Latest news with #StateBarofCalifornia
Reuters
16-07-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Too many changes at once led to California bar exam mess, ex-director says
July 10 (Reuters) - The State Bar of California pursued too many changes at once, setting the stage for the problem-plagued February attorney licensing exam, the agency's former executive director said. Many of the February exam's problems stemmed from the decision to change both the content and delivery system of the bar exam simultaneously, Leah Wilson told Reuters on Wednesday in an interview two days after stepping down as the state bar's executive director. The state bar initially failed to grasp the magnitude of those two changes and should have tackled one at a time, she said. 'Did I think it was going to go off without a hitch? No, I would not say that,' Wilson said on Wednesday. 'Did I think it was going to implode? No.' Deans of California law schools warned the state bar that rushing out a new bar exam was a bad idea, and bar takers raised technology concerns in the weeks leading up to the test. 'Every red flag that could have shown up did, and they did nothing to stop it," said February bar examinee Harshita Ganesh of Wilson and the state bar. Wilson announced on May 2 that she would step down as executive director of the state bar—a position she held since 2017—citing the botched February exam. She said she has retired from the state and will take several months to determine her next move. Wilson on Wednesday pointed to the 'unprecedented meltdown' of the testing platform provided by vendor Meazure Learning as derailing the two-day test—an outcome Wilson said she never expected. She also said it was a "series of shortcomings" and not "any single smoking gun" that led to the test's failure. The state bar sued Meazure Learning in May, accusing the company of not living up to its promises that its systems could handle thousands of bar examinees. A Meazure spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on Thursday and the state bar declined to comment on Wilson's explanation. In August 2024, the state bar decided to fast-track a new exam that did not use any components of the national bar exam and gave examinees the option of testing in person or remotely—a change projected to save as much as $3.8 million annually by eliminating the need to rent out large event spaces. But examinees faced issues ranging from disruptive proctors and computer freezes to an inability to log into the test at all. The fallout was swift. The California Supreme Court ordered a return to the previous exam and in-person testing for the upcoming July exam and the state bar adopted a series of scoring adjustments for February examinees. Standardized test development takes time, said National Conference of Bar Examiners President Judith Gundersen. Her group, which puts together the national bar exam used by nearly all states, will have spent five years developing its NextGen bar exam when it debuts next July, she said. That development timeline has included about three years for drafting, pretesting, and statistical validation of each question, Gundersen said. By contrast, California had allowed less than a year to develop its February exam. Wilson said the NextGen exam timeline was "not a relevant comparison" because California, unlike the national bar exam developers, was not designing an entirely new exam. Read more: California Bar leader to step down amid exam debacle California bar exam meltdown on Tuesday prompts offer of March retakes
Los Angeles Times
22-06-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
In a Data-Obsessed World, Attorneys Welcome Privacy Law Specialization
California's State Bar will offer the specialization in a state that revolutionized privacy law with the CCPA News that the State Bar of California will offer a privacy law specialization has been welcomed by practitioners in the space. They say that as the scale and complexity of data use grows, so does the need for lawyers who understand the patchwork of regulations governing privacy and the latest technological advancements. The State Bar voted to approve the specialization during its May 22-23 meeting. It's the first new specialization to be established since 2008 and will join 11 others, including Family Law and Taxation Law, once launched. According to the State Bar, the specialization 'recognizes the growth and importance of privacy law in light of increasing legal challenges in data privacy, cybersecurity and emerging technologies.' Attorneys who seek specialization will need to demonstrate knowledge of areas including data security, data sharing and technologies. Eventually, attorneys will need to pass an examination to fulfill the specialization requirements. California is not the first state to offer a specialization, explained Sharon R. Klein, co-chair of Blank Rome LLP's Privacy, Security & Data Protection practice. In the U.S., that honor belongs to North Carolina, which offers a certification based on the International Association of Privacy Professionals Certified Information Privacy Profession/United States certification (and which Klein has held for decades). Klein said that privacy law was 'definitely' an area requiring specialist knowledge, given 'privacy is an area filled with complex and often conflicting regulations and one which is constantly evolving.' Regarding demand for the specialization, she noted that there were '1,200 active members of the California Lawyers Association's privacy section.' Attorney Don R. Dennis Jr., whose practice includes copyright and trademark infringement, internet law, defamation, trade secret misappropriation, data security breaches and privacy law, welcomed the news. He said that he would consider taking the specialization and that it would allow attorneys practicing privacy law to stand out from the pack. 'The fact that there are so many tenets to privacy law, whether we're talking about education or finance or health, being that it touches so many different points, that specialization just allows you to really hone in, and it will really set you apart from other legal practitioners who may have read an article here or there, or maybe even experienced a data breach, but have not dealt in this area of law on a daily or weekly basis,' he said. Daniel Goldberg, who chairs Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz PC's privacy practice, also welcomed the move. He said that while the precise details of the specialization were not yet clear, he would 'definitely' consider taking it. 'Absolutely, it's an area that has been exploding with growth. And California is one of the leading states with privacy regulation and has been for a number of years now. And so it is, I think, particularly important to have some type of specialization designating leaders in this field,' Goldberg said. Like Dennis, Goldberg said that attorneys who wanted to effectively solve clients' data privacy issues needed to stay on top of the latest legal and technological developments. 'The law is very complex. But on top of the law being complex, the specialization really requires a level of technical expertise. The law talks all about measures that companies need to take with respect to collection, use, disclosure of data and opting out. But if you don't understand how the technology works or how the ecosystem works, then it's an area that would be very, very difficult for you,' he said. He added, 'One thing about privacy law is that you also have to be an expert on what's going on in the news, the latest changes and whether it has to do with ad-tech platforms or AI. If you're not up with the latest changes, you're going to fall behind very quickly.' Both attorneys said that the specialization recognized that data privacy has become an increasingly pressing issue in recent years. Dennis said that growing consumer reliance on data-rich consumer services, as well as the transition to online platforms in industries like education and health, and the resulting risk of data being misused or leaked had boosted the number of companies and consumers seeking legal advice on their legal remedies and responsibilities. This would likely be magnified by the growth of artificial intelligence services, he said. He said that privacy law was a complicated area of the law, involving a patchwork of state and international law. Much of his time was spent helping clients navigate through these laws. 'There's no national data breach law. Each state has its own law and notification process,' he said. Klein explained that data privacy, particularly the privacy policies and infrastructure a company had in place, had also become a key consideration during dealmaking. 'No commercial deal gets done today without an analysis of the data the target is/has collected and whether they have protected the data and avoided data breaches. This is true for ordinary deals as well as technology deals,' she said. She agreed that AI would likely exacerbate this trend, stating, 'The amount of regulation and legislation globally over the past 35 years of my practice is stunning and will increase exponentially with AI. Lawyers are needed to align expectations of the parties globally on privacy, security, and AI rights and data transfers.' Goldberg said that it was fitting that California attorneys would soon have the option to earn a privacy specialization, given that the state has played a pioneering role in privacy regulation. This included the passing of the first comprehensive privacy law (the California Consumer Privacy Act or CCPA) in 2018, which he said catalyzed the creation of similar laws across other states and established California as the national leader in privacy legislation. He said the state had also been among the most active in enforcement, with both the Attorney General's office and the California Privacy Protection Agency pursuing multiple enforcement actions of late, with more expected to follow. Because data privacy stretches across such a broad cross section of industries, Goldberg said that it was becoming an increasingly lucrative area for law firms. 'It's incredibly lucrative just because it's such a broad area. It really is a subject matter expertise that goes in so many different subcategories of practices, and so almost every firm now has to have a privacy expert,' he said. Klein predicted that the 'privacy, security and AI areas for lawyers will continue to be robust for decades to come as companies need legal advice relating to the vast amounts of data to operate their businesses,' including trade secret and personal data. 'Needless to say – law firms see this as a lucrative area and are and will continue to invest in privacy, security and AI specialists,' she added.
Yahoo
12-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former Inland Empire district attorney suspended by California State Bar
The former San Bernardino County District Attorney has been suspended by the State Bar of California for destroying evidence. Mike Ramos, who served as DA from 2002 to 2018, deleted text messages and emails related to a bribery case that was dismissed in 2017, the Press-Enterprise reports. The targets of the bribery case sued the county in 2018, seeking access to the texts and emails. 'Ramos, however, could not produce those records because they had been deleted,' the Press-Enterprise reports. Ramos claimed he was ignorant of records-keeping laws, but the State Bar found that argument 'not persuasive,' as Ramos 'is a sophisticated party who had the assistance of experienced counsel.' As a result, he was suspended from practicing law for six months and ordered to pay nearly $4,000 in fees and sanctions. Ramos didn't return the newspaper's request for comment. It's likely that the suspension won't impact Ramos too much, as he reportedly now works in communications at UC Riverside and writes crime novels. He had previously run for California attorney general and received the support of then-AG and future Vice President Kamala Harris in his bid for reelection as DA, despite Harris being a Democrat and Ramos being a Republican. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Yahoo
Letters to the Editor: After Tom Girardi scandal, it's clear the State Bar of California needs reform
To the editor: I read about Tom Girardi with astonishment ('Tom Girardi — disgraced legal titan, former 'Real Housewives' husband — sentenced to 7 years in prison,' June 3). There were over 200 complaints to the State Bar of California. Yet the bar was MIA, with 'wine-soaked lunches' while money was stolen from clients right under their noses. In contrast, lawyers in the U.K. must have full outside audits of their books. Client money is audited to the last penny. And the auditors themselves are audited, by examiners from the bar's equivalent. Hence, corruption is rare. The bar here has roused itself to make some minor reforms. Good luck. Attorneys are not saints, free from temptation. More policing is needed. I suggest outside audits of attorneys' books by certified public accountants retained by the bar, to obviate conflicts of interest. As for the bar's dereliction of duty, heads must roll. Raymond Freeman, Thousand Oaks This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Los Angeles Times
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Los Angeles Times
Letters to the Editor: After Tom Girardi scandal, it's clear the State Bar of California needs reform
To the editor: I read about Tom Girardi with astonishment ('Tom Girardi — disgraced legal titan, former 'Real Housewives' husband — sentenced to 7 years in prison,' June 3). There were over 200 complaints to the State Bar of California. Yet the bar was MIA, with 'wine-soaked lunches' while money was stolen from clients right under their noses. In contrast, lawyers in the U.K. must have full outside audits of their books. Client money is audited to the last penny. And the auditors themselves are audited, by examiners from the bar's equivalent. Hence, corruption is rare. The bar here has roused itself to make some minor reforms. Good luck. Attorneys are not saints, free from temptation. More policing is needed. I suggest outside audits of attorneys' books by certified public accountants retained by the bar, to obviate conflicts of interest. As for the bar's dereliction of duty, heads must roll. Raymond Freeman, Thousand Oaks
