Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 1.4.1 · Chapter 1. Lawyer-Client Relationship
Communication of Settlement Offers
Text — 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
(a) A lawyer shall promptly communicate to the lawyer’s client:
(1) all terms and conditions of a proposed plea bargain or other dispositive offer made to the client in a criminal matter; and
(2) all amounts, terms, and conditions of any written* offer of settlement made to the client in all other matters.
(b) As used in this rule, “client” includes a person* who possesses the authority to accept an offer of settlement or plea, or, in a class action, all the named representatives of the class.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
Comment
An oral offer of settlement made to the client in a civil matter must also be communicated if it is a “significant development” under rule 1.4.
Source of truth
- Edition
- 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
- Official file
- https://www.calbar.ca.gov/sites/default/files/portals/0/documents/rules/Rules-of-Professional-Conduct.pdf (PDF pages 17)
- Text hash
- sha256 2565a7f176e64d3d3ca661cd429d21e2ca9954af20001f02bb14a38eb37faa58
- Composed by
- rpc/build 2026-10-22: the State Bar's 2026 PDF (pages 12-71) read by two readers, PyMuPDF glyph positions and pdfminer with the PDF's tagged structure, agreeing on 834 of 843 paragraphs character for character, the other nine (paragraph boundaries only) resolved against the rendered page; 205,485 printed glyphs accounted for; the State Bar's chapter pages a third reading
This rule cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
California Rules of Professional Conduct
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.