A senior member of the California State Bar Association has warned international firms and East Coast lawyers that impending reforms to the state’s practising rules will still leave major restrictions on out-of-state lawyers advising locally.

Mark Tuft, vice chair of the California State Bar Commission for the Revision of Rules of Professional Conduct, told delegates at the International Bar Association’s (IBA) annual conference that many out-of-state lawyers risked breaking the law through their ignorance of the rules.