What is a California bar number and how do I find one?

A California bar number is the unique, permanent identifier the State Bar of California assigns an attorney when they are admitted. It never changes and is not reused, which makes it the reliable way to tell apart attorneys who share a name. Find it by searching the attorney's name in the official licensee records at apps.calbar.ca.gov.

A California bar number is the unique identifier the State Bar of California assigns to an attorney on admission. It is permanent, it is not reissued, and it stays with the attorney through name changes, moves between firms, and changes of licence status. Because numbers are assigned in sequence as attorneys are admitted, a lower number generally indicates earlier admission — though it is an indicator of when someone was admitted, not of anything else, and it should not be read as a measure of ability. The number matters most for disambiguation. The California roll holds hundreds of thousands of licensees and common names repeat many times over, so name-only searches routinely return several people. The bar number resolves that immediately, which is why court filings, fee agreements, and correspondence carry it. To find one, search the attorney's name in the State Bar's licensee records at apps.calbar.ca.gov; the number appears on the profile with the licence status and admission date. It is also usually printed on an attorney's correspondence, filings, and website. California Attorney Registry builds each profile URL around the bar number for the same reason, so a link always resolves to one specific attorney.

Authority: State Bar of California licensee records