California Bar Proposes Fee Increases, Reducing Testing Sites

Would-be California attorneys would pay a higher fee to take the bar exam and have fewer locations to take the notoriously difficult test under changes the cash-strapped California State Bar proposes.

The proposed changes come as the bar is in an even more intense financial tug with the California Legislature, which sets the licensing fee for more than 270,000 lawyers in the most populous state. And lawmakers are in no mood to raise the annual fee despite the agency this year running a $7 million deficit spending budget that was filled with reserves.

“Without reducing exam-related costs, more than $1 million in additional fee increases will be needed,” the bar said in soliciting public comments. Some fees haven’t increased for decades, and fees for the two largest areas of operational activity and expense — the exam and the moral character determination process — haven’t increased since 2016.

The admissions fund reserves are projected to drop to $4 million by the end of 2023, prompting the fee proposal.

Attorneys applying for a California license would pay 53% more — $1,500, up from the current $983. The bar exam for students would increase to $850 from the current $677. The “baby bar” exam for first-year law students would rise to $850 from $624.

The moral character determination application fee would rise 54% for active attorneys, to $850 from the current $551. The student fee would rise to $725 from the current $551.

Fees also would rise for pro hac vice applications, to $500 from the current $50, and for multijurisdictional practice applications for in-house counsel, $1,075 from the current $635.

Without the fee increases and cost reductions, “severe cutbacks in admissions services will be required,” the bar’s proposal said.

Beginning with the February 2024 exam, the State Bar is proposing to reduce the number of test sites to six from the current 10-12 sites. Maintaining the number of sites for next year would cost $5.6 million, $2.2 million for February alone, it says. The written portion of the July 2024 and future exams would be administered remotely.

Fee Fight

The annual fee bill (SB 40) is how the Legislature exerts some control over lawyers under the California Business and Professions Code. The California Supreme Court oversees licensing and admission.

This year’s bill was amended to specify a base fee of $391 for 2024, a one dollar increase from this year’s base amount. The fee for inactive licensees would remain at $97.40. The fee bill as it passed the Senate didn’t include a dollar amount. The bar Board of Trustees voted June 12 to seek a $107 increase in the annual fee.

The measure, which was amended to require attorneys report other lawyers’ misconduct to the bar, is scheduled for a July 11 hearing in the Assembly Judiciary Committee.

Comments on the fee increase can be filed by July 31, the same deadline for public comment on the proposed changes to how the exam is conducted.