Section 6073.2 - [Effective 1/1/2025] Pro bono legal services(a) Pursuant to Section 6073, every lawyer should aspire to fulfill their individual commitment to provide pro bono legal services each year and contribute financially to California legal aid organizations.(b) An active licensee shall report whether they have provided pro bono legal services through the licensee's My State Bar online profile on the State Bar's internet website through a provided section where those hours shall be declared when payment of annual fees is due. Every licensee shall report both of the following:(1) Amount of pro bono legal services hours performed during the calendar year preceding the year in which the annual fee is due.(2) Hours of reduced fee legal services performed for a low-income individual, nonprofit organization, or public law library established under Section 6360 during the calendar year preceding the date the annual report is due.(c) The State Bar may include, as part of the reporting requirement under subdivision (b), options for active licensees who do not track their pro bono hours or reduced fee legal services hours or who decline to answer, to indicate that status when prompted to report.(d) The reporting requirement in subdivision (b) does not apply if a licensee is any of the following:(1) Is employed by an organization primarily engaged in the provision of pro bono legal services, including qualified legal services projects and qualified support centers, as defined in Section 6213, legal aid organizations, and nonprofit public benefit corporations, as authorized by Section 13406 of the Corporations Code.(2) A full-time employee or an officer or elected official of the State of California, or political subdivision thereof, or the federal government.(3) Is prohibited by their current employer from performing pro bono legal services if the licensee declares this prohibition on their My State Bar online profile on the State Bar's internet website through a provided section when payment of annual fees is due.(e) The State Bar shall retain and maintain the information reported pursuant to subdivision (b) for purposes of historical record for at least five years.(f)(1) The information reported pursuant to subdivision (b) shall be confidential and shall not be disclosed as a public record pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Division 10 (commencing with Section 7920.000) of Title 1 of the Government Code).(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), the State Bar may publish aggregated and anonymized reports based on the information received pursuant to subdivision (b).(g) Failure of a licensee of the State Bar to comply with any of the provisions of this section is not grounds for disciplinary or administrative recourse.(h) The State Bar shall not use any moneys received from the annual license fees collected pursuant to Section 6140 or 6141 for any costs associated with this section.Ca. Bus. and Prof. Code § 6073.2
Added by Stats 2024 ch 719 (AB 2505),s 2, eff. 1/1/2025. See Stats 2024 ch 719 (AB 2505), s 3.