State Bar Elevates Outsiders Into Top Roles

Two of the California State Bar’s most important leaders aren’t lawyers for the first time ever, Maia Spoto reports.

José Cisneros, the new Board of Trustees chair, has worked as San Francisco’s elected treasurer for more than two decades. Mark Toney, the Board’s vice chair, has led consumer advocacy group The Utility Reform Network for nearly as long. Both have been on the Bar’s board for years and have used their non-attorney backgrounds to help the organization overcome major hurdles on everything from testing to transparency.

“This is a message from the [California] Supreme Court,” Toney said. “They’re the ones ...