How do I verify that a California attorney is licensed?

Search the attorney by name or bar number in the State Bar of California's official licensee records at apps.calbar.ca.gov, and confirm the status reads Active. Only an active licensee may practise law in California under Business and Professions Code section 6125, so any other status — inactive, suspended, disbarred, resigned — means the person may not practise, whatever a website says.

Verification is a two-minute check against one authoritative source. Search the attorney by name or bar number in the State Bar of California's licensee records at apps.calbar.ca.gov. The official record shows the licence status, the bar number, the admission date, the address of record, and any public discipline. The single field that matters is status: California Business and Professions Code section 6125 provides that no person may practise law in California unless they are an active licensee of the State Bar, so a status of inactive, suspended, disbarred, resigned, or not eligible to practise means that person cannot represent you, regardless of what a firm website, a directory listing, or a business card says. Two practical points. Names repeat on the roll, so match on the bar number where you have one — it is unique and permanent. And a record can be correct and still be out of date on contact details, because attorneys update those themselves; the licence status is the part the State Bar maintains. California Attorney Registry indexes the same official records, one page per attorney, and every profile links back to the State Bar so you can confirm what you read here at the source.

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