Cal. Rules of Prof. Conduct, rule 3.7 · Chapter 3. Advocate
Lawyer as Witness
Text — 2026 edition, as the State Bar of California publishes it (read October 22, 2026)
(a) A lawyer shall not act as an advocate in a trial in which the lawyer is likely to be a witness unless:
(1) the lawyer’s testimony relates to an uncontested issue or matter;
(2) the lawyer’s testimony relates to the nature and value of legal services rendered in the case; or
(3) the lawyer has obtained informed written consent* from the client. If the lawyer represents the People or a governmental entity, the consent shall be obtained from the head of the office or a designee of the head of the office by which the lawyer is employed.
(b) A lawyer may act as advocate in a trial in which another lawyer in the lawyer’s firm* is likely to be called as a witness unless precluded from doing so by rule 1.7 or rule 1.9.
Notes and commentary — not rule text
Comment
[1] This rule applies to a trial before a jury, judge, administrative law judge or arbitrator. This rule does not apply to other adversarial proceedings. This rule also does not apply in non-adversarial proceedings, as where a lawyer testifies on behalf of a client in a hearing before a legislative body.
[2] A lawyer’s obligation to obtain informed written consent* may be satisfied when the lawyer makes the required disclosure, and the client gives informed consent* on the record in court before a licensed court reporter or court recorder who prepares a transcript or recording of the disclosure and consent. See definition of “written” in rule 1.0.1(n).
[3] Notwithstanding a client’s informed written consent,* courts retain discretion to take action, up to and including disqualification of a lawyer who seeks to both testify and serve as an advocate, to protect the trier of fact from being misled or the opposing party from being prejudiced. (See, e.g., Lyle v. Superior Court (1981) 122 Cal.App.3d 470 [175 Cal.Rptr. 918].)
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 49)
- Text hash
- sha256 d03ba0f0ebb3b8ce452af6c82b2c6ed6a1dbbf355f13d5413ca07aa78f91d6c1
- 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
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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.