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The Santa Clara County Bar Association has lost more than half its revenue, shed hundreds of members and volunteers, and is burning through cash. Its CEO is being sued in federal court and the organization that is supposed to protect the public from shady lawyers may not be able to protect itself.<\/p>\n
By Susan Bassi, Fred Johnson, and Faith Strader<\/p>\n
Imagine you needed a lawyer and had no idea where to start. You might call the local bar association \u2014 a nonprofit group that is supposed to connect regular people with attorneys and make sure the legal system is fair. In Santa Clara County, that organization is the Santa Clara County Bar Association, or SCCBA. But there is a problem: the SCCBA itself is in serious trouble.<\/p>\n
Tax records show the local bar has more debt than assets. The number of lawyers who belong has plummeted. Volunteers are down nearly 70 percent, and the organization is now defending<\/a> a federal civil rights lawsuit.<\/p>\n This is what the numbers say \u2014 and what they mean for anyone who might one day need a lawyer in Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n What the bar association is supposed to do<\/p>\n The SCCBA was founded in 1968. Its mission, as stated on its IRS filings, is \u201cto serve the legal profession and the general welfare of the people of Santa Clara County.\u201d<\/p>\n In plain English, the local bar is supposed to: help people find lawyers through its Lawyer Referral Service; help people who feel overcharged by a lawyer through its Fee Arbitration program; provide training and education to attorneys; and keep the legal community honest.<\/p>\n Despite being prohibited from engaging in political activities, SCCBA endorsed and supported Jeff Rosen\u2019s<\/a> political campaign for Santa Clara County District Attorney back in 2010, without approval from all its members. Further, the organization\u2019s leaders actively participated in the underground Bench- Bar- Media- Police Committee (BBMP)<\/a> until 2023, when the illicit club \u00a0was shuttered following the Vanguard\u2019s reporting<\/a>.<\/p>\n The bar is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit \u2014 a tax-exempt membership organization, like a trade association. It is governed by an elected Board of Trustees and run day-to-day by its CEO and General Counsel, Sherry Diamond<\/a>. \u00a0<\/p>\n The numbers: then and now<\/p>\n The IRS requires nonprofits to annually file a Form 990. A tax document that publicly discloses revenue, expenses, salaries, board members, and other financial details. Public records show a stark difference between SCCBA\u2019s 2010 filing, under longtime Executive Director Christine Burdick \u2014 and its 2024 filing under Sherry Diamond.<\/p>\n Category2010 \u2014 Burdick era2024 \u2014 Diamond eraMembers2,887Not reported (dues fell 61%)Total revenue$1,183,089$579,285Total expenses$1,174,188$715,644Annual surplus \/ (deficit)+$8,901-$136,359Membership dues collected$689,136$267,516Lawyer referral fees$173,047$89,006Arbitration fees$62,160$99,712Paid staff117Volunteers600185Board members3418Total assets$85,272$196,723Total debts$666,796$356,353Net assets (assets minus debts)-$581,524-$159,630CEO pay$166,555 (Burdick)$152,220 total (Diamond)Unsecured loanNone$140,830<\/p>\n Membership dues, the main source of income for any bar association, has collapsed 61 percent, from $689,136 to $267,516. The 2024 filing does not even state how many members the bar has, but a 61 percent fall in dues strongly suggests thousands of lawyers have walked away.<\/p>\n Volunteers dropped from 600 to 185.<\/p>\n The board shrank from 34 to 18 members.<\/p>\n Staff was cut from 11 to 7.<\/p>\n These are not small fluctuations. They suggest an organization that has been quietly hollowing out for years.<\/p>\n In 2024, the bar spent $136,359 more than it earned. Ironically, an amount that closely equates Sherry Diamond\u2019s annual salary.<\/p>\n \u00a0SCCBA holds an unsecured loan of $140,830 on its books and had only $181,213 in cash at year\u2019s end. Its total debts of $356,353 are nearly double its total assets of $196,723. The bar has never had positive net assets in either period reviewed \u2014 it has always owed more than it owned \u2014 but the size of the 2024 annual loss is a bright red warning light.<\/p>\n Two programs that serve regular people \u2014 and what\u2019s happened to them<\/p>\n The SCCBA runs two programs that directly affect members of the public, not just lawyers.<\/p>\n Lawyer Referral Service. For a $45 fee, anyone can call the SCCBA and get connected with a local attorney for a 30-minute consultation. Income from this program dropped from $173,047 in 2010 to $89,006 in 2024 \u2014 nearly half.<\/p>\n Fee Arbitration. This program is supposed to be a neutral place where clients can challenge a lawyer\u2019s bill. Fee arbitration revenue rose 60 percent \u2014 from $62,160 in 2010 to $99,712 in 2024. That sounds like good news, but critics argue the program is not truly neutral. Litigants have long complained that the attorneys who sit on arbitration panels are often from the same tight professional network as the lawyers they are supposed to be judging.<\/p>\n Who\u2019s running the bar now<\/p>\n Key SCCBA Board of Trustees figures include:<\/p>\n NameRoleFirmGolnesa MonazamfarPresident, 2025Law Offices of Golnesa MonazamfarAmy CarlsonPresident-electCarbone Smith & Koyama \/ CSAA InsuranceClaire MelehaniTreasurerMcLellan Law Group LLPRachel McKenzieSecretaryPro Bono Project of Silicon ValleyAndrea JustoImmediate Past PresidentParedes Justo, PCEric J. ChangTrusteeU.S. Department of JusticeSandra McManusTrusteeMcManus Family LawErika LeeTrusteeFadem & Associates Family LawMoksha SmithTrusteeMagdalena Law GroupB.J. FademTrusteeFadem & Associates Family LawAdam DavisTrustee\u2014Sarah CookDelegate\u2014Jackie JudsonDelegate\u2014Shaela PrinceDelegate\u2014Vincent ShueDelegate\u2014Stephanie Roque-HurtadoDelegate\u2014Morgan WillesDelegate\u2014<\/p>\n Attorney MEMEBERS SUED in federal court<\/p>\n As previously reported<\/a>, Sherry Diamond admitted to the state bar she had shredded Father in Exile\u2019s<\/a> complaint about fairness in the courts. Diamond and SCCBA ended up being sued in federal court because of Diamond\u2019s actions. The local bar tried to have the case thrown out. But in early April 2026, U.S. District Judge Araceli Mart\u00ednez-Olgu\u00edn of the Northern District of California said no \u2014 the case will proceed. The father\u2019s claim that Diamond may have violated his constitutional rights survived its first major legal hurdle.<\/p>\n For a bar association already losing money, adding federal litigation defense costs to the ledger is not a small thing.<\/p>\n B.J. Fadem (left) and Court Attorney Sharon Roper head to the SCCBA annual holiday party in 2025. Photo by Susan Bassi<\/p>\n B.J. Fadem<\/a> is a family law attorney whose firm, Fadem & Associates, has two representatives on the SCCBA board \u2014 Fadem himself and fellow trustee Erika Lee. Fadem has been the subject of sustained investigative reporting<\/a> by the Vanguard and on Susan Bassi\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>, which has accumulated more than 10 million views in 2025 alone.<\/p>\n Fadem has been regularly appointed by Santa Clara County Superior Court judges as a private judge and as \u201cminors counsel\u201d \u2014 a court-appointed attorney who is supposed to represent the best interests of children whose parents are divorcing.<\/p>\n As previously reported,<\/a> Fadem sought a restraining order against a child client\u2019s aunt who had been attending hearings and posting about the case on social media, arguing her posts amounted to harassment. In March 2024, the judge presiding over that matter ruled that attending public court hearings and posting on social media are protected First Amendment activities.<\/p>\n In another widely reported<\/a> case involving a child named Faith, Fadem was appointed to represent the child\u2019s interests. Fadem \u2014 who is transgender \u2014 did not disclose his transgender identity to the child\u2019s father, even as he successfully influenced a judge to alter the child\u2019s name, gender identity, and pronouns in the court record. Three years later, Faith appeared on social media using her given name and female pronouns; the day after this news organization inquired with Fadem about the discrepancy, the account was taken down.<\/p>\n B.J. Fadem charges parents $550 per hour in his minors counsel cases and bills separately for paralegal time. Fadem and SCCBA DEI leadership member, Nicole Ford, are regularly appointed as minors counsel in family law cases and are co-defendants in ongoing federal litigation in connection with those appointments.<\/p>\n Burdick vs. Diamond: two eras, very different results<\/p>\n Christine Burdick ran the SCCBA for years as Executive Director. In 2010, the bar had nearly 2,900 members, 600 volunteers, 11 staff, and a board of 34. It ran a small annual surplus. Burdick earned $166,555 that year.<\/p>\n Sherry Diamond\u2019s 2024 total pay from the SCCBA is $152,220 ($135,000 base salary plus $17,220 in other compensation).<\/p>\n Under Diamond\u2019s five-year tenure, the bar has lost thousands of members, shed two-thirds of its volunteers, cut staff, shrunk the board, run a $136,359 operating deficit in 2024 and lost physical office space in the region. Diamond works from her home for an hour from the local courts.<\/p>\n Is the bar solvent?<\/p>\n Barely \u2014 and the direction is wrong.<\/p>\n The SCCBA has technically owed more than it owned for as long as these records go back. In 2010, its net assets were negative at $581,524. By 2024, that figure had improved to negative $159,630. But here is the catch: the improvement is largely because the bar\u2019s deferred revenue \u2014 prepaid dues and fees it owes in future services \u2014 shrank from $465,109 to $174,673. In other words, it has fewer obligations to members in the future because it has fewer members.<\/p>\n The more alarming signal is the 2024 operating loss of $136,359. If the bar continues spending more than it earns at the same rate, it will exhaust its reserves quickly. The bar has only $181,213 in cash, an unsecured loan of $140,830 still on the books, and $30,195 in unpaid bills. Its financial statements have not been independently audited, so the figures cannot be verified by an outside accountant.<\/p>\n The bottom line<\/p>\n The Santa Clara County Bar Association was once a thriving professional organization that could credibly claim to serve both lawyers and the public. In 2024, it is smaller, poorer, and more legally vulnerable than it has been in recent memory.<\/p>\n Its CEO shredded a citizen\u2019s complaint and is now defending a federal lawsuit over it. One of its board trustees \u2014 who also runs a firm that has two seats at the board table \u2014 is also defending a federal lawsuit.<\/p>\n The fee arbitration program that is supposed to hold lawyers accountable for overbilling is overseen in part by the same lawyers it is meant to oversee. The referral program that is supposed to connect people with honest attorneys is shrinking.<\/p>\n The local bar\u2019s mission statement says it exists to serve \u201cthe legal profession and the general welfare of the people of Santa Clara County.\u201d Whether an organization this financially stretched, this legally embattled, and this diminished in membership and staff can fulfill that mission is a fair question \u2014 and one that its remaining members, the public, and state regulators may increasingly have reason to ask.<\/p>\n Follow the Vanguard on Social Media \u2013 X<\/a>, Instagram <\/a>and Facebook<\/a>.\u00a0 Subscribe <\/a>the Vanguard News letters.\u00a0 To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org\/donate<\/a> or give directly through ActBlue<\/a>.\u00a0 Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.<\/p>\n Categories: Breaking News<\/a> Everyday Injustice<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/image-3-1024x840.gif\")
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