First 2011 CCBA Bill Signed into Law

Assemblymember Jim Silva

Governor Edmund G. Brown, Jr., has signed into law the first CCBA-sponsored bill to cross his desk since he took office. Last Friday, July 1, Brown gave his approval of AB 354 by Assemblymember Jim Silva, which eliminates an ambiguity in existing law by clarifying that a person who has, in bad faith, used undue influence or committed elder financial abuse to steal from the estate of a decedent, conservatee, minor, or trust, is liable for damages equal to twice the value of the property taken.

AB 354, which passed both houses of the Legislature without a dissenting vote, is based on Resolution 06-04-2010 by the Los Angeles County and Beverly Hills bar associations.  There is no chapter number yet, presumably due to the intervening holiday weekend, but the signing is noted on the Governor's web site.

New Rules of Professional Conduct out for Public Comment

The State Bar of California's Board of Governors, through its Committee on Regulation, Admissions & Discipline Oversight (RAD), is inviting public comment on eight new or amended Rules of Professional Conduct (RPC) developed by the Commission for the Revision of the Rules of Professional Conduct ("Rules Revision Commission").

The official Notice of Public Comment and the Discussion Draft of the proposed changes is at: http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10145&n=96067

The comment deadline is October 23, 2009. Comments may be submitted by mail, email, or by completing an online form.

This is the fourth set of rules changes proposed by the commission, and addresses issues of trial publicity, lawyers as witnesses, membership in legal services organizations, law reform activities affecting client interests, third party payors, aggregate settlements, and safekeeping/handling the funds and property of clients (among others).

A public hearing for this fourth public comment group is scheduled to be held during the 2009 State Bar Annual Meeting in San Diego on September 12, 2009 from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm at the Manchester Grand Hyatt in room Annie A. If you would like to testify and/or present written materials at the public hearing, contact: Audrey Hollins in the Bar's Office of Professional Competence (audrey.hollins@calbar.ca.gov, (415) 538‐2167) no later than Friday, September 4, 2009.

Transfer on Death Deeds Bill Dies Again

As expected (see earlier post), the Senate Judiciary Committee again rejected this year's installment (AB 724) in Assembly Member Chuck DeVore's multi-year campaign to create Transfer on Death Deeds (TODD, otherwise know as "Beneficiary Deeds") in California. But it's getting much closer.

Last year, when the committee was comprised entirely of lawyers, DeVore's predecessor bill (AB 250) received only one vote on the five-member panel in the face of a killer committee analysis (pretty much replicated this year) highlighting concerns that TODD could be tools for elder financial abuse and would undoubtedly increase litigation. This year, the AB 724 failed by a narrow - and interestingly nonpartisan - 2-3 margin. Conservative Orange County Republican Mimi Walters and liberal San Francisco Democrat Mark Leno voted for the bill, while the committee's two remaining lawyers, committee chair Ellen Corbett (D-San Leandro) and vice chair Tom Harman (R-Huntington Beach) - both of whom practiced T&E law in their pre-Legislature professional lives - were joined by non-lawyer Dean Florez in opposing.

Committee members extended DeVore the traditional courtesy of unanimously reconsidering the vote on the bill, so DeVore will have one more shot next year before he's termed out of the Assembly (he's running for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Barbara Boxer). Unless he can convince another committee member (presumably Florez) to change his mind, however, it will be up to some one else to pick up the TODD issue for the next session.

Legislation: Senate Judiciary Committee Approves A/C Privilege Clean-up Bill

Bills approved by the Senate Judiciary Commitee yesterday (6/9/09):

• AB 1163 (Tran) - CLRC-sponsored cleanup/clarification bill relating to the survival of the attorney/client privilege after the death of the client in probate matters. Substantially amended from bill introduced pursuant to CLRC final recommendation, but now headed for Senate Consent Calendar.
• AB 442 (Arambula) - Provides that a notary public may reasonably rely on a Matricula consular issued by the government of the United States of Mexico as proper identification to prove the identity of an individual who executes a written instrument. Approved by committee on 3-2, partisan vote, following similar vote on Assembly floor, so Republicans may push for veto.
  

The hearing on AB 898 (Lieu), another controversial notary bill sponsored by the Secretary of State (SOS), which would provide SOS with the discretion to refuse to perform a service or filing that is unlawful, prohibits the use of a subscribing witness when establishing a power of attorney, and eliminates the requirement for notaries public, other than those who work for financial institutions, to perform protests, was delayed for two weeks at the author's request.