| Admission To The Bar In The United States |
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In the United States , admission to the bar is permission granted by a particular court system to a Lawyer to Practice Law in that system. Each U.S. State and similar jurisdiction (e.g. Territory ) can and does set its own rules for bar admission, as a matter of court sovereignty. In practice, this leads to exceptions to nearly every general rule of bar admission. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION Each state has its own rules which are the ultimate authority concerning admission to its bar. Generally, admission to a bar requires that the candidate do the following:
EXCEPTIONS TO THE GENERAL RULES OF ADMISSION Pro Se Litigants An individual need not be a member of a state bar to represent him or herself Pro Se . Waiver Minnesota , North Dakota and the District Of Columbia allow attorneys who recently passed the bar exam of another state, and who were subsequently admitted to the bar of that state while scoring a certain minimum score on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), to "waive" into admission rather than sitting for that jurisdiction's exam (though they still must attend to other formalities in order to practice in the jurisdiction). Attorneys who passed the bars of Louisiana , Washington , and Puerto Rico cannot "waive in" using this method, since these are the three jurisdictions in the United States that do not use the Multistate Bar Examination. Diploma privilege Once used by as many as 32 U.S. states and the District Of Columbia , Wisconsin is currently the only state that offers the Diploma Privilege for admission to its state bar. New Hampshire will reinstitute the diploma privilege for a limited number of students in 2008 (see below). Most recently, West Virginia did away with the rule in 1988, Montana in 1983 and Mississippi in 1981. In Wisconsin, graduates of the two ABA-accredited law schools in the state—currently, the Marquette University Law School and the University Of Wisconsin Law School —may obtain admission to the bar of Wisconsin through the diploma privilege without taking any examination. To qualify for the diploma privilege, the graduate must have met certain criteria with regard to the courses taken in law school and the graduate's performance in those courses. Marquette, unlike UW, does not enforce the 30/60 rules regarding certain courses. Law graduates seeking the diploma privilege must still meet the state bar's character and fitness requirements. Graduates of out-of-state law schools, even if they are Wisconsin residents, must still take the Wisconsin bar exam to be admitted in Wisconsin. In April 2007, Christopher L. Wiesmueller, a Wisconsin native attending law school (May 2007 graduate) at Oklahoma City University School Of Law filed a complaint in the United States District Court For The Western District Of Wisconsin , challenging the constitutionality of the diploma privilege. Wiesmueller is pursuing the case pro se against 19 named defendants, including all seven Wisconsin Supreme Court justices. The case has been assigned to Judge John C. Shabaz , a graduate of Marquette University Law School (1957) and a beneficiary of the state’s diploma privilege. Graduates of Wisconsin law schools must take the bar exam for other states in which they are going to practice (unless a candidate meets the state's waiver requirements). In . Students apply to the program during the spring of their 1L (first) year, and only 25 are accepted annually. Webster Scholars go through an intensive, practice-based program under the supervision of New Hampshire judges, attorneys, and bar examiners. Students who graduate from the program are exempt from taking the New Hampshire bar examination, although they must still pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination and also meet character and fitness requirements. The first class of Webster Scholars will graduate in 2008 . A number of U.S. states do not grant reciprocal admission for attorneys who obtained their bar admission through the diploma privilege, requiring those attorneys to take that state's bar exam, regardless of the length of that attorney's practice. Reciprocity (Admission by Motion Without Examination, Admission by Comity) Many states allow for Reciprocal admission to the bar of that state if an individual is licensed to practice in another state and has actively practiced law for a number of years. Depending on the state, there may be limitations on reciprocity, such as requiring a minimum score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), or even that the applicant have taken a bar examination in the previous jurisdiction. For example, Rule XIII of the Texas Board of Law Examiners allows attorneys practicing full-time 5 of the last 7 years in another state and who meet minimum scores on the MPRE to be admitted to the Texas Bar without having to sit for the Texas Bar Examination. Most states that allow reciprocal admission define "full-time practice" to include not only attorneys working in law firms or solo practice, but also law teachers in accredited U.S. law schools; military JAG attorneys; federal and state government attorneys; judges, magistrates, administrative law judges, and similar officials; and in-house corporate counsel. Some states, however, have their own quirks:
Limited license to practice law A number of jurisdictions will issue, without examination, a limited license to practice law to attorneys already admitted in another jurisdiction under specified conditions. The most common limited licenses are:
Law schools not accredited by the ABA Alabama , California , Massachusetts , and Tennessee , allow individuals to take the bar exam upon graduation from law schools approved by state bodies but not accredited by the American Bar Association . Admission Without Law School |
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