Automating Membership Renewals, Payments, and Compliance for the West Virginia State Bar
The West Virginia State Bar is an agency of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia. It oversees licensing and compliance for about 9,000 attorneys across the state. The Bar’s responsibilities include managing membership renewals, tracking attorney status, processing firm payments, and enforcing compliance with continuing education and financial reporting rules.
To manage these obligations effectively, the Bar needed a reliable system that could handle thousands of renewals, late fees, and status updates every fiscal year with full transparency and accuracy.
The Challenge
The Bar’s previous membership system relied on a complex mix of groups, tags, and manual data entry to track dues and attorney statuses. Staff often had to piece together information from several reports to determine who had paid, who was suspended, and who owed late fees.
Membership data lacked consistency, and balance reports were difficult to reconcile with payment records. Firm administrators could not easily verify or pay dues for multiple attorneys, creating additional workload for Bar staff.
There was also limited automation for enforcing rules around late fees and suspensions. Once members fell behind, reinstating them required multiple manual steps. The system needed to align with strict judicial reporting standards while also being simple for attorneys and firms to use.
The Solution
Membership Data Transformation
Skvare restructured the membership system by migrating all existing member data into CiviCRM’s built-in membership framework. Each membership type, Active, Active 1–3, Active Not Practicing, Inactive, Inactive 70+, and Judge, was clearly defined with its own rules for dues, voting, and compliance.
The transformation process also cleaned up duplicate records, linked past payments to the correct memberships, and replaced ad hoc tags with structured data. This created a single, authoritative source of truth for all membership records.
Unified Renewal and Fee Processing
The new Reporting and Fees webform consolidates annual renewals, fee payments, and reinstatements into one simple process. The form calculates dues automatically based on membership type and fiscal year logic. It also applies late fees, reinstatement charges, or waivers when appropriate.
Attorneys can pay online or by check using the same form. For those reinstating from suspension, the form updates their membership status once payment and compliance requirements are met.
Checksum-based payment links allow members to pay securely without logging in, simplifying the process during peak renewal periods.
Firm Management and Bulk Billing
Law firms with multiple attorneys can now manage renewals and payments through the Firm Employees portal. Firm administrators can view employee rosters, verify compliance, and download a consolidated invoice.
To record payments efficiently, staff export a firm roster with balances, enter check details, and re-import the spreadsheet through a CiviCRM extension that links each payment to the correct membership record. This eliminates manual reconciliation and ensures all payments are properly credited.
Automated Compliance and Status Control
The new system enforces compliance automatically. Membership status and payment eligibility are tied to CiviCRM rules that check CLE, IOLTA, and FRD completion. Attorneys suspended for missing CLE credits cannot pay fees until compliance is restored.
A status override feature gives staff control over edge cases, preventing automatic expirations during audits or appeals. Once an attorney becomes compliant and pays dues, their membership is reactivated immediately.
Transparent Accounting and Reporting
CiviCRM dashboards give staff and administrators real-time insight into every membership and balance. The All Member Balances report compares fee activities with contribution records to show what has been paid and what is still due.
Late fees are applied automatically after the defined grace period, and firm payments are linked to attorney records through the MembershipPayment table. These tools make reconciliation straightforward and eliminate the guesswork that once required manual checks and spreadsheets.
Results
The new membership and fee system has simplified operations for both attorneys and Bar staff.
Attorneys complete renewals and reinstatements in minutes, with clear payment options and compliance status updates. Firms handle large-scale renewals easily through automated billing tools and downloadable invoices.
For staff, the system reduced manual reconciliation, prevented data errors, and aligned every process with Supreme Court reporting requirements. Membership records are consistent, balances are accurate, and compliance status updates are immediate.
By rebuilding its membership management system on Drupal 10 and CiviCRM, the West Virginia State Bar gained a reliable foundation for future automation and growth, ensuring every attorney’s status and balance are tracked with clarity and precision.
At Skvare, we help organizations make the most of open source tools like Drupal and CiviCRM. To learn how we can simplify your membership or compliance systems, contact us today.