How to Use the State Bar of California Attorney Search

The California State Bar attorney search is the official, free tool for verifying whether someone is actually licensed to practice law in the state. It lives on the State Bar’s website at calbar.ca.gov and returns a public profile showing each licensee’s current status, admission date, office address, law school, and any public disciplinary history.¹ Check it before you sign a retainer or hand over money.

How to Run the Search

The fastest way to get an exact match is to enter the attorney’s State Bar number, the unique identifier assigned to every California licensee. If you don’t have that number, search by full name, including any middle name or initial.¹

For a common name, use the advanced search. You can narrow results by the county where the attorney’s office is located, the law school they attended, or whether they hold a certified specialist designation. Combining a last name with a county usually gets you to the right person on the first try.

The profile page is where verification actually happens. Everything you need to decide whether this person can legally represent you is on that one screen.

What Each License Status Means

The status line at the top of the profile tells you whether the attorney can practice today. Only one status means yes.

Active. The attorney has paid all required fees and met their continuing education obligations. Only active licensees can practice law in California.²
Inactive. The attorney has voluntarily stepped away from practice. They still hold a license but cannot give legal advice or represent clients. They can return to active status by paying fees and meeting compliance requirements.²
Not Eligible to Practice Law. A broader category covering suspension, involuntary transfer to inactive status, and failure to pay mandatory fees. Whatever the underlying reason, the attorney cannot practice.²
Disbarred. The California Supreme Court has ordered this person removed from the practice of law.²
Resigned. The California Supreme Court has accepted the attorney’s resignation, which may have been submitted with or without disciplinary charges pending. A resigned attorney cannot practice law.²

Anything other than “Active” means that person cannot legally represent you. Hiring someone whose license is suspended, inactive, disbarred, or resigned puts your case at real risk: work they perform could be challenged or invalidated later.

One common cause of a status change worth knowing about: California attorneys must complete 25 hours of continuing legal education every three years to stay active, and falling behind on those requirements can flip a profile to “Not Eligible to Practice Law” until the attorney catches up.³

One boundary worth flagging while you’re on the profile: California does not require attorneys to carry malpractice insurance, and the public profile does not display insurance status. Under the Rules of Professional Conduct, an attorney without coverage must tell you so in writing when you hire them if the representation is expected to exceed four hours, and must notify you in writing within 30 days if coverage lapses during your case. Government lawyers and in-house counsel are exempt from this disclosure rule.⁴ If your attorney never brought it up, ask directly.

Reading the Disciplinary Record

The profile also lists public disciplinary actions, which are separate from the general status line. Discipline cases are heard by the State Bar Court, California’s independent court for attorney discipline, on charges filed by the Office of Chief Trial Counsel.⁵

Not every form of discipline appears publicly. The distinctions matter when you’re evaluating what you see, or don’t see:

Public reproval. The least severe form of public discipline. The attorney was found to have committed misconduct, but no suspension was imposed. The attorney’s name and the discipline are public, and the attorney may have to pass the professional responsibility exam or comply with probation-like conditions.⁶
Private reproval. Also a finding of misconduct without suspension. If imposed before formal charges were filed, it stays off the public profile unless it becomes evidence in a later case. If imposed after formal charges, it is reported on the State Bar’s website and disclosed on request.⁶
Suspension and disbarment. Always public, and shown prominently on the profile.

Check the action date and effective date on each entry to tell whether the discipline is current or historical. For more detail, the State Bar Court maintains searchable case dockets that often include the full case documents.⁷ Common grounds you’ll see in these records include misappropriation of client funds, failure to perform with competence or diligence, failure to comply with court orders, and dishonesty.⁸

When the Person Doesn’t Come Up

If someone claiming to be a California attorney doesn’t appear in the results, double-check the spelling of the name or the bar number you entered. Try the advanced search with different combinations of last name and county.

If they still don’t turn up, the person may not be licensed. Practicing law without an active State Bar license is illegal in California. Under Business and Professions Code Section 6125, only active licensees may practice law in the state.⁹

Penalties depend on the person’s background. Someone who was never licensed faces a misdemeanor on a first offense, punishable by up to one year in county jail, a fine of up to $1,000, or both; a second or subsequent conviction carries a minimum of 90 days in county jail, and a judge who imposes less must state the reasons on the record. Someone who was previously licensed but is now suspended, disbarred, or resigned with charges pending is treated more seriously, and can face imprisonment in state prison or up to six months in county jail.¹⁰

To report suspected unauthorized practice, call the State Bar’s multilingual intake line at 800-843-9053 or use the online complaint form.¹¹

If the Search Turns Up a Problem

Verifying a license is one step; you may need a separate process depending on what went wrong.

To report ethical misconduct by a licensed attorney, anyone can file a free complaint through the State Bar’s online form, available in English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Korean, Russian, and Chinese, or through a downloadable PDF. You do not need to be a U.S. citizen. Staff attorneys review the facts to decide whether the allegations suggest an ethical violation, and matters that warrant it move to investigation. Complaints are confidential by default, though the facts are shared with the attorney under investigation, and a complaining client’s identity is disclosed to establish a waiver of attorney-client privilege.¹²

If the dispute is only about the bill, California has mandatory fee arbitration. When a client requests it, the attorney is required to participate. Start with the bar association in the county where the attorney’s office is located or where most of the work was performed; the State Bar itself handles fee arbitration only when no local program exists for your county.¹³

If an attorney has actually stolen money or property, California’s Client Security Fund may reimburse the loss. Eligibility is limited: the attorney must have been acting in a legal or fiduciary capacity, and if still alive, must already have been disciplined, disbarred, or have voluntarily resigned before the fund will consider a claim. The fund does not cover losses from bad legal advice, a lost case, or poor investment decisions, and payments are discretionary.¹⁴

1
The State Bar of California. Find Legal Professionals
2
The State Bar of California. Licensee Status Definitions
3
The State Bar of California. MCLE Requirements
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The State Bar of California. Disclosure of Professional Liability Insurance FAQs
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The State Bar of California. Home
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The State Bar of California. Attorney Discipline Definitions
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The State Bar of California. State Bar Court Home
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The State Bar of California. Recent Disciplinary Actions
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California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 6125
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California Legislative Information. California Business and Professions Code 6126
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The State Bar of California. Regulation and Discipline Overview
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The State Bar of California. How to File a Complaint Against an Attorney
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The State Bar of California. Mandatory Fee Arbitration Program and Resources
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The State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund