This week's question:

I recently attended a free living trust "seminar". I have doubts as to whether the speaker was an attorney properly licensed to practice law in California. Must all attorneys in California be licensed by the state bar? How can I find out if this person is properly licensed?

Dear Nancy:

Yes, all attorneys who practice law in the state of California must be licensed to practice law. When it comes to law practice, either you are licensed or you are not. There is no middle ground.

Consumers can easily check out the status of their attorney. You can do it two different ways.

The easiest way to contact the State Bar of California is to log on to their Web site at http://www.calsb.org . This is also linked to the state bar's home page at http://www.calbar.org .

After the homepage is up on your screen you will see the "member search" area. Double click on that to check an attorney's official bar membership record.

That will take you to the "attorney search" page. You can then enter the person's name or state bar number. (All attorneys must have a state bar number.)

If you enter my name, the Web site will show my status as "active" and state bar number 46652. You can then double click on my name and my membership information will be displayed. This includes active status, date of admission (June 26, 1970), District 3, Santa Clara County.

Also shown is my address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address. You will also see that I graduated from the University of Iowa in Iowa City and law school from the University of Santa Clara.

And finally, you will note that I have "no public record of discipline." (Whew!!)

While you are there in the state bar Web site, feel free to browse around and learn more about the state bar. It does a lot of good work, much of which goes unnoticed by the public. For example, many free brochures are available concerning several different areas of the law. These brochures are authoritative, informative, easy to read, and unbiased.

Now, if you are Internet-challenged, you can telephone Membership Records—member status of the California State Bar at (415) 538-2577. An employee of the state bar should be able to give you the same information as that in the Web site.

The state bar receives an average of 1,000 telephone calls each day, most from callers wanting to know if someone is an attorney, their status and telephone numbers.

Remember too, that many names are similar and that it is easy to confuse one person with another.

Finally, Nancy, I need to note that this column will now appear in the first and third issue of each month, rather than once per month, now that the Almaden Times is being published weekly instead of monthly. So please encourage your friends to send in their questions.

Donald J. DeVries

Almaden Valley

Donald J. DeVries is an attorney practicing law in Almaden Valley. If you would like him to answer your question in his next Almaden Times column, you can reach him by e-mail at don@almadenvalleylawyers.com , fax at (408) 268-6502, telephone at (408) 268-9500, or mail at DeVries & Solmonson, 6475 Camden Avenue, Suite 200, San Jose, CA 95120. Your matters are personal and private, so of course, he will not disclose your identity or any details about your situation. Want to learn about a specific legal issue or how DeVries can help you? Visit his Web site at www.almadenvalleylawyers.com . Almaden Times columns since 1986 are available there. DeVries writes this column to provide you with general information about important legal matters affecting California residents—not to give you legal advice about your specific matter. No attorney-client relationship is created by these articles. The law is complex and constantly changing and varies from state to state. So you should consult an attorney before taking any action that would affect your personal or business matters.