new york city bar admission lawyer

NEW YORK CHARACTER AND FITNESS COMMITTEE

After working hard in law school and passing a rigorous bar exam, it is now time to apply for admission to the bar and become a practicing lawyer. The process basically works like this. Attorneys are admitted to the practice of law in New York State through one of the four Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court, based upon the applicant’s address. The First Department covers Manhattan and the Bronx. All individuals who pass the New York State bar examination and the M.P.R.E., as well as those seeking admission on motion (from reciprocal jurisdictions), and foreign attorneys seeking to be licensed as foreign legal consultants in the First Judicial Department, must pass through an application process administered by the First Department’s Committee on Character and Fitness (“the Committee”).

All applicants must file an application questionnaire, with supporting documentation. Only complete applications will be accepted for filing. A complete application consists of the application questionnaire, all required accompanying forms and supporting documentation, including two Affidavits of Good Moral Character, and Legal Employment Affidavits from every law-related position you have held, including paid or unpaid internships, summer associate positions, volunteer work in law school clinics or elsewhere. The application materials also include law school certificates for you to fill out and send to every law school you attended. The law school then fills out its portion of the form and sends it directly to the Committee.

Issues during admission that can arise are, past criminal convictions, too much personal debt, lack of good moral character, and complaints from an outside source. The most important thing to do in this process is be forthcoming and cooperate with the examiners. It is also important to be polite and make their job as easy as possible. If you have received a letter from the Character and Fitness Committee, contact us at 917-519-8417 and let us guide you through the process.

 

MODES OF QUALIFYING FOR NEW YORK BAR EXAMINATION

Section 520 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law provides four routes for an applicant to qualify to take the New York bar examination, all of which require at least some form of classroom study in a law school.

1. ABA Approved Law School Study (JD graduates) - Applicant attended and was graduated with a first degree in law from a law school or law schools in the United States which at all times during the period of applicant's attendance was or were approved by the American Bar Association (ABA). (Section 520.3 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals)
List of ABA Approved Law Schools

2. Law Office Study/Clerkship - A combination of law school study at an ABA approved law school and law office study (520.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals).

3. Unapproved Law School Study - Graduation from an unapproved law school in the United States with a Juris Doctor degree and practice in a jurisdiction where the applicant has been admitted for 5 of the 7 years immediately preceding application to sit for the New York bar examination. (Section 520.5 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals)

4. Foreign Law School Study – Successful completion of a program of study at a law school outside of the United States that is both durationally and substantively equivalent to a program of study at an approved law school in the United States, and if required, successful completion of an additional program of study at an approved law school in the United States. (Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals) (See also, "Foreign Legal Education" section of this website)

Applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully review the eligibility rules in Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law before applying to sit for the bar examination. It is the responsibility of each applicant to be aware of the eligibility requirements and to demonstrate their compliance with the requirements of the Court Rules.

JURIS DOCTOR GRADUATES OF ABA APPROVED LAW SCHOOLS

Prospective applicants for the New York bar examination who are pursuing a Juris Doctor degree at an ABA approved law school should be aware that the requirements of Rule 520.3 may be more restrictive than the ABA standards. Graduation from an ABA approved law school does not automatically qualify an applicant to sit for the New York bar examination. JD students and graduates should be aware of the following:

Provisionally Approved Law Schools. The law school which the applicant attended must have been approved by the ABA during all periods of the applicant’s attendance. Provisional ABA approval is acceptable provided that the law school had provisional status during all periods of the applicant’s attendance. If the law school did not have ABA approval during all periods of the applicant’s attendance, it will be necessary for the applicant to petition the Court of Appeals under Section 520.14 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals, for a waiver of strict compliance with the provisions of Section 520.3 of the Court Rules. Applicants who will need to petition the Court of Appeals for a waiver should do so as early as possible and preferably no later than 60 days prior to the date of the bar examination.

Program of Study must satisfy the instructional requirements of Rule 520.3. Graduates of ABA approved law schools with a first degree in law should be prepared to submit sufficient proof that the program of study that they followed satisfies the instructional requirements of Section 520.3, including the Residency Requirements of subsection (d) and (e).

Residency Requirements. All applicants seeking to qualify for the New York bar examination on the basis of graduation with a first degree in law from an ABA approved law school or graduation from an unapproved law school or foreign legal study must demonstrate that the program of study which they pursued fully complies with the residency requirements of either a full time program under Section 520.3(d) or a part time program under Section 520.3(e). The rule sets forth minimum and maximum number of calendar weeks in which the applicant may be in residence in the law school program. The rule prevents an applicant from completing their law school program of study in either too short or too long of a period of time.

Rule 520.3(d) requires ”a full-time program shall consist of at least 75 and no more than 105 calendar weeks in residence, including reading periods not to exceed one week per semester and examinations, of at least 10 classroom periods per week, scheduled principally between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., totaling not less than the equivalent of 1,120 hours of classroom study, exclusive of examination time. A calendar week shall include four days of scheduled classes; however, no more than three three-day weeks per semester may be counted toward the 75-week minimum. A semester which includes successful completion of at least 10 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 15 full-time weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision. As allowed under subdivision (h) of this section, a summer session which includes successful completion of at least 5 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 7.5 full-time calendar weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision.”

Rule 520.3(e) requires “a part-time program shall consist of at least 105 and no more than 135 calendar weeks in residence, including reading periods not to exceed one week per semester and examinations, of at least eight classroom periods per week, irrespective of the hours at which the classroom periods are scheduled, totaling not less than the equivalent of 1,120 hours of classroom study, exclusive of examination time. A calendar week shall include three days of scheduled classes; however, no more than three two-day weeks per semester may be counted toward the 105-week minimum. A semester which includes successful completion of at least 8 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 15 part-time weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision. As allowed under subdivision (h) of this section, a summer session which includes successful completion of at least 4 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 7.5 part-time calendar weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision.

As provided in Rule 520.3(d), a full-time student must successfully complete a minimum of 10 credit hours per week of study, with classes scheduled at least 4 days per week, to be entitled to residency credit for a given semester or term. Part-time students must successfully complete a minimum of 8 credit hours per week of study, with classes scheduled at least 3 days per week, to be entitled to residency credit for a given semester or term. Generally, if a full-time student successfully completes at least 10 credits per semester, the student may not be in residence in the law school program for more than 7 semesters; if a part-time student successfully completes at least 8 credits per semester the student may be in residence in the law school for more than 9 semesters. Students should also be aware that summer terms in which the student successfully completes at least 5 credits for full-time students, or 4 credits for part-time students, will result in 7.5 weeks of residency credit. No residency credit is awarded for an unsuccessful semester, term or period of study.

Weekend Programs Do Not Satisfy Eligibility Requirements. Since Rule 520.3(e) requires part-time students to have classes scheduled at least 3 days per week, prospective bar exam applicants should be aware that pursuing a weekend program of study WILL NOT qualify an individual to sit for the New York bar examination.

Proof of Compliance Required for Graduates of ABA Approved Law Schools. Applicants qualifying to sit for the bar examination under Section 520.3 must file with the Board either (a) an original and official transcript from their law school with date of graduation or (b) a completed Certificate of Law School Attendance Form, together with the completed Specimen of Applicant’s Handwriting Form no later than February 1st for the February exam and no later than June 15 for the July exam.

CORRESPONDENCE STUDY, SELF-STUDY, ON-LINE LAW DEGREES

Law degrees obtained by way of correspondence, external, internet or self study do not qualify an individual to take the New York bar examination.

LAW OFFICE STUDY/CLERKSHIP

New York is one of only a few jurisdictions that permits an applicant to qualify to take the bar examination on the basis of some law school study combined with law office study or clerkship. Section 520.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals sets forth the eligibility requirements for law office study. Interested applicants are urged to carefully review the requirements of Section 520.3 To qualify to take the bar examination on the basis of law office study under Section 520.4, the applicant must demonstrate:

(1) that applicant commenced the study of law after applicant's 18th birthday; and
(2) that applicant successfully completed at least one academic year as a matriculated student in a full-time program or the equivalent in a part-time program at an approved law school and at the conclusion thereof was eligible to continue in that school's degree program; and
(3) that applicant thereafter studied law in a law office or offices located within New York State under the supervision of one or more attorneys admitted to practice law in New York State, for such a period of time as, together with the credit allowed pursuant to this section for attendance in an approved law school, shall aggregate four years.
Applicants who are interested in pursuing law office study must first obtain an evaluation of their eligibility from the State Board of Law Examiners before commencing any period of law office study.
After carefully reviewing rule, the applicant should submit a written request for an evaluation of eligibility to the Board office. Requests for an evaluation shall be made in the form of a letter and shall be accompanied by

(a) an original and official transcript from the applicant’s law school; and
(b) a written statement from an authorized official at the applicant’s law school which includes the student’s full-time or part-time status for each period of study attended, a characterization of each period of study as successful or unsuccessful, and whether the student was eligible to continue in the law school’s degree program at the conclusion of the studies.

Upon receipt of the request for an evaluation together with the required supporting documentation, the Board will determine whether the applicant meets the threshold criteria under Section 520.4 and issue a written determination in due course.

If an applicant meets the threshold criteria, the Board will then determine how much credit toward the four year requirement the applicant should receive for their law school study, and notify the applicant how many weeks of law office study must be completed before the applicant may apply for the bar examination. Next, the applicant must obtain a position as a law clerk/student in a law office, and have the attorney with whom he or she is working complete and file a Certificate of Commencement of Law Office Study with the Court of Appeals.

The Court's Address:
Clerk
Court of Appeals
20 Eagle Street
Albany, NY 12207

The applicant must study law in the law office under the supervision of an attorney who is admitted to practice law in New York for a period of four years. (Credit toward this four year requirement is given for successfully completed semesters in an ABA approved law school.) Once the required period of law office study is completed, the applicant is eligible to apply for the New York State bar examination. When applying for the bar examination, the applicant and the attorney or attorneys responsible for the law office study both must complete affidavits.

UNAPPROVED LAW SCHOOL STUDY

Graduates of non-ABA Approved law schools located in the United States who have also actively practiced law in a U.S. jurisdiction for 5 of the 7 years preceding application to the New York bar examination may qualify to sit for the bar examination under Section 520.5 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals. Rule 520.5 sets forth the following requirements which must be met by graduates of non-ABA approved law schools seeking to take the New York bar examination:

(1) applicant has studied law in any law school in any other state or territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia, other than a law school which grants credit for correspondence courses; and

(2) the applicant has received a degree from such law school which qualifies such applicant to practice law in such state, territory or in the District of Columbia; and

(3) the applicant's course of study complies with the instructional and program requirement of section 520.3(c) through (i) of the Rules of the Court of Appeals, including the residency requirements of subdivision (d) or (e) [See Residency Requirements above]; and

(4) that while admitted to the bar in the highest court in any other state or territory of the United States or in the District of Columbia, applicant has actually practiced therein for at least five years of the seven years immediately preceding the application to sit for the bar examination.

Proof of compliance required for Graduates of non-ABA Approved law schools. Applicants qualifying to sit for the bar examination under Section 520.5 must file the following proof in the Board office no later than February 1st for the February exam and no later than June 15 for the July exam:

(a) Your law school must file the Law School Certificate of Attendance form, a copy of which may be downloaded from the “Forms” section of the Board’s website;
(b) Proof of admission to practice in another jurisdiction or jurisdictions in the form of a Certificate of Good Standing;
(c) An affidavit from the applicant setting forth the periods and places of law practice including the dates and names of employers;
(d) Affidavits from supervising attorneys, partners, judges, confirming proof of practice for five of the seven years preceding application to the New York bar exam;
(e) Your completed handwriting sample certified by an authorized official at your law school or by a Notary Public.

FOREIGN LAW SCHOOL STUDY

Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law contains the eligibility requirements for applicants who wish to qualify for the New York State bar examination based on the study of law in a foreign country. Compliance with the requirements of the Rules of the Court of Appeals must be proved to the satisfaction of the Board before an applicant may be permitted to sit for the bar examination. For more detailed information concerning the eligibility requirements for foreign educated attorneys, individuals should carefully review Rule 520.6 and the information located in the Foreign Legal Education section of this website


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