Report 2022-030 Recommendation 11 Responses
Report 2022-030: The State Bar of California's Attorney Discipline Process: Weak Policies Limit Its Ability to Protect the Public From Attorney Misconduct (Release Date: April 2022)
Recommendation #11 To: Bar of California, State
To increase the independence and objectivity of the external review of its case files, the State Bar should amend its policies by July 2022 to establish formal oversight to ensure that it follows up and addresses the external reviewer's findings.
1-Year Agency Response
The agenda item withdrawn from the September RAD agenda was heard by the entire Board, sitting as RAD, at the November 2022 Board Meeting. In addition, the results of another random audit were received and a report on these results will be the subject of a Board agenda item at the March 2023 Board Meeting. Both agenda items propose a schedule for OCTC to report back to the Board on its implementation of the random audit recommendations. As noted in the March 2023 Board agenda item, reporting on many of the recommendations from the earlier audit was originally to be done in January and March 2023, but that reporting has been postponed to May 2023 given the intervening audit report. See supporting documents: November 2022 Board Agenda Item 60-2; March 2023 Board Agenda Item 60-2.
- Completion Date: July 2022
- Response Date: April 2023
California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Fully Implemented
The State Bar previously revised its policies regarding the external review of past cases that it contracts for. Based on the documentation it submitted with this response showing that it provided the results of its external review to its board, we consider the recommendation to be fully implemented.
6-Month Agency Response
As of July 18, 2022, OCTC revised its policy directive regarding the semi-annual random audit of closed cases. See supporting document: OCTC Policy Directive 2022-01, revised July 18, 2022. In accordance with this new policy, an agenda item reporting on the most recent random audit was prepared for the September 2022 meeting of the Regulation and Discipline (RAD) Committee; the report proposed a schedule for OCTC to report back to the Board on its implementation of each of the random audit's recommendations. See supporting document: September 2022 RAD Agenda Item IIIA. The agenda item was withdrawn from the September RAD agenda in light of the Board's decision to have the entire Board sit as the RAD at subsequent meetings. The agenda item will be rescheduled for the November 2022 Board meeting.
- Completion Date: July 2022
- Response Date: November 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Partially Implemented
Our evaluation of the State Bar's implementation of this recommendation is pending documentation of it providing the results of its external audit to its board.
- Auditee did not substantiate its claim of full implementation
60-Day Agency Response
Revisions of policies/procedures to create a system for formal monitoring of and reporting on implementation actions taken in response to the random audit are underway. Retention of additional external auditors without prior connections to OCTC will require additional financial resources.
- Estimated Completion Date: July 2022
- Response Date: June 2022
California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending
We look forward to reviewing the State Bar's revised policies and procedures.
All Recommendations in 2022-030
Agency responses received are posted verbatim.