Bar Seeks Voluntary Dues From State’s Lawyers

California’s nearly 90,000 lawyers will be asked to pay their 1986 State Bar dues voluntarily, the group’s Board of Governors decided Tuesday in an effort to stave off insolvency.

State Bar President David M. Heilbron said he expected a “substantial number” will pay the dues when asked, even though the Bar has no authority to assess its usual penalties if they fail to do so.

Tuesday’s action was taken because the Legislature adjourned in September without passing an annual bill authorizing the Bar to collect dues, and then the Supreme Court deferred action until Feb. 3, to give the legislators another chance to act when they reconvene Jan. 6.

400 Workers Face Layoff

Without new dues, State Bar officials have said, they would have no operating funds after Dec. 31, and they have already told their 400 employees that they could be laid off on that date if the dues are not collected.

A Bar staff member said Tuesday that morale in the San Francisco headquarters and in its Los Angeles auxiliary office has been “horrible” and that some employees have begun looking for other jobs.

Faced with inaction by the Legislature and Supreme Court, Heilbron told the 22-member board that they had three options: go out of business, mail bills requesting voluntary payment of dues or send bills for mandatory dues.

After some initial opposition, all 16 governors present approved the middle option, agreeing to ask attorneys to pay the recommended 1986 dues--$215 for attorneys with at least three years experience, $150 for those in practice one to three years, and $135 for those admitted to the Bar less than one year. The amounts include a $35 increase, which Heilbron said is needed to erase the Bar’s backlog of discipline cases against lawyers.

Dues provide about half the organization’s income.