Friday, May 18, 2018

Paid your CBA dues?

Have you paid your "California Bar Association" dues?
Image result for phishing scams
Certainly hope not, because there's no such entity!
Yesterday, both the State Bar of California and the California Lawyers Association sent out alerts warning attorneys about a phishing scam to trick them into paying an invoice from the "State Bar Association of California." (See Law360 story: Calif. Bar Warns Attys Of Fee Phishing Scam.)
Even when we had a unified Bar, lawyers were often confused about whether there was such an entity, and if you check various web-bios, you'll probably find lawyers who mistakenly claim that they are members of the "California Bar Association."

So, to be clear: If you're a licensed lawyer in California, you're licensed/regulated/disciplined by the State Bar of California. You need to pay annual dues to the State Bar to keep your license current, just like you need to pay the DMV periodically to keep your drivers license. You're not really a "member" of the State Bar, because being a member implies it's a voluntary "membership" and that it's in "association." Rather, you're a "licensee" of the State Bar. Until 2018, when we had a unified State Bar, it also used to do things 'for' lawyers, such as present MCLE programs at an annual meeting. But now the State Bar no longer does that sort of stuff. After all, the State Bar's primary role is to protect the public from lawyers, not to protect of the interests of lawyers. For that you need to join the California Lawyers Association, which is the statewide organization that exists to serve and benefit lawyers.

Got it? Spread the word. It's frankly embarrassing that most lawyers have no clue about these things.


And speaking of the CLA, the Litigation Section's May 2018 Litigation Update is now available here. Just another fine example of lawyers and judges (Thanks, Justice Moore!) continuing to serve the bar.