(a) The California Lawyers Association and its activities shall not be funded with mandatory fees collected pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 6140.
The State Bar may provide the California Lawyers Association with administrative and support services, provided the California Lawyers Association agrees, before such services are provided, to the nature, scope, and cost of those services. The State Bar shall be reimbursed for the full cost of those services out of funds collected pursuant to subdivision (b) or funds provided by the California Lawyers Association. The financial audit specified in Section 6145 shall confirm that the amount assessed by the State Bar for providing the services reimburses the costs of providing them, and shall verify that mandatory fees are not used to fund the California Lawyers Association. The State Bar and the California Lawyers Association may also contract for other services provided by the State Bar or by the California Lawyers Association.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, the State Bar shall collect fees for the California Lawyers Association provided the Board of Trustees of the State Bar determines that both of the following conditions are met: (1) the California Lawyers Association continues to comply with the requirements in subdivision (b) of Section 6056, and (2) the California Lawyers Association continues to serve a public purpose by providing the services described in subdivision (g) of Section 6056. The California Lawyers Association shall pay for the actual costs of the collection.
(c) (1) Notwithstanding any other law, the State Bar is expressly authorized to collect, in conjunction with the State Bar’s collection of its annual license fees up to and through the collection of fees authorized for the year 2019, voluntary fees or donations on behalf of the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations, the independent nonprofit successor entity to the former Conference of Delegates of the State Bar which has been incorporated for the purposes of aiding in matters pertaining to the advancement of the science of jurisprudence or to the improvement of the administration of justice, and to convey any unexpended voluntary fees or donations previously made to the Conference of Delegates of the State Bar pursuant to this section to the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations. The Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations shall pay for the cost of the collection. The State Bar and the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations may also contract for other services. The financial audit specified in Section 6145 shall confirm that the amount of any contract shall fully cover the costs of providing the services, and shall verify that mandatory fees are not used to fund any successor entity.
(2) The Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations, which is the independent nonprofit successor entity to the former Conference of Delegates of the State Bar as referenced in paragraph (1), is a voluntary association, is not a part of the State Bar of California, and shall not be funded in any way through mandatory fees collected by the State Bar of California. Any contribution or membership option included with a State Bar of California mandatory fees billing statement shall include a statement that the Conference of Delegates of California Bar Associations is not a part of the State Bar of California and that membership in that organization is voluntary.
(3) This subdivision shall become inoperative on January 1, 2020.
(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 659, Sec. 24. (AB 3249) Effective January 1, 2019.)