Bill Commons

CA AB 931

enacted

State Bar Act: consumer legal funding.

California · 2025-2026 Regular Session · lower

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Quick answers

Did CA AB 931 pass?

Yes. CA AB 931 has been enacted into law. Latest recorded action (2025-10-10): Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 565, Statutes of 2025.

What is CA AB 931 about?

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act prohibits an attorney from accepting a client from a referral service, unless it is a certified lawyer referral service or specified conditions are met, and makes a violation of that prohibition subject to a civil penalty. The act additionally imposes various restrictions on contracts for legal services and specified fee agreements, including that the contract or agreement be in writing and that the basis of compensation is expressly included. This bill, for purposes of the State Bar Act, would define consumer legal funding to mean a transaction in which a consumer legal funding company, as defined, purchases and a consumer assigns to the company a contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award, or verdict obtained in the consumer's legal claim. The bill would require a consumer legal funding transaction to be in writing and contain specified provisions, including that the contract contain the amount to be paid to the consumer by the consumer legal funding company upon the completion of litigation and an itemization of any one-time charges. The bill would require, for a consumer legal funding contract negotiated in a language other than English, that the consumer receive a copy of the contract in both English and that language. The bill would prohibit those charges from exceeding 36 months from the funding date. The bill would prohibit a consumer legal funding company from paying commissions, referral fees, or other forms of consideration to an attorney or law firm, or their employees, for referring a consumer to the company, among other things, and would impose various penalties, including statutory damages, set as prescribed, for violation of those prohibitions. The bill would additionally state that the contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a legal claim is assignable by a consumer. This bill would prohibit an attorney from, among other things, promising or giving anything of value to a person for the purpose of recommending or securing the services of the attorney or the attorney's law firm, except as provided. The bill would additionally, until January 1, 2030, prohibit an attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice in the state from sharing legal fees directly or indirectly with an out-of-state entity that provides legal services while allowing nonlawyer ownership or decisionmaking authority, except as specified. The bill would specify that the above-described prohibition of the sharing of legal fees only applies to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would make a violation of that prohibition of the sharing of legal fees cause for the imposition of discipline by the State Bar of California and would subject a violator to specified penalties.

Who sponsors CA AB 931?

Kalra is the primary sponsor of CA AB 931.

Description

Existing law, the State Bar Act, provides for the licensure and regulation of attorneys by the State Bar of California, a public corporation. The act prohibits an attorney from accepting a client from a referral service, unless it is a certified lawyer referral service or specified conditions are met, and makes a violation of that prohibition subject to a civil penalty. The act additionally imposes various restrictions on contracts for legal services and specified fee agreements, including that the contract or agreement be in writing and that the basis of compensation is expressly included. This bill, for purposes of the State Bar Act, would define consumer legal funding to mean a transaction in which a consumer legal funding company, as defined, purchases and a consumer assigns to the company a contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a settlement, judgment, award, or verdict obtained in the consumer's legal claim. The bill would require a consumer legal funding transaction to be in writing and contain specified provisions, including that the contract contain the amount to be paid to the consumer by the consumer legal funding company upon the completion of litigation and an itemization of any one-time charges. The bill would require, for a consumer legal funding contract negotiated in a language other than English, that the consumer receive a copy of the contract in both English and that language. The bill would prohibit those charges from exceeding 36 months from the funding date. The bill would prohibit a consumer legal funding company from paying commissions, referral fees, or other forms of consideration to an attorney or law firm, or their employees, for referring a consumer to the company, among other things, and would impose various penalties, including statutory damages, set as prescribed, for violation of those prohibitions. The bill would additionally state that the contingent right to receive an amount of the potential proceeds of a legal claim is assignable by a consumer. This bill would prohibit an attorney from, among other things, promising or giving anything of value to a person for the purpose of recommending or securing the services of the attorney or the attorney's law firm, except as provided. The bill would additionally, until January 1, 2030, prohibit an attorney licensed or otherwise authorized to practice in the state from sharing legal fees directly or indirectly with an out-of-state entity that provides legal services while allowing nonlawyer ownership or decisionmaking authority, except as specified. The bill would specify that the above-described prohibition of the sharing of legal fees only applies to contracts entered into on or after January 1, 2026. The bill would make a violation of that prohibition of the sharing of legal fees cause for the imposition of discipline by the State Bar of California and would subject a violator to specified penalties.

Introduced
2025-03-26
Latest action
2025-10-10 — Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 565, Statutes of 2025.
Bill type
bill
Last updated
—

Subjects

Sponsors

  • Kalraauthor

Committees

Not provided by source.

Action timeline

Newest first

  1. 2025-10-10

    Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 565, Statutes of 2025.

    became-law

  2. 2025-10-10

    Approved by the Governor.

    executive-signature

  3. 2025-09-15

    Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 4:30 p.m.

    executive-receipt

  4. 2025-09-08

    Senate amendments concurred in. To Engrossing and Enrolling. (Ayes 60. Noes 16. Page 3034.).

    amendment-passage,committee-passage,committee-passage-favorable

  5. 2025-09-04

    In Assembly. Concurrence in Senate amendments pending.

  6. 2025-09-04

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Assembly. (Ayes 29. Noes 10. Page 2515.).

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  7. 2025-08-27

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  8. 2025-08-26

    Read third time and amended. Ordered to second reading.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  9. 2025-07-03

    Read second time and amended. Ordered to third reading.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  10. 2025-07-02

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 11. Noes 2.) (July 1).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage

  11. 2025-06-19

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  12. 2025-06-17

    In committee: Set, first hearing. Hearing canceled at the request of author.

  13. 2025-06-17

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  14. 2025-06-12

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to committee. Read second time, amended, and re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  15. 2025-05-07

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  16. 2025-04-21

    In Senate. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment.

    reading-1,referral-committee

  17. 2025-04-21

    Read third time. Passed. Ordered to the Senate. (Ayes 59. Noes 0. Page 1173.)

    passage,reading-1,reading-3

  18. 2025-04-10

    Read second time. Ordered to third reading.

    reading-1,reading-2,reading-3

  19. 2025-04-09

    Read second time and amended. Ordered returned to second reading.

    amendment-passage,reading-1,reading-2

  20. 2025-04-08

    From committee: Amend, and do pass as amended. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (April 8).

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage

  21. 2025-03-27

    Re-referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  22. 2025-03-26

    From committee chair, with author's amendments: Amend, and re-refer to Com. on JUD. Read second time and amended.

    amendment-introduction,amendment-passage,committee-passage,reading-1,reading-2,referral-committee

  23. 2025-03-03

    Referred to Com. on JUD.

    referral-committee

  24. 2025-02-20

    From printer. May be heard in committee March 22.

  25. 2025-02-19

    Read first time. To print.

    reading-1

Versions

  • 02/19/25 - Introduced — 2025-02-19Compare
  • 03/26/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-03-26Compare
  • 04/09/25 - Amended Assembly — 2025-04-09Compare
  • 06/12/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-06-12Compare
  • 06/17/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-06-17Compare
  • 06/19/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-06-19Compare
  • 07/03/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-07-03Compare
  • 08/26/25 - Amended Senate — 2025-08-26Compare
  • 09/10/25 - Enrolled — 2025-09-10Compare
  • 10/10/25 - Chaptered — 2025-10-10Compare
  • AB931Compare
  • (document, no version)Compare

Documents

Votes

  • Do pass as amended.

    2025-04-08 · pass · 12-0

    Member-level votes (12)
    • Dixon: yes
    • Tangipa: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Sanchez: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Stefani: yes
  • AB 931 Kalra Assembly Third Reading

    2025-04-21 · pass · 59-0

    Member-level votes (79)
    • Celeste Rodriguez: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Ellis: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Chen: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Ahrens: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Irwin: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Nguyen: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Flora: other
    • Ramos: other
    • Soria: other
    • Hoover: other
    • DeMaio: other
    • Papan: other
    • Wallis: other
    • Gallagher: other
    • Alanis: other
    • Macedo: other
    • Jeff Gonzalez: other
    • Ta: other
    • Castillo: other
    • Patterson: other
    • Sharp-Collins: other
    • Tangipa: other
    • Dixon: other
    • Hadwick: other
    • Lackey: other
    • Sanchez: other
  • Do pass as amended

    2025-07-01 · pass · 11-2

    Member-level votes (13)
    • Durazo: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Stern: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Allen: yes
    • Ashby: yes
    • Valladares: no
    • Niello: no
  • 3rd Reading AB931 Kalra By Umberg

    2025-09-04 · pass · 29-10

    Member-level votes (40)
    • Stern: yes
    • Durazo: yes
    • Cabaldon: yes
    • McGuire: yes
    • Laird: yes
    • Limón: yes
    • Menjivar: yes
    • Wahab: yes
    • Rubio: yes
    • Pérez: yes
    • Cortese: yes
    • Gonzalez: yes
    • Umberg: yes
    • Allen: yes
    • Smallwood-Cuevas: yes
    • Richardson: yes
    • Blakespear: yes
    • Arreguín: yes
    • Hurtado: yes
    • Padilla: yes
    • Caballero: yes
    • Weber Pierson: yes
    • Ashby: yes
    • Archuleta: yes
    • Grayson: yes
    • Wiener: yes
    • Cervantes: yes
    • McNerney: yes
    • Becker: yes
    • Niello: no
    • Grove: no
    • Jones: no
    • Ochoa Bogh: no
    • Alvarado-Gil: no
    • Valladares: no
    • Dahle: no
    • Seyarto: no
    • Strickland: no
    • Choi: no
    • Reyes: other
  • AB 931 Kalra Concurrence in Senate Amendments

    2025-09-08 · pass · 60-16

    Member-level votes (80)
    • Ahrens: yes
    • Mark González: yes
    • Quirk-Silva: yes
    • Gipson: yes
    • Rogers: yes
    • Addis: yes
    • Ward: yes
    • Haney: yes
    • Hart: yes
    • Fong: yes
    • Calderon: yes
    • Elhawary: yes
    • Wilson: yes
    • Carrillo: yes
    • Bains: yes
    • Ransom: yes
    • Soria: yes
    • Michelle Rodriguez: yes
    • Berman: yes
    • Valencia: yes
    • Wicks: yes
    • Celeste Rodriguez: yes
    • Arambula: yes
    • Connolly: yes
    • Schultz: yes
    • Bauer-Kahan: yes
    • Bennett: yes
    • Papan: yes
    • Schiavo: yes
    • Bonta: yes
    • Ávila Farías: yes
    • Aguiar-Curry: yes
    • Pacheco: yes
    • Boerner: yes
    • Alvarez: yes
    • Lee: yes
    • Stefani: yes
    • Caloza: yes
    • Sharp-Collins: yes
    • Ortega: yes
    • Solache: yes
    • Lowenthal: yes
    • Blanca Rubio: yes
    • Jackson: yes
    • Bryan: yes
    • Petrie-Norris: yes
    • Harabedian: yes
    • Gabriel: yes
    • Zbur: yes
    • Davies: yes
    • McKinnor: yes
    • Pellerin: yes
    • Muratsuchi: yes
    • Krell: yes
    • Irwin: yes
    • Ramos: yes
    • Patel: yes
    • Kalra: yes
    • Rivas: yes
    • Garcia: yes
    • Johnson: no
    • Dixon: no
    • Hoover: no
    • Hadwick: no
    • Tangipa: no
    • Wallis: no
    • Macedo: no
    • Gallagher: no
    • Jeff Gonzalez: no
    • Sanchez: no
    • Ta: no
    • Ellis: no
    • Alanis: no
    • Flora: no
    • Patterson: no
    • DeMaio: no
    • Chen: other
    • Castillo: other
    • Lackey: other
    • Nguyen: other

Related bills

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Official source

Attribution

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