California Business and Professions Code 6070.5 – (a) The State Bar shall adopt regulations to require, as of …
(a) The State Bar shall adopt regulations to require, as of January 1, 2022, that the mandatory continuing legal education (MCLE) curriculum for all licensees under this chapter includes training on implicit bias and the promotion of bias-reducing strategies to address how unintended biases regarding race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or other characteristics undermine confidence in the legal system. A licensee shall meet the requirements of this section for each MCLE compliance period ending after January 31, 2022.
(b) When approving MCLE providers to offer the training required by subdivision (a), the State Bar shall require that the MCLE provider meets, at a minimum, all of the following requirements:
Terms Used In California Business and Professions Code 6070.5
- Licensee: means any person authorized by a license, certificate, registration, or other means to engage in a business or profession regulated by this code or referred to in Sections 1000 and 3600. See California Business and Professions Code 23.8
- State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Business and Professions Code 21
- Subdivision: means a subdivision of the section in which that term occurs, unless some other section is expressly mentioned. See California Business and Professions Code 15
(1) The MCLE provider shall make reasonable efforts to recruit and hire trainers who are representative of the diversity of persons that California’s legal system serves.
(2) The trainers shall have either academic training in implicit bias or experience educating legal professionals about implicit bias and its effects on people accessing and interacting with the legal system.
(3) The training shall include a component regarding the impact of implicit bias, explicit bias, and systemic bias on the legal system and the effect this can have on people accessing and interacting with the legal system.
(4) The training shall include actionable steps licensees can take to recognize and address their own implicit biases.
(c) As part of the certification, approval, or renewal process for MCLE-approved provider status, or more frequently if required by the State Bar, the MCLE provider shall attest to its compliance with the requirements of subdivision (b) and shall confirm that it will continue to comply with those requirements for the duration of the provider’s approval period.
(Amended by Stats. 2020, Ch. 36, Sec. 1. (AB 3364) Effective January 1, 2021.)