(a) Any order of the Supreme Court imposing suspension or disbarment of a licensee of the State Bar, or accepting a resignation with a disciplinary matter pending may include an order that the licensee pay a monetary sanction not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) for each violation, subject to a total limit of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
(b) Monetary sanctions collected under subdivision (a) shall be deposited into the Client Security Fund.
(c) The State Bar shall, with the approval of the Supreme Court, adopt rules setting forth guidelines for the imposition and collection of monetary sanctions under this section.
(d) The authority granted under this section is in addition to the provisions of Section 6086.10 and any other authority to impose costs or monetary sanctions.
(e) Monetary sanctions imposed under this section shall not be collected to the extent that the collection would impair the collection of criminal penalties or civil judgments arising out of transactions connected with the discipline of the attorney. In the event monetary sanctions are collected under this section and criminal penalties or civil judgments arising out of transactions connected with the discipline of the attorney are otherwise uncollectible, those penalties or judgments may be reimbursed from the Client Security Fund to the extent of the monetary sanctions collected under this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 659, Sec. 73. (AB 3249) Effective January 1, 2019.)