The State Bar of California Is a Cartel That Must Be Stopped by the U.S. Government

"There can be no crime more serious than bribery.  Other offenses violate one law while corruption strikes at the foundation of all law...The exposure and punishment of public corruption is an honor to a nation, not a disgrace.  The shame lies in toleration, not in correction…."

— Theodore Roosevelt

According to Wikipedia on June 23, 2023, “The State Bar of California is California’s official attorney licensing agency.^[2]  It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate discipline, accepting attorney-member fees, and financially distributing sums paid through attorney trust accounts to fund nonprofit legal entities.  It is directly responsible to the Supreme Court of California; however, its trustees are now appointed by the Supreme Court, the California Legislature, and Governor of California.^[3]  All attorney admissions are issued as recommendations of the State Bar, which are then routinely ratified by the Supreme Court.^[4]  Attorney discipline is handled by the State Bar Office of Chief Trial Counsel, which acts as prosecutor before the State Bar Court of California.^[5]”

California is the only state with a “State Bar Court” which creates a unique monopoly unlike any other state.  Wielding “State Bar Court,” the State Bar of California controls every attorney in the state (public or private).  The State Bar of California, which recently conceded to its own corruption and bribery schemes, is even responsible for nomination of judges.

What could go wrong with lawyers controlling virtually every aspect of the law and public rights?

Oxford defines “cartel” as “an association of manufacturers or suppliers with the purpose of maintaining prices at a high level and restricting competition.”  The State Bar of California is a cartel in the purest sense of the word.  And it must be stopped because it has contaminated our republic irreparably and corruptly controls about 20 percent of the national market for legal services together with the world’s fifth largest economy.

In California, lawyers are treated as being superior to regular folks due to cartel control where State Bar Court is weaponized to suit political or financial motives and delay non-lawyer rights.  What’s clear to regular folks like me: granting lawyers sole responsibility of regulating their peers is like placing a first grader as principal of an elementary school.

The State Bar of California is not under Fair Political Practices Commission jurisdiction, which was put in place after the Watergate scandal to prevent corruption.  The State Bar of California is not under California State Auditor jurisdiction, whose purpose is to ensure public accountability and transparency.  The State Bar of California manages discipline of its leadership through lawyers it controls, too.  I have one simple question for California Legislators: why?

As the United States Supreme Court held in 2015, regulators like the State Bar of California controlled by “active market participants” (lawyers) are treated like private entities under the law.  But The State Bar of California flagrantly disregards U.S. antitrust law, too, which may involve felonies under 15 U.S.C. § 1.  When I petitioned the California Supreme Court led by former Chief Justice Cantil-Sakauye in Justin S. Beck v. Ruben Duran (The State Bar of California) (S276517) in September 2022 to conform to federal antitrust laws, not only did the State Bar overtly conceal its blatant violation of federal antitrust laws, but it aided or directed the filing of a fraudulent antitrust petition on my behalf in California Supreme Court to cover up the violations (S276939).  Nothing to see here, right?

Indeed, amid the State Bar of California’s current scandal in which Girardi-Keese’s Thomas V. Girardi was found to have bribed his way to favorable treatment for decades stealing millions from clients and was recently indicted on wire fraud charges, and Catanzarite Law Corporation’s Kenneth Catanzarite is still among the State Bar of California’s protected attorneys—the United States has a duty to intervene to protect integrity of our courts.

As I’ve previously detailed in an essay, an Orange County Superior Court clerk was convicted of RICO 18 U.S.C. § 1962(d) for fixing over 1,000 cases.  Orange County District Attorney’s Office was subject of a United States Department of Justice civil rights investigation for creating an illegal informant program that systematically violated constitutional rights.  The State Bar of California is implicated in widespread bribery and corruption by its own admission.  Former State Bar President James Towery just resigned from the bench in a related scandal.

When renowned plaintiff’s attorney Jay Edelson of Edelson PC first targeted Thomas V. Girardi with civil RICO allegations for stealing client funds, the State Bar of California threatened Edelson PC that it would go after Edelson’s California attorneys using “State Bar Court.”  This is the current State Bar under Chairman Ruben Duran and Executive Director Leah Wilson.

These issues are too big for the state of California legislators to ignore, which boasts a $3.63 trillion gross state product and a population of 39.24 million.  If Legislators continue to fail their duty to enact federal antitrust laws in California, they are for the United States Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and United States Congress to fix.

The problem, however, is the State Bar of California controls U.S. Attorneys in California, too.  That’s why I’m pressing DOJ’s “Public Integrity Section” to act, and why I’m seeking racketeering investigations of the State Bar of California cartel in U.S. District Court.  Thankfully, corruption of the State Bar of California has already been deemed an issue of “congressional interest.”  Corruption of an entire court system is not entirely new, it’s the reason U.S. Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section was created after Operation Greylord (one of the most important cases in the annals of public corruption investigations in the United States).

I’m still hopeful that California Legislators will step up and perform their duties where the State Bar of California refuses to protect the public.  But I’m not asking anymore.  We, the people, need to stop asking for legal reform in the United States.....and start demanding it instead.