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California Business And Professions Code Section 6060

Legal Research Home > California Lawyer > Business and Professions Code > California Business And Professions Code Section 6060

To be certified to the Supreme Court for admission and a
license to practice law, a person who has not been admitted to
practice law in a sister state, United States jurisdiction,
possession, territory, or dependency or in a foreign country shall:
   (a) Be of the age of at least 18 years.
   (b) Be of good moral character.
   (c) Before beginning the study of law, have done either of the
following:
   (1) Completed at least two years of college work, which college
work shall be not less than one-half of the collegiate work
acceptable for a bachelor's degree granted upon the basis of a
four-year period of study by a college or university approved by the
examining committee.
   (2) Have attained in apparent intellectual ability the equivalent
of at least two years of college work by taking any examinations in
subject matters and achieving the scores thereon as are prescribed by
the examining committee.
   (d) Have registered with the examining committee as a law student
within 90 days after beginning the study of law.  The examining
committee, upon good cause being shown, may permit a later
registration.
   (e) Have done any of the following:
   (1) Had conferred upon him or her a juris doctor (J.D.) degree or
a bachelor of laws (LL.B.) degree by a law school accredited by the
examining committee or approved by the American Bar Association.
   (2) Studied law diligently and in good faith for at least four
years in any of the following manners:
   (A) In a law school that is authorized or approved to confer
professional degrees and requires classroom attendance of its
students for a minimum of 270 hours a year.
   A person who has received his or her legal education in a foreign
state or country wherein the common law of England does not
constitute the basis of jurisprudence shall demonstrate to the
satisfaction of the examining committee that his or her education,
experience, and qualifications qualify him or her to take the
examination.
   (B) In a law office in this state and under the personal
supervision of a member of the State Bar of California who is, and
for at least the last five years continuously has been, engaged in
the active practice of law.  It is the duty of the supervising
attorney to render any periodic reports to the examining committee as
the committee may require.
   (C) In the chambers and under the personal supervision of a judge
of a court of record of this state.  It is the duty of the
supervising judge to render any periodic reports to the examining
committee as the committee may require.
   (D) By instruction in law from a correspondence law school
authorized or approved to confer professional degrees by this state,
which requires 864 hours of preparation and study per year for four
years.
   (E) By any combination of the methods referred to in this
paragraph (2).
   (f) Have passed any examination in professional responsibility or
legal ethics as the examining committee may prescribe.
   (g) Have passed the general bar examination given by the examining
committee.
   (h) (1) Have passed a law students' examination administered by
the examining committee after completion of his or her first year of
law study.  Those who pass the examination within its first three
administrations upon becoming eligible to take the examination shall
receive credit for all law studies completed to the time the
examination is passed.  Those who do not pass the examination within
its first three administrations upon becoming eligible to take the
examination, but who subsequently pass the examination, shall receive
credit for one year of legal study only.
   (2) This requirement does not apply to a student who has
satisfactorily completed his or her first year of law study at a law
school accredited by the examining committee and who has completed at
least two years of college work prior to matriculating in the
accredited law school, nor shall this requirement apply to an
applicant who has passed the bar examination of a sister state or of
a country in which the common law of England constitutes the basis of
jurisprudence.
   The law students' examination shall be administered twice a year
at reasonable intervals.

Last modified: January 12, 2009