California Lawyers to Pay $544 for Year’s License

California lawyers’ licensing fees are going up sharply for the first time in two decades under the latest measure aimed at reforming the state attorney licensing agency.

The 2020 base licensing fees for active California attorneys will increase triple digits, from $123 to $438 under Senate Bill 176 that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed into law Oct. 9. A license in California will cost $544 after adding a variety of fees, an Assembly Judiciary Committee analysis said.

It’s the first time in 20 years that fees were increased for the state’s more than 266,000 attorneys, including 190,000 lawyers who are ...