Form 310 is the application you file with the State Bar of California’s Client Security Fund to recover money or property lost to an attorney’s dishonest conduct. You can download the PDF from calbar.ca.gov, complete it online, or email the finished form, and the fund will reimburse up to $100,000 per claim for losses that occurred on or after January 1, 2009.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund You have four years from the date you discovered the loss to file.2State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund
Confirm Your Claim Qualifies Before You File
The fund is narrower than most complaints about a lawyer. It only reimburses losses caused by specific categories of dishonest conduct, and the attorney who harmed you must already be in a particular status with the State Bar. Filing without checking both can mean months of waiting for a denial.
Dishonest Conduct the Fund Covers
The qualifying categories under the Client Security Fund rules are:1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund
- Theft or embezzlement of your money or property, including settlement funds.
- Failure to refund unearned fees after little or no work was performed. A partial dispute where the attorney did substantial work does not qualify.
- Sham borrowing, where the attorney took a loan from you without the intent or ability to repay.
- Fake investments the attorney never actually made. An investment that simply lost money is not covered.
- Other intentional dishonesty that directly caused you to lose money or property.
Poor judgment, sloppy work, and communication failures are not covered. If your attorney botched your case through incompetence rather than stealing, your remedy is a malpractice suit, not this fund.
The Attorney’s Required Status
You also must show the attorney received your money or property while acting as your lawyer or in a related fiduciary role, such as trustee, executor, guardian, or conservator. And at the time you file, the attorney must fall into at least one of these categories:1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund
- Disbarred, disciplined, or voluntarily resigned from the State Bar.
- Deceased or adjudicated mentally incompetent.
- Convicted of a crime related to the dishonest conduct, or has become your judgment debtor in a contested proceeding over the same loss.
If the attorney is still in good standing with no discipline, conviction, or judgment against them, the fund cannot process your application yet. The rules also expect you to file a disciplinary complaint with the State Bar’s Office of the Chief Trial Counsel. A Notice of Intention to Pay generally will not issue unless you have done so, though the fund manager has discretion to waive this.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund The disciplinary complaint is a separate filing, but it runs in parallel and often generates evidence that strengthens your reimbursement claim.
The Four-Year Deadline
Your application must reach the fund within four years of the date you discovered the loss, or the date you reasonably should have discovered it.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund The clock starts when you actually learn the money is gone, not when the attorney first took it. If funds were embezzled in 2022 and you found out in 2024, your deadline runs from 2024. Ignoring obvious warning signs will not extend it.
What to Gather Before You Start the Form
Assemble your documents before you open Form 310. Supplementing the file later slows everything down, and the fund expects every dollar backed by paper.2State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund
To establish the attorney-client relationship, pull your written fee agreement or retainer contract, billing statements, and receipts for any payments you made. To prove the loss itself, collect copies of canceled checks (front and back), bank statements showing transfers to the attorney, and any letters or documents confirming the attorney received the money or property. Court records like transcripts or minute orders help when the dishonest conduct happened during litigation.
Correspondence is often the strongest evidence. Emails, text messages, and letters where the attorney promised to return funds, acknowledged holding your money, or went silent after you asked for an accounting all support the claim. Include copies of any police reports or complaints you filed with other agencies as well.
Completing Form 310
The form itself is short, but two parts carry more weight than the rest.
You will need the attorney’s full name and State Bar number. If you don’t have the number, search the public attorney directory on calbar.ca.gov. The form asks for the dates legal services were performed, the specific dollar amount lost, when you discovered the loss, and whether any insurance, bond, or other source has already reimbursed part of it.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund Report any offsets honestly. The fund subtracts them before calculating payment, and misrepresenting them can create separate legal problems.
Question 5(b) asks you to describe, on a separate sheet, exactly how the loss happened in chronological order. The fund’s instruction sheet says your application cannot be processed without this written summary.2State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund Be specific with dates and dollar amounts. A sentence like “my lawyer took my money and won’t return calls” gives the examiner nothing to work with. Walk through each payment, what the attorney was supposed to do with it, and what actually happened.
Sign and date the form. Your signature is a declaration under penalty of perjury, so everything you state must be truthful.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund
How to Submit the Application
You have three ways to get the completed application to the fund:2State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund
- Online, directly through the State Bar’s website.
- By email to clientsecurityfund@calbar.ca.gov, attaching the completed PDF, your written summary, and your supporting documents.
- By mail to The State Bar of California, Client Security Fund, 845 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515.
There is no filing fee. Keep a complete copy of everything you submit. If you mail the package, use a method with delivery confirmation.
What Happens After You File
A staff examiner reviews your application and evidence. Expect a request for additional information if anything is missing or unclear. The State Bar also notifies the attorney named in the claim and gives them a chance to respond.
If the examiner finds the file complete and the evidence sufficient, the fund’s manager may issue a Notice of Intention to Pay. That notice tells the attorney the amount the fund intends to reimburse and gives thirty days to object in writing. Without a timely objection, the fund can proceed with payment.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund If you receive payment but think the approved amount is too low, you can file your own written objection within thirty days of receiving it, under penalty of perjury.
More complex claims, or ones the attorney contests, move to a Tentative Decision from the fund’s counsel. You and the attorney each get thirty days to object. If no one objects, the Tentative Decision becomes final. If someone does, the Client Security Fund Commission reviews the record, may hold an oral hearing, and issues a Final Decision granting or denying reimbursement.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund
The State Bar’s instruction sheet acknowledges a large backlog and says it cannot predict processing time for any individual claim.2State Bar of California. Applying to the Client Security Fund Realistically, plan on well over a year from submission to final decision, longer if the attorney contests or the fund requests more documentation.
The $100,000 Cap and What You Give Up by Accepting Payment
The maximum reimbursement for any single claim is $100,000, and cumulative payments to the same applicant involving the same attorney cannot exceed that amount either.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund The cap applies to losses on or after January 1, 2009. If your loss is larger, the fund pays up to the cap and you can pursue the remainder through civil litigation against the attorney.
Accepting payment comes with a condition. You must sign a subrogation and assignment agreement transferring your legal claims against the attorney to the State Bar, up to the reimbursed amount. The State Bar can then pursue the attorney to recover what it paid. The application carries a bold-print warning that filing may mean giving up the right to pursue a civil action against a third party for the same recovery.3The State Bar of California. Rules of Procedure Client Security Fund Matters If the State Bar recovers more than it paid you, the excess comes back to you.
If Your Claim Is Denied
A Final Decision denying reimbursement can be challenged by seeking judicial review in California Superior Court under Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5. You have ninety days from the date the decision was served on you to file.1The State Bar of California. Title 3 Division 4 Chapter 1 Client Security Fund This is a court proceeding rather than an informal appeal, so talking with an attorney before filing is worth the time.