(Subscription required) The California Supreme Court named Judge W. Kearse McGill presiding judge of the State Bar Court and reconstituted its Advisory Committee on the Code of Judicial Ethics, naming Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Samantha Jessner as chair. McGill, who sits on the State Bar Court's Appellate Review Department, will succeed Presiding Judge Richard Honn, who is retiring at the end of October after nearly 25 years on the State Bar Court.

(Subscription required) California lawyers who use non-attorneys to recruit clients could face $25,000 in civil penalties as well as summary disbarment under a measure signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom. AB 2039 offers protections to whistleblowers who report attorney misconduct to law enforcement or the state bar and places new restrictions on lawyers who lend money to clients.

The State Bar of California rejected the resignation of a former San Luis Obispo real estate lawyer who faces several disciplinary charges, including engaging in an alleged “scheme to defraud.” His voluntary resignation would’ve dismissed the disciplinary charges against him, but the State Bar declined his resignation, according to a California Supreme Court ruling signed Sept. 9.

The Commission on Judicial Appointments will hold public in-person hearings in San Francisco on Oct. 9 to consider three appointments to California’s Courts of Appeal in Los Angeles and Santa Ana.