(a) Subject to the provisions of subdivision (b), shares of capital stock in a professional corporation may be issued only to a licensed person or to a person who is licensed to render the same professional services in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which the person practices, and any shares issued in violation of this restriction shall be void. Unless there is a public offering of securities by a professional corporation or by a foreign professional corporation in this state, its financial statements shall be treated by the Commissioner of Financial Protection and Innovation as confidential, except to the extent that such statements shall be subject to subpoena in connection with any judicial or administrative proceeding, and may be admissible in evidence therein. A shareholder of a professional corporation or of a foreign professional corporation qualified to render professional services in this state shall not enter into a voting trust, proxy, or any other arrangement vesting another person (other than another person who is a shareholder of the same corporation) with the authority to exercise the voting power of any or all of the shareholder’s shares, and any purported voting trust, proxy, or other arrangement shall be void.

(b) A professional law corporation may be incorporated as a nonprofit public benefit corporation under the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law under either of the following circumstances:

Terms Used In California Corporations Code 13406

  • Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
  • Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
  • Foreign professional corporation: means a corporation organized under the laws of a state of the United States other than this state that is engaged in a profession of a type for which there is authorization in the Business and Professions Code for the performance of professional services by a foreign professional corporation. See California Corporations Code 13401
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Licensed person: means any natural person who is duly licensed under the provisions of the Business and Professions Code, the Chiropractic Act, or the Osteopathic Act to render the same professional services as are or will be rendered by the professional corporation or foreign professional corporation of which the person is, or intends to become, an officer, director, shareholder, or employee. See California Corporations Code 13401
  • Person: includes a corporation as well as a natural person. See California Corporations Code 18
  • Professional corporation: means a corporation organized under the General Corporation Law or pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 13406 that is engaged in rendering professional services in a single profession, except as otherwise authorized in Section 13401. See California Corporations Code 13401
  • Professional services: means any type of professional services that may be lawfully rendered only pursuant to a license, certification, or registration authorized by the Business and Professions Code, the Chiropractic Act, or the Osteopathic Act. See California Corporations Code 13401
  • State: means the State of California, unless applied to the different parts of the United States. See California Education Code 77
  • Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.

(1) The corporation is a qualified legal services project or a qualified support center within the meaning of subdivisions (a) and (b) of § 6213 of the Business and Professions Code.

(2) The professional law corporation otherwise meets all of the requirements and complies with all of the provisions of the Nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation Law, as well as all of the following requirements:

(A) All of the members of the corporation, if it is a membership organization as described in the Nonprofit Corporation Law, are persons licensed to practice law in California.

(B) All of the members of the professional law corporation’s board of directors are persons licensed to practice law in California.

(C) Seventy percent of the clients to whom the corporation provides legal services are lower income persons as defined in § 50079.5 of the Health and Safety Code, and to other persons who would not otherwise have access to legal services.

(D) The corporation shall not enter into contingency fee contracts with clients.

(c) A professional law corporation incorporated as a nonprofit public benefit corporation that is a recipient in good standing as defined in subdivision (c) of § 6213 of the Business and Professions Code shall be deemed to have satisfied all of the filing requirements of a professional law corporation under Sections 6161.1, 6162, and 6163 of the Business and Professions Code.

(Amended by Stats. 2022, Ch. 452, Sec. 62. (SB 1498) Effective January 1, 2023.)

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