Court orders amending Title Nine and Rule 9.7

The California Supreme Court on Thursday approved a series of amendments to the California Rules of Court related to oversight of the California Bar Exam, attorney admissions, and rules addressing attorney civility. The new rules will become effective on October 1.

Amendments to the Bar Exam and Attorney Admissions Rules

Following a public comment period and joint review by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) and the State Bar Board of Trustees, the court adopted amendments largely reflecting the court’s May 2025 proposals:

The court approved several revisions to the amendments, including:

• Requiring the CBE to make publicly available the various standards it must develop under new rule 9.6.
   
• Ensuring that, in selecting a vendor to draft Bar Exam questions, the vendor has "no financial interest in other matters that might create a conflict of interest with the State Bar or with the vendor's ability to draft fair and reliable exam questions."

Proposed Rules on Attorney Incivility

The court partially granted the State Bar’s request to implement rules promoting civility among attorneys but rejected the proposal defining incivility as disciplinable misconduct.

Amendments to rule 9.7 of the California Rules of Court now require attorneys to annually reaffirm the full attorney’s oath, including a pledge to support the United States and California Constitutions and to uphold civility.

The court declined to adopt the request's proposed definition of “incivility” and to subject such conduct to discipline under the California Rules of Professional Conduct, citing concerns about potential vagueness and First Amendment implications.

Instead, the court encouraged the State Bar to explore alternative measures, such as codifying existing case law "reducing requests for attorney fees based on an attorney's incivility" and studying the impact of new continuing education requirements on attorney civility.