Attorneys: duties.

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the regulation and licensure of attorneys by the State Bar of California. Existing law imposes various duties on an attorney, including the duty to maintain the confidences and preserve the secrets of his or her client at every peril to himself or herself. Existing law authorizes the Board of Trustees of the State Bar, with the approval of the Supreme Court, to formulate and enforce rules of professional conduct for all members of the State Bar. Existing law requires the State Bar, if a client files a complaint alleging that his or her trust fund is being mishandled, to investigate and, if the State Bar determines that circumstances warrant, to require an audit. This bill would additionally impose on an attorney the duty to deposit into a client trust account funds received in advance from, or for, the client for fees, costs, or expenses for legal services, which are to be withdrawn by the attorney only as fees are earned or costs or expenses are incurred. The bill would authorize specified legal services to be provided in stages, and would authorize an attorney to withdraw fees when he or she has performed and completed a specified stage or stages, if the agreement with the client specifies each stage and sets the amount of the advance fee for each stage. The bill would provide that any fee that is paid in advance as the set amount of the fee for specified legal services, whether paid as a "fixed" fee, a "flat" fee, or under any other label, is earned only when the attorney has performed and completed the legal services agreed to be provided in exchange for that fee. The bill would require the State Bar to adopt for approval by the Supreme Court any necessary amendments to its rules of professional conduct to conform with this provision.