BILL NUMBER: AB 296	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Wagner

                        FEBRUARY 11, 2013

   An act to amend Section 6062 of the Business and Professions Code,
relating to attorneys.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 296, as introduced, Wagner. Attorneys.
   Existing law, the State Bar Act, regulates attorneys and the
practice of law in the state. Existing law requires, among other
requirements, that an individual who has been admitted to practice
law in a sister state, United States jurisdiction, possession,
territory, or dependency the United States may acquire, pass the
general bar examination, or Attorneys' Examination, as specified, to
be certified to the Supreme Court for admission, and a license to
practice law. Existing law requires an individual who has been
admitted to practice law in a jurisdiction other than a sister state,
United States jurisdiction, possession, or territory, to have passed
the general bar examination, as specified, among other requirements.

   This bill would authorize an individual who has been an active
member in good standing of the bar of a sister state or United States
jurisdiction, possession, or territory and who is married to, or in
a domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty
member of the Armed Forces of the United States who is assigned to a
duty station in the state, as specified, to apply to receive a
provisional license to practice law in the state without first taking
the State Bar examination. This bill would provide that the
provisional license confers all the same rights, benefits, duties,
and responsibilities to practice law as a regular license so long as
the active member of the Armed Forces is assigned to a duty station
in the state or until the provisional licenseholder passes the
Attorneys' Examination. This bill would require an applicant to meet
various filing requirements in order to be eligible for the grant of
that provisional license.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  Section 6062 of the Business and Professions Code is
amended to read:
   6062.  (a) To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission, and
a license to practice law, a person who has been admitted to
practice law in a sister state, United States jurisdiction,
possession, territory, or dependency the United States may hereafter
acquire  ,  shall:
   (1) Be of the age of at least 18 years.
   (2) Be of good moral character.
   (3) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining
committee. However, if that person has been an active member in good
standing of the bar of the admitting sister state or United States
jurisdiction, possession, or territory for at least four years
immediately preceding the first day of the examination applied for,
he or she may elect to take the Attorneys' Examination rather than
the general bar examination. Attorneys admitted less than four years
and attorneys admitted four years or more in another jurisdiction but
who have not been active members in good standing of their admitting
jurisdiction for at least four years immediately preceding the first
day of the examination applied for must take the general bar
examination administered to general applicants not admitted as
attorneys in other jurisdictions.
   (4) Have passed an examination in professional responsibility or
legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe. 
   (b) (1) An individual who has been an active member in good
standing of the bar of an admitting sister state of United States
jurisdiction, possession, or territory who is married to, or in a
domestic partnership or other legal union with, an active duty member
of the Armed Forces of the United States who is assigned to a duty
station in California under official active duty military orders, may
apply to receive a provisional license to practice law in
California, which shall confer all of the same rights, benefits,
duties, and responsibilities as a license to practice law in
California. A provisional license to practice law shall be granted to
an applicant that meets the following requirements:  
   (A) Supplies evidence satisfactory to the State Bar of California
that he or she is married to, or in a domestic partnership or other
legal union with, an active duty member of the Armed Forces of the
United States who is assigned to a duty station in California under
official active duty military orders.  
   (B) Holds a current license to practice law in another state,
district, or territory of the United States.  
   (C) Establishes that he or she is not currently subject to lawyer
discipline or the subject of a pending disciplinary matter in any
jurisdiction.  
   (D) Pays annual bar membership dues.  
   (E) Complies with all ethical, legal, and continuing legal
education obligations.  
   (2) The provisional license shall be valid until the active duty
member of the Armed Forces is no longer assigned a duty station in
California under official active duty military orders or until the
provisional licenseholder has passed the Attorneys' Examination.
 
   (b) 
    (c)  To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission,
and a license to practice law, a person who has been admitted to
practice law in a jurisdiction other than in a sister state, United
States jurisdiction, possession, or territory shall:
   (1) Be of the age of at least 18 years.
   (2) Be of good moral character.
   (3) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining
committee.
   (4)  Have passed an examination in professional responsibility or
legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe. 
   (c) 
    (d)  The amendments to this section made at the 1997-98
Regular Session of the Legislature shall be applicable on and after
January 1, 1997, and do not constitute a change in, but are
declaratory of, existing law.