursuant to Section 6073, every lawyer should aspire to fulfill their individual commitment to provide pro bono legal services each year and contribute financially to California legal aid organizations.

(b) An active licensee shall report whether they have provided pro bono legal services through the licensee’s My State Bar online profile on the State Bar’s internet website through a provided section where those hours shall be declared when payment of annual fees is due. Every licensee shall report both of the following:

(1) Amount of pro bono legal services hours performed during the calendar year preceding the year in which the annual fee is due.

(2) Hours of reduced fee legal services performed for a low-income individual, nonprofit organization, or public law library established under Section 6360 during the calendar year preceding the date the annual report is due.

(c) The State Bar may include, as part of the reporting requirement under subdivision (b), options for active licensees who do not track their pro bono hours or reduced fee legal services hours or who decline to answer, to indicate that status when prompted to report.
~~(c)~~

(d) The reporting requirement in subdivision (b) does not apply if a licensee is any of the following:

(1) Is employed by an organization primarily engaged in the provision of pro bono legal services, including qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers, as defined in Section 6213, legal aid organizations, and nonprofit public benefit corporations, as authorized by Section 13406 of the Corporations Code.

(2) A full-time employee or an officer or elected official of the State of California, or political subdivision thereof, or the federal government.

(3) Is prohibited by their current employer from performing pro bono legal services if the licensee declares this prohibition on their My State Bar online profile on the State Bar’s internet website through a provided section when payment of annual fees is due.

~~(d)~~

(e) The State Bar shall retain and maintain the information reported pursuant to subdivision (b) for purposes of historical record for at least five years.

~~(e)~~

(f) (1) The information reported pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed as a public record pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).

(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the State Bar may publish aggregated and anonymized reports based on the information received pursuant to subdivision (b).

~~(f)~~

(g) Failure of a licensee of the State Bar to comply with any of the provisions of this section is not grounds for disciplinary or administrative recourse.

~~(g)~~

(h) The State Bar shall not use any moneys received from the annual license fees collected pursuant to Section 6140 or 6141 for any costs associated with this section.

SEC. 3.

The Legislature finds and declares that Section 2 of this act, which adds Section 6073.2 to the Business and Professions Code, imposes a limitation on the public’s right of access to the meetings of public bodies or the writings of public officials and agencies within the meaning of Section 3 of Article I of the California Constitution. Pursuant to that constitutional provision, the Legislature makes the following findings to demonstrate the interest protected by this limitation and the need for protecting that interest:

In order to protect individual State Bar licensees by maintaining the privacy of information concerning legal services performed, it is necessary to make that information confidential. This limitation properly balances the rights of individuals against the ability of the public to access that information.