As attorneys in California we are held to the highest ethical standards. We are taught to maintain the integrity of the legal profession and are held accountable for any breaches. You, the State Bar of California hold our license, our livelihood, and for some our identity in your hands. You maintain the most grueling barrier to entry and require us to maintain our status with continuing education. You require us to report our wrongdoings and then try us for even the most trivial and accidental of infractions. You require complete transparency and you charge us higher fees than any other State. You question our moral character and you test our endurance. You cite “inadvertence” and “human error” for your shortcomings yet leave us on a “need to know basis” when we question your motives. We speculate – you remain silent.
We trusted you. This partnership between California Attorneys and their licensing authority is experiencing a breach of gigantic proportions. Coming off the heels of the nation’s largest college admissions scandal we are in a state of distrust and your recent actions only serve to deepen our fears and skepticism. We study for the hardest exam this nation has to offer, and you mock us with your “no big deal” attitude. Months of preparation and the requisite years of schooling, only to be told “we are sorry”? Sorry just won’t cut it.
Do better. Our profession demands it. Our clients demand it. Our moral compass demands it.