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Senate Rules Committee advances George Cardona after hearing on State Bar reforms
Summary
The Senate Rules Committee voted to advance George Cardona to the full California Senate for confirmation as the State Bar’s chief trial counsel after a hearing focused on discipline reforms, case backlogs and safeguards adopted after the Girardi failures. Cardona and supporters said reforms and data-gathering are reducing disparities; some senators asked for more detail on the Eastman disbarment and staffing.
George Cardona, the State Bar of California’s chief trial counsel, told the Senate Rules Committee that his office has made “significant changes to our policies and procedures” since the failures exposed by the Tom Girardi matter and urged the committee to advance his nomination to the full Senate.
Cardona told senators he had overseen changes to conflict-of-interest rules, enhanced investigative requirements for client trust account cases and a diversion program for lower‑level matters. He also said the office has worked to reduce disparities identified in a 2019 study and its 2024 update, while acknowledging that “disparities remain and we still lack more complete data needed to identify and understand the root causes.”
The committee’s questioning focused on whether the safeguards now in place would prevent another high‑profile failure, how the office is addressing an increasing caseload and a staffing shortfall, and the State Bar’s use of…
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