State Bar of California.

Section 6086.5(c) was narrowed significantly: the list of code sections where 'board' includes the State Bar Court was reduced from 12 sections (6007, 6043, 6049, 6049.2, 6050, 6051, 6052, 6077, 6078, 6080, 6081, 6082) to just 4 sections (6007, 6050, 6052, and 6077). This limits the situations in which the State Bar Court can exercise board-level powers.

Section 6046.6: The requirement for changing the vendor or creator of multiple choice questions was restructured. Previously it was defined as a 'substantial modification' requiring 2 years' notice. It is now a standalone requirement with only 18 months' notice, making it easier to switch exam question vendors.

Section 6046.6(d)(1): The 120-day advance notice trigger was narrowed from 'changing the functionality of testing software or materials' to 'changes that affect the user experience with testing software.' This is a more limited trigger that would not cover all functional changes, only those affecting user experience.

Section 6141(a): The payment deadline for inactive licensee annual fees was changed from a fixed date (first day of February each year) to a flexible date set by the State Bar, which must be at least 12 months from the prior year's due date. This gives the State Bar scheduling flexibility.

Section 6106.9(a)(3): Removed the obsolete reference to 'Rule 3-110' of the Rules of Professional Conduct, retaining only the reference to Rules 1.1 and 1.3. This is a conforming update after the rules were renumbered.

Section 6126.7(c)(5): Corrected the reporting period language from 'preceding calendar fiscal year' (a contradictory phrase) to 'preceding fiscal year.'

The bill now amends six additional sections of the Business and Professions Code (6006, 6013.1, 6086.5, 6106.9, 6126.7, and 6173) beyond the previously listed sections, significantly broadening its reach into board governance, discipline, consumer protection, and ADR certification.

New Section 6013.1 requires the Supreme Court to consider diversity factors when appointing attorney members to the State Bar board, including legal services attorneys, small firm or solo practitioners, historically underrepresented groups (race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation), legal academics, geographic distribution, early-career attorneys (first 5 years or age 36 and under), and participation in voluntary bar activities.

New Section 6086.5 establishes the State Bar Court to handle disciplinary and reinstatement proceedings, with records governed by court rules rather than the Public Records Act, and prohibits it from adopting rules of professional conduct or procedure.

The 120-day notice trigger in Section 6046.6 was narrowed from 'changing the functionality of testing software or materials' to 'changes that affect the user experience with testing software,' and new exceptions were added for security updates, operating system/hardware compatibility, web accessibility compliance, and system architecture efficiency improvements.

New Section 6106.9 makes it grounds for attorney discipline to condition legal services on a client's willingness to engage in sexual relations, use coercion or intimidation to enter sexual relations with a client, or continue representation when sexual relations cause incompetent performance or would prejudice the client's case. Complaints must be verified under oath.

New Section 6126.7 prohibits non-attorneys from literally translating words or titles implying they are attorneys (expressly including 'notario publico' in Spanish), with a civil penalty up to $1,000 per day per violation. Collected penalties go to a fund for free immigration-related legal services or mitigating unpaid claims of injured immigrant clients.

Section 6046.6 now requires 18 months' notice before changing the vendor or creator of multiple choice bar exam questions (with an exception for the July 2025 exam vendor) and 2 years' notice before authorizing remote administration of the bar exam.

The annual report requirement for civil penalty collections under Section 6126.7 was changed from covering the preceding 'calendar year' to the preceding 'fiscal year.'

Section 6006 was rewritten to state that inactive licensees are not entitled to hold office, vote, or practice law (a broader statement than the prior board-specific prohibition), while confirming they remain State Bar licensees for constitutional purposes and may reactivate upon application and fee payment.

Section 6173 changed the ADR certification tier standard from requiring a 'higher level of commitment to accountability and consumer protection based on criteria developed by the State Bar' referencing only specified standards of conduct, to a 'high level of commitment...based on criteria or other standards, including additional education or training, adopted by the State Bar,' giving the State Bar more flexibility in setting tier requirements.

Header changed from enrolled bill format (Senate/Assembly passage dates, Governor receipt language) to chaptered law format (STATE OF CALIFORNIA AUTHENTICATED ELECTRONIC LEGAL MATERIAL, CHAPTER 405, approved by Governor October 6, 2025).

Page numbers changed from 95 to 94 and page headers changed from 'SB 253' to 'Ch. 405' throughout the document.

Line wrapping and column width adjusted throughout all statutory sections to fit the new page layout; no words were added, removed, or altered in the substantive text.

The bill now amends four sections of the Business and Professions Code (6026.7, 6046.6, 6140, and 6141) instead of just one (6140), vastly expanding its scope from a fee cap to cover open meeting rules, bar exam standards, and inactive licensee fees.

New Section 6026.7 specifies that the Committee of Bar Examiners shall not be considered an advisory board or similar multimember advisory body for purposes of the Bagley-Keene Open Meeting Act teleconference provisions, effectively restricting remote meetings of that committee.

New Section 6046.6(c) authorizes the use of scaling on the bar examination for the purpose of maintaining an examination of uniform difficulty from year to year, which was not previously explicitly authorized.

New Section 6046.6 defines what constitutes a 'substantial modification' of the bar examination requiring two years' notice: changing the vendor or creator of multiple choice questions from the National Conference of Bar Examiners, further changes to a different vendor, changing functionality of testing software or materials, or changing the medium in which testing materials are provided.

The cooperation requirement in Section 6046.6 now requires the Committee of Bar Examiners to communicate and cooperate with the Law School Council AND deans (or their designees) of law schools approved by the ABA or the Committee, expanding who must be consulted.

New Section 6141 caps the annual license fee for inactive licensees at $100 for 2026 and confirms that inactive licensees age 70 or older are not required to pay the fee.

The active licensee fee cap for 2026 is now explicitly set at $400, whereas the introduced version left the amount blank (unspecified).

A new exception in Section 6046.6 provides that the two-year notice requirement does not apply to bar exam changes that are applicable only at the option of the applicant.

All sunset dates were extended from January 1, 2026 to January 1, 2027 for both active and inactive licensee fee provisions.

New subdivision (d) to Section 6046.6 requires at least 120 days notice before changing the functionality of testing software or materials, or changing the medium in which bar exam testing materials are provided.

New subdivision (e) to Section 6046.6 requires the Committee of Bar Examiners to provide notice if artificial intelligence is used in creating questions for or grading the bar examination.

New subdivision (f) to Section 6141.3 requires the California Lawyers Association or its affiliated 501(c)(3) organization to submit an annual report to the Legislature by January 31 detailing their use of affinity program funds and a statement of compliance with the prohibition on creating competing affinity programs. The first report, due January 31, 2026, must cover the prior three calendar years (2023-2025).

The act's title now explicitly includes Section 6141.3 of the Business and Professions Code, and Assembly Member Dixon is added as coauthor.