(a) There shall be created within the State Bar a Governance in the Public Interest Task Force comprised of 7 members, including 6 members appointed as provided herein and the Chair of the Board of Trustees of the State Bar. Three members shall be attorney members of the board of trustees, one of whom shall be a Supreme Court appointee who is selected by the Supreme Court appointees, one of whom shall be the member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, and one of whom shall be the member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly. Three members shall be public members of the board of trustees, one of whom shall be the member appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules, one of whom shall be the member appointed by the Speaker of the Assembly, and one of whom shall be selected by the Governor’s appointees. The chair shall preside over its meetings, all of which shall be held consistent with Section 6026.5.
(b) On or before May 15, 2014, and every three years thereafter, the task force shall prepare and submit a report to the Supreme Court, the Governor, and the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary that includes its recommendations for enhancing the protection of the public and ensuring that protection of the public is the highest priority in the licensing, regulation, and discipline of attorneys, to be reviewed by the Assembly and Senate Committees on Judiciary in their regular consideration of the annual State Bar fees measure. If the task force does not reach a consensus on all of the recommendations in its report, the dissenting members of the task force may prepare and submit a dissenting report to the same entities described in this subdivision, to be reviewed by the committees in the same manner.
(c) The task force shall make suggestions to the board of trustees regarding possible additions to, or revisions of, the strategic plan required by Section 6140.12. In addition, the task force shall also make suggestions to the board of trustees regarding other issues requested from time to time by the Legislature.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2013.
(Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 698, Sec. 2. (SB 176) Effective January 1, 2020.)