 Myths
about the State Bar abound. So many, it takes two columns to counter them. The first
installment follows, with the second scheduled to appear in February.
Myth Number 1: The Big Firms Run the State Bar
How many times have we all heard that the Big Firms run the State
Bar? The charge is usually leveled by someone who is trying to make the point that the
State Bar is “one of them” and not responsive to the needs of practitioners in
small firms. Some level the charge as part of an argument that the State Bar is being run
as a conspiracy to make life difficult for solo practitioners.
Some conspiracy. Not a single member of the Board of Governors works
in a large firm. None of the senior staff comes from a large firm background. It is true
that some members of the board worked at one time in large firms. I was once an associate
in a large firm, then a partner in a three-person firm, then a partner in a large firm and
I am now a sole practitioner. But, if the State Bar is a conspiracy by the large firms, it
is a mighty peculiar conspiracy. The truth is that both the board and the staff of the
State Bar are very interested in tailoring our programs to meet the needs of those in
smaller firms.
Myth Number 2: The State Bar Does Nothing for Me
The myth that the State Bar does nothing for most practitioners is
the most widespread myth of all. It also is a most wrong-footed perception. If you are an
attorney, every day the State Bar is working for you. In order for there to be a legal
profession, there must be a State Bar. If you reflect on what is at the core of the legal
profession, you will find that the two core values are competence and loyalty. Ours is a
learned profession: attorneys must be knowledgeable about the law or they cannot help
their clients. Our profession also demands that attorneys are loyal to their clients,
keeping client confidences sacred and avoiding conflicts.
The State Bar is the guardian of these core values: it administers
the bar exam and promulgates the rules of professional conduct. If we did not have a State
Bar, we would not be attorneys and there would be no laws prohibiting others from
practicing law. More than 90 percent of the State Bar’s budget is devoted precisely
to these two key efforts. So, every day you work for a client, the State Bar’s
efforts have made this possible.
Myth Number 3: The State Bar charges too much
Not a single attorney in our great state likes paying their dues. But
those that charge that our dues structure is too high are just plain wrong. If you compare
what attorneys pay in California to what other professionals pay, such as physicians or
engineers, attorneys pay just about the same amount and yet they get more from their
regulators.
California’s discipline system includes a comprehensive set of
preventive and remedial programs, such as the ethics hotline, ethics school and fee
arbitration. To have the benefit of similar programs, doctors have to pay a voluntary
professional association in addition to their licensing fee. The $345 fee that our members
will pay in 2001 will place California ninth in the nation in terms of the amount paid by
members.
In California, unlike all but a few states, we are required by the
legislature to pay not only for a professional prosecutorial staff, but also to pay for
our “trial” and appellate court. In many states, volunteers carry out
prosecutions. We tried that in California and found that our volunteers were swamped and a
large backlog developed.
 Palmer Madden can be reached
at statebarpresident@calsb.org.
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