What You Need to Know About Opening a Law Firm
The State Bar of California manages attorneys who decide to open their law practices as either law corporations or limited liability partnerships. Here’s everything you need to know about starting a law firm in California.
The type of paperwork an attorney will need to submit when starting a law firm depends on whether they intend to open a law practice as either a law corporation or to create a limited liability partnership with the State Bar of California. The State Bar’s Law Corporations program will certify professional corporations that intend to practice law, given that a set of court rules and statutes are followed. The California State Bar’s Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) program certifies professional partnerships and allows its partners the ability to restrict their vicarious liability for tortious acts respective to the State Bar’s LLP Rules and Regulations. Vicarious liability occurs when the supervisory party (employer) bears the consequences of an act committed by a subordinate/associate (employee). A tort is an act that brings harm to others or infringes on any of their rights.
Guidelines for Starting a Law Corporation
To learn more about the forms needed for this process, consult the State Bar’s forms webpage. Additional information on the public records policy for law corporations can be found here. This document explains which forms of law corporation’s records are considered confidential under the Rules and Procedure of the California State Bar. Additionally, it expresses that any other records between the law corporation and the State Bar will be public.
Once a law corporation has completed the necessary forms and fulfilled the necessary requirements set by the California State Bar, outlined in detail on this webpage, Title 3 Programs and Services, their authorization to practice law must be renewed annually. This can be done by submitting an Annual Report and Renewal document. The State Bar will send the annual report and renewal to the law corporation’s email on file by the end of February. All forms need to be up to date; forms from the previous year will not be accepted. Failure to follow all of these rules will result in the firm being deemed non-compliant.
Related: How to Successfully Get More Clients to Your Law Firm
Logistics for Submitting a Law Corporation Annual Report and Renewal Form (2021)
- Deadline for submitting the form: March 30, 2021
- Monetary amount due with form: $75.00
- End of grace period: May 3, 2021
- Final deadline for form and fee submission: July 23, 2021
- Final deadline penalty: $185.00
Payments are to be sent by check with the completed form to:
The State Bar of California
Law Corporations Program
Department 05610
San Francisco, CA 94139-5610
Questions can be directed to LawCorp@calbar.ca.gov
What happens if the report and renewal do not go through?
If the report and renewal is returned, it could be because incorrect bylaws information was used, or there was an incorrect and/or unsigned certificate of secretary. Rule 3.157, sections A-E on ownership and transfer of shares within the corporation in the Law Corporation Rules of the State Bar explicitly outline the language to be used in the report and renewal. It is advised for law corporations to submit only the sections of by-laws that contain this information. If the corporate secretary does not verify that the portions of by-laws are true to the corporation, then the report and renewal may be returned. The declaration and signature of the secretary of the corporation is required.
Name and Status the Law Corporation
It is also important for the law corporation to have a name filed with the Secretary of State and recorded on State Bar records. A certificate of registration of the law corporation under its given name is required in order for it to actively practice law. The name that is registered is the only name by which the law corporation can practice law. Access to forms to report any changes to the law corporation’s name can be found here. If a law corporation decides to revoke their registration instead, logistical information on how to do so can be found here.
Related: What Is The Organizational Structure of a Law Firm?
Guidelines for Starting a Limited Liability Partnership
Once all the relevant forms are completed, the processing of the limited liability partnership law firm application begins. The quicker the application is submitted, the quicker it will process. The registration date will be set once the completed application is received. The application will need to comply with the California Rules of Professional Conduct, rule 1-400, and State Bar Limited Partnership Rules in order to be accepted and a Limited Liability Partnership Certificate of Registration to be issued.
LLPs will also need to renew their certification every year by submitting an Annual Renewal Report. This document needed to be submitted to the official mail address by August for the year 2021. This form had to have been submitted in order for the law firm to be considered compliant.
Logistics for Submitting an LLP Annual Report and Renewal Form (2021)
- Final deadline to submit completed form: October 1, 2021
- Monetary amount due with form: calculated based on the number of partners on the records. The official amount due will be indicated on the firm’s renewal form.
Additional questions can be directed to LLP@calbar.ca.gov
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