What does inactive status mean on a California attorney's record?

An inactive licensee is admitted to the State Bar of California but may not practise law. Business and Professions Code section 6125 limits the practice of law to active licensees, so an attorney showing inactive cannot advise or represent you until the status is changed back to active. Inactive is usually voluntary and is not itself a finding of misconduct.

Inactive means the person is admitted to the State Bar of California but is not currently permitted to practise law. California Business and Professions Code section 6125 limits the practice of law to active licensees, so an attorney whose record reads inactive cannot advise you, represent you, or appear for you until they return to active status. It is important to read the status for what it is and is not. Inactive is most often a voluntary election; attorneys who have retired, moved to another state, taken an in-house or government role that does not require a California licence, or stepped away for a period commonly elect it, and it carries lower fees and different continuing-education obligations. It is not, by itself, a disciplinary finding; discipline appears separately on the same record. Roughly 27 percent of the California roll is inactive at any time, which is why an inactive attorney turning up in a search is unremarkable rather than alarming. What matters practically is simply that they cannot take your matter now. Attorneys can and do move between active and inactive status, so check the record on the day you need it rather than relying on something you read earlier.

Authority: Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 6125; State Bar of California licensee records