The attorneys were represented by the nonprofit public interest law firm Pacific Legal Foundation.

The State Bar lobbied on matters pending before the legislature and before other state agencies, filed briefs in politically charged cases, and convened a Conference of Delegates to adopt resolutions taking positions on highly contentious political and ideological issues.

[4] The objecting attorneys challenged the use of their dues for (1) lobbying on issues such as gun control, the death penalty, special education, exclusions from gift taxes, voter approval of low-rent housing projects, and immigration; (2) filing amicus curiae briefs in cases involving the constitutionality of a victim's bill of rights, the power of a workers’ compensation board to discipline attorneys, a requirement that attorney-public officials disclose names of clients, and the disqualification of a law firm; and (3) the adoption of resolutions by the State Bar's Conference of Delegates endorsing a gun control initiative, disapproving the statements of a United States senatorial candidate regarding court review of a victim’s bill of rights, endorsing a nuclear weapons freeze initiative, and opposing federal legislation limiting federal-court jurisdiction over abortions, public school prayer, and busing.

[4] The plaintiffs asked for an injunction forbidding the State bar from using mandatory dues for ideological or political purposes.

[10] Reasoning that membership in the State Bar was analogous to membership in a labor union, the Court held that the Bar would have to implement the procedures established in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson,[11] that is, the objectors were entitled to an adequate explanation of the basis for the fee, a reasonably prompt opportunity to challenge the amount of the fee before an impartial decisionmaker, and an escrow for the amounts reasonably in dispute while such challenges are pending.