Thread: Applying for the Bar (Int'l student)

I am interested in participating in the Bar Exam within the next two years. I
am currently studying at BPP College of Professional Studies in London, England.
I was just wondering if you would know what I would need to do to apply for the Bar in New York. I am originally a US citizen and am keen to return home after my studies to practice.

Npatel

It is good that you are aleady considering your options at this early stage. You will firstly need a qualifying law degree AND it has to have been done at a recognised learning institution. You have to have put in a certain amount of classroom time, in other words your degree cannot be one that you have obtained via a distance learning programme. Take a look at the the NYB website it will tell you exactly all you need to prove to take the NY bar. As an international student I recommend that you begin your enquiries for the Bar exam at least 6 months before the date of the exam.

Good Luck

I am a foreign law school graduate and will be sitting for the California Bar Exam. In California, a foreign law school graduate who has a license to practice law in that jurisdiction is qualified to take the exam as an attorney applicant but he has to take the general bar examinations, which means sitting for the essay and mbe portions of the exam. A foreign attorney has to submit a certificate of good standing from his country in which he is admitted to practice law. However, if one is only a foreign law school graduate, California requires that he has to attend a law school in the U.S. accredited by the American Bar Association or by the California State Bar. I went to a law school here in California for an LLM degree and most of my classmates who were foreign law school graduates were in that latter's predicament. So if you are not licensed to practice law in any foreign jurisdiction you have to enroll and get an LLM degree to sit for Bar here in the U.S.

However, NY is entirely different, in that a graduate with a law degree from the UK (LLB) is able to apply take the NY Bar without having to attend law school in the USA.

Originally Posted by ronsalvoro

I am a foreign law school graduate and will be sitting for the California Bar Exam. In California, a foreign law school graduate who has a license to practice law in that jurisdiction is qualified to take the exam as an attorney applicant but he has to take the general bar examinations, which means sitting for the essay and mbe portions of the exam. A foreign attorney has to submit a certificate of good standing from his country in which he is admitted to practice law. However, if one is only a foreign law school graduate, California requires that he has to attend a law school in the U.S. accredited by the American Bar Association or by the California State Bar. I went to a law school here in California for an LLM degree and most of my classmates who were foreign law school graduates were in that latter's predicament. So if you are not licensed to practice law in any foreign jurisdiction you have to enroll and get an LLM degree to sit for Bar here in the U.S.

Do you also have to sit the First-Year Law Student's Exam? ...I keep reading that if you don't do it after one year, say after the GDL and before the LPC? Any advice would be much appreciated.