If You Receive a Bar Charge: The First Steps

Few things rattle a lawyer like an email or phone call from the State Bar. The instinct is to fire back a detailed, indignant response that same afternoon. Resist it. What you do in the first days shapes everything that follows.

A Bar charge is not a verdict. Many are resolved without formal discipline. But the early choices — made while you are still upset — have an outsized effect on how the matter unfolds, so it helps to slow down and work through them deliberately.

Preserve the entire file

Gather and protect everything connected to the matter: documents, emails, notes, billing records. Do nothing that could later look like alteration or deletion. A complete, untouched file is your best friend; a file with gaps creates problems that did not exist before.

Calendar the response deadline immediately

A Bar charge carries a deadline to respond, and missing it turns a manageable matter into a serious one. Put the date on your calendar the moment the notice arrives — before you do anything else — and build in time to prepare a measured reply rather than a rushed one.

Read what is actually being alleged

Read the charge carefully and identify the specific conduct at issue, which is often narrower than it first feels. Responding to what you imagine is being said — rather than what is actually written — is a common and costly mistake.

Don't respond emotionally, and consider not responding alone

Your written response becomes part of the record, so it should be measured, factual, and complete. And consider whether you should be writing it by yourself at all. Lawyers represent themselves in these matters all the time, and often regret it. Having someone whose only job is to see the matter clearly — without your stake in it — is usually worth it, even when the charge seems baseless.

This article is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or create an attorney–client relationship. For guidance on a specific matter, contact Praxis Legal, LLC at reid@praxislawyer.com.