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.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 664, Sec. 12. Effective January 1, 2003.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018