Foreign Educated Lawyers & International Students – The Eligibility Requirements- New York, California & Washington, D.C.
August 6, 2020
Most states require a J.D. degree from a US law school in order to sit for the bar exam. Even an LL.M. degree does not guarantee eligibility to take the bar exam.
There are some states which do allow foreign law graduates to sit for the bar exam, including New York, California, New Hampshire, Alabama, and Virginia.
Foreign-educated lawyers must first get their law degree reviewed and analyzed by the American Bar Association (the “ABA”). This procedure may take some time, although the ABA is familiar with the credentials of law schools across the world. Once reviewed, the application is either accepted or deferred. If accepted, foreign lawyers are allowed to sit for that state’s bar exam in much the same way a domestic applicant would. In New York, one of the jurisdictions most open to foreign lawyers, this would allow foreign lawyers to sit for the bar without being forced to complete any further law school study in the United States.
Here are some specific requirements from the most popular bar exams for international lawyers:
New York Bar Exam
Foreign-trained attorneys must submit an evaluation of their foreign credentials up to one year in advance of sitting for the NY bar exam. The NY bar exam is offered twice a year in February and July. If you plan to sit for the exam in July, you must submit the evaluation form by October 1 of the year before. If you plan to sit for the exam in February, you must submit the evaluation form by May 1 of the year before. Foreign-trained lawyers who wish to take the NY bar exam will have to complete at least 12 credits of required classes including Legal Research and Writing, American Legal Institutions, legal ethics, and 2 courses in subjects tested on the bar exam. Business law, contracts, constitutional law, and criminal Law will meet this requirement. Most foreign educated students opt for a LL.M. degree.
California Bar Exam
California allows foreign students to sit for the exam. There are similar limitations and difference for foreign trained attorneys and those who have been admitted to practice in other international jurisdictions. LL.M. students with foreign bar membership may sit for the bar exam. While New York requires an LL.M. with a number of American law courses for many candidates. Lawyers admitted to practice law in other jurisdictions outside the U.S. are able to sit for the California bar.
If a foreign educated law student has not been admitted to practice in another country, he/she must first get an LL.M in the U.S. and at least 12 credits covering 4 subjects tested on the CA bar in addition to a course on Professional Responsibility that covers relevant sections of the California Business and Professions Code, the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and leading federal and state case law on the subject.
Washington, D.C. Bar Exam
Eligibility for the D.C. Bar is much stricter than New York for all foreign-educated law graduates.
Foreign-educated law graduates must take 26 credits of subjects tested on the bar exam at an ABA accredited law school. To accomplish this goal, most international lawyers study and graduate with an LL.M.
If a foreign educated lawyer passes the New York bar exam, he/she cannot immediately waive into the D.C. bar. The foreign lawyer must be a member “in good standing” of another U.S. bar for the 5 years immediately preceding your application.
The D.C. Bar offers a “special legal consultant” status for a foreign-educated lawyer who has been admitted to practice in another country and is at least 26 years of age.
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