Dear squam,
As a lawyer, I found your question intriguing. The last time I
scrutinized bar admissions requirements was while I was still in law
school. Although I was not aware of any exceptions, I approached this
question with an open mind.
Unfortunately, the answer to your question is that it is not possible
to become the member of the bar of any state without taking the bar
examination. The bar examination is the primary means by which the bar
examiners gauge the physical and mental ability of an applicant to
practice law within the state, and applicants are typically asked to
disclose medical or psychological conditions which might affect their
ability to practice if admitted to the bar.
An overview of the bar examination process is available from
About.com's "Current Events: Law" section,
http://law.about.com/library/blbarexam.htm?PM=ss14_law
As mwalcoff-ga indicated, it is possible to obtain special
accommodation while taking the bar examination. For example, one
lawyer I know, who is legally blind, was granted an essentially
unlimited amount of time to take the bar examination. Another, who is
blind, was given a reader. All state bars offer accommodation, and all
require documentation of the disability which requires accommodation.
Most don?t define either the disabilities or accommodations, or make a
reference to the "Americans with Disabilities Act". In contrast, the
State Bar of California Office of Admissions provides a rather
thorough explanation of when they will accommodate applicants, and the
accommodations they will offer:
"Testing accommodations are available to individuals with a mental or
physical disability, as defined under the Americans with Disabilities
Act of 1990, which limits them from taking and passing an examination
in a manner that is comparable to all other applicants. Depending on
the nature of the disability, accommodations may include assistants
(e.g., readers, helpers, etc.), wheelchair access, permission to
dictate, customized timing, separate testing room, customized
examination materials (e.g., Braille, large print, etc.), and
permission to bring and use specific items or medical aids. The
Committee does not offer or recommend to any applicant specific types
of accommodations. The applicant and his/her physician/specialist
should request what they think is necessary to allow the applicant to
compete on an equal basis with all other applicants."
http://calbar.xap.com/applications/calbar/bar_exam.html
Most states enforce strict deadlines for any requests for
accommodation. A sample application for special accommodation, from
the Delaware Board of Bar Examiners website, can be read in Adobe
Acrobat (PDF) format at:
http://courts.state.de.us/bbe/docs/special.pdf
Where waivers are allowed, they require that the person applying for
the waiver already be a member of the bar of another state, or at
times for law students to work in certain public interest positions.
Due to the fact that the terms of bar membership change on a regular
basis, and print materials usually lag a year or two behind the latest
updates, whenever possible this information was confirmed by review of
the relevant websites for the states. Some of the material must be
downloaded in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format or as text files to see the
applicable rules. On some sites it is necessary to review the
admissions packet to find the governing rules.
Official information on Bar Membership is available at the following
websites.
* Alabama - The Alabama Bar Association website:
http://www.alabar.org/page.cfm?view=3&subgroup=main
* Alaska - The Alaska Bar Association website:
http://www.alaskabar.org/index.cfm?ID=5362
* Arizona - The Arizona Supreme Court website:
http://www.supreme.state.az.us/admis/
* Arkansas - The Arkansas Court System website:
http://courts.state.ar.us/courts/ble.html
* California - The State Bar of California Office of Admissions
website:
http://calbar.xap.com/applications/CalBar/State_Bar_Registration/default.asp
* Colorado - The Colorado Supreme Court Board of Law Examiners
website:
http://www.courts.state.co.us/ble/ble.htm
* Connecticut - The Connecticut Bar Examining Committee website:
http://www.jud.state.ct.us/CBEC/
* Delaware - The Delaware Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://courts.state.de.us/bbe/
* Florida - The Florida Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.floridabarexam.org/index.html
* Georgia - The Georgia Office of Bar Admissions website:
http://www2.state.ga.us/Courts/Bar/
* Hawaii - Hawaii State Bar Association website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.hsba.org/About/questions.htm
* Idaho - Idaho State Bar Association (No official information
regarding disabilities is online)
http://www2.state.id.us/isb/adm/exam_info.htm
* Illinois - Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar website:
http://www.ibaby.org/
* Indiana - Indiana Board of Law Examiners website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.in.gov/judiciary/attorneys/admissions.html
* Iowa - Iowa Board of Law Examiners website:
http://www.judicial.state.ia.us/regs/barinfo/
* Kansas - Kansas Courts website:
http://www.kscourts.org/attyadmit.htm
As this page is not presently loading, it can be viewed at
Archive.org:
http://web.archive.org/web/20011101230516/www.kscourts.org/attyadmit.htm
* Kentucky - Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions website:
http://www.kyoba.org/
* Louisiana - Louisiana State Bar Association
http://www.lsba.org/Bar_Admissions/bar_admissions.html
* Maine - Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.mainebarexaminers.org/
* Maryland - State Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/index.html
* Massachusetts - Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.state.ma.us/bbe/
* Michigan - Michigan State Bar website:
http://www.michbar.org/admission/content.html
* Minnesota - Minnesota State Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.ble.state.mn.us/
* Mississippi - Mississippi Supreme Court website:
http://www.mssc.state.ms.us/BarAdmissions/default.asp
* Missouri - Board of Law Examiners
http://www.osca.state.mo.us/SUP/index.nsf/BarExamination?OpenView
* Montana - State Bar of Montana website:
http://www.montanabar.org/admission/index.html
* Nebraska - Nebraska State Bar Commission website:
http://www.nebar.com/memberinfo/nsbc/index.htm
* Nevada - State Bar of Nevada website: (No official information
regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.nvbar.org/publicServices/indexAdmissionsOverview.php3
* New Hampshire - New Hampshire Bar Association website:
http://www.nhbar.org/about2.asp?SectID=2&CatID=82
* New Jersey - New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.njbarexams.org/bar1.htm
* New Mexico - Board of Bar Examiners, State of New Mexico website:
http://www.nmexam.org/
* New York - New York State Board of Law Examiners website:
http://www.nybarexam.org/
* North Carolina (No official information regarding disabilities is
online)
Board of Law Examiners
Suite 700
One Exchange Plaza
Raleigh, NC 27601
(919) 828-4886
* North Dakota - State Board of Bar Examiners website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.court.state.nd.us/Court/Committees/BarBd/Information.htm
* Ohio - Supreme Court of Ohio, Admissions Office website:
http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Admissions/
* Oklahoma - Oklahoma Bar Association website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.okbar.org/publicinfo/admissions/
* Oregon - Oregon State Bar website:
http://www.osbar.org/2practice/admissions/admissions.html
* Pennsylvania
http://www.pabarexam.org/
* Rhode Island - Rhode Island Supreme Court website:
http://www.courts.state.ri.us/supreme/bar/baradmission.htm
* South Carolina - Supreme Court of South Carolina website: (No
official information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.judicial.state.sc.us/bar/
* South Dakota - Unified Judicial System website:
http://www.sdjudicial.com/index.asp?title=generalinformation&category=barexamination&nav=41
* Tennessee - Board of Law Examiners website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.state.tn.us/lawexaminers/
* Texas - Texas Board of Law Examiners website:
http://www.ble.state.tx.us/
* Utah - Utah State Bar Association website:
http://www.utahbar.org/rules/html/rules_of_admissions.html
* Vermont - Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.vermontjudiciary.org/BBE/BBEindex.htm
* Virginia - Virginia Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/
* Washington - Washington State Bar Association website:
http://www.wsba.org/faq/bar-exam.htm
* Washington, DC - District of Columbia Bar Association website:
http://www.dcbar.org/about_bar/admissions.html
* West Virginia - Board of Law Examiners website: (No official
information regarding disabilities is online)
http://www.state.wv.us/wvsca/Bd%20of%20Law/index.htm
* Wisconsin - Board of Bar Examiners website:
http://www.courts.state.wi.us/bbe/Wisconsin_Bar_Examination.html
* Wyoming - Wyoming State Bar website:
http://www.wyomingbar.org/admissions.asp
Search Strategy:
Google Search - requirements state bar
://www.google.com/search?q=requirements+state+bar
Google searches for "Bar Examiners" and the name of the state at
issue. e.g., "bar examiners california"
Google searches for "Bar Admission" and the name of the state at
issue. e.g., "bar admissions california"
Please do not hesitate to ask if I can be of further assistance, by
clarifying or expanding upon any portion of this answer,
- expertlaw |
Clarification of Answer by
expertlaw-ga
on
01 Sep 2002 21:48 PDT
Dear squam,
When reviewing the application information described above, I made a
special point of looking for any and all exceptions which might apply
to the standard rules, whether based upon disability, teaching
experience, or anything else that might conceivably have been
relevant. That was an integral part of providing you with a fair,
thorough, and complete answer to your question.
I. Virginia
Speaking first with specific regard to Virginia, no exemptions based
upon past military service (including WWII, Vietnam, and Korean war
veteran status) or teaching experience presently apply. The Virginia
Board of Bar Examiners presents the Supreme Court of Virginia's rules
on applying for the bar, in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, at:
http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/pdf/guidelines.pdf
As you will see if you review that document, the only military service
that presently qualifies one for a waiver is active, full-time
practice as a judge advocate or law specialist for the Armed Forces of
the United States for at least five years, and to have been licensed
in a reciprocal jurisdiction for at least two years, before applying
for waiver.
They also present a chart indicating when people are eligible for
waiver, online in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format, at:
http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/pdf/motionlist.pdf
Their Disability/Special Testing form, for requesting special
accommodation for taking the bar exam, is also onine in Adobe Acrobat
(PDF) format, at:
http://www.vbbe.state.va.us/pdf/special.pdf
II. Other States
As previously indicated, when I reviewed the application requirements
for the other 49 states and the District of Columbia, I did so with
any and all possible exceptions to the bar requirement in mind. As you
had made a note of your teaching experience, I did scrutinize the
admissions requirements for any teaching-related exceptions. While
exceptions do apply, they uniformly require either admission to the
bar in another state, or allow for law student practice under limited
circumstances (e.g., as an intern for a prosecutor or legal aid
association, or in a law school legal clinic). Unfortunately, there
were none based on veteran status or teaching experience, which did
not require a prior bar membership.
III. Foreign Nations
An exposition on the admissions requirements for the bar in other
nations goes significantly beyond the scope of your original question.
I have provided some general comments and examples, and some resources
relating to admission in English speaking foreign jurisdictions.
In general, a U.S. law degree won't of itself qualify you for bar
membership in any other nation, without additional legal study.
Additional hurdles may be required, such as "articling" (working under
the tutelage of a licensed lawyer) for a period of time before you can
become eligible for bar membership. Lawyers with practice experience
in other jurisdictions can sometimes get the "articling" requirement
reduced or waived.
York University presents an overview of admissions and articling
requirements in Canada, on its website at:
http://www.yorku.ca/osgoode/careers/baradmiss.htm
The Law Society of Upper Canada, on its website, describes the steps
necessary to become a member of the Ontario bar, including the process
for applying for a "certificate of qualification" for those who did
not attend a law school approved by the Society:
http://www.lsuc.on.ca/services/bac_admission_prerequisites.jsp
Information on becoming a solicitor in England is available on the Law
Society of England and Wales website:
http://www.lawsoc.org.uk/index.html
Information on admission to the bar in Australia by foreign lawyers is
offered on the Law Council of Australia website:
http://www.lawcouncil.asn.au/readfaq.html?oid=1957250049
Contact information for bar associations in a range of other nations
is available through the University of Melbourne, Australia, website:
http://www.law.unimelb.edu.au/ugrad/intpractise.html
The content of the sites reviewed indicate that admission standards
are ordinarily more stringent in other nations than in a typical U.S.
state. For example, the Law Society of the U.K. and Wales requires
normally requires both the successful completion of the "Qualified
Lawyers Transfer Test" and two years of experience (which may be
waived in whole or in part for applicants coming from an overseas
jurisdiction which requires two years of articling) for admission.
I have done my best to leave no stone unturned in my search for an
exception within the U.S., consistent with your original question. If
you desire full research on the subject of overseas qualification,
please post your request as a separate question and I am sure a
qualified researcher will be more than happy to provide you with
complete details. (You should note your language proficiencies, if you
wish for information on any non-English-speaking countries.)
I do wish you the best of luck, and regret that this search has not
been more fruitful.
- expertlaw
|
Clarification of Answer by
expertlaw-ga
on
27 Jan 2003 16:39 PST
Dear squam,
A recent development may interest you. New York is considering a
"Public Service Alternative Bar Exam". Under the terms of the
proposal, law graduates to work for three months within the state's
civil courts, and then be evaluated as to whether they possess the
necessary skills to be admitted into legal practice. Those who
complete the program would also be required to perform 150 hours of
pro bono work in the courts over the following three years. They would
not sit for the pen and paper exam. If this program passes, according
to the February 2003 ABA Journal, it will initially be offered to 200
selected law graduates.
For details on this proposal, please review the following article,
"Alternative Bar Exam Proposal Submitted", which is available on the
New York Lawyer website:
http://www.nylawyer.com/news/02/12/120602c.html
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