Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

Contact the State Bar of California, calbar.ca.gov .

Send the attorney a certified, return receipt letter demanding payment by a reasonable date. Keep a copy of the letter for evidence, and copy the envelope as well. Contact the State Bar, and indicate on the letter "cc: State Bar of California." That should get the lawyer's attention.

It depends on when he received it. When an attorney receives a settlement, that constitutes your funds, and funds belonging to others, including his fees or third party providers with liens, he has to place it in his attorney client trust account. Depending on the origin of the settlement funds, it make take several days for this to actually clear, before the funds are available for disbursement. There are other rules that apply, depending on whether or not you have a dispute, but I will not go into those here.