Guidelines for Applicants with a Foreign Law Degree

Guidelines for Applicants with a Foreign Law Degree

A general applicant who has a first degree in law from a law school located in a foreign state or country must:

  1. Obtain from a credential evaluation service approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE), a certificate that the applicant’s first degree in law is substantially equivalent to a Juris Doctor degree awarded by a law school approved by the American Bar Association (ABA) or accredited by the CBE; or
     
  2. Obtain from a credential evaluation service approved by the CBE, a certificate that the applicant’s first degree in law meets the educational requirements for admission to practice law in the foreign state or country in which it was obtained.

Applicants must submit these certificates to the State Bar Office of Admissions. They must also submit a certificate from a law school approved by the ABA or accredited by the CBE certifying that the applicant has either:

  1. Been awarded a Master of Law degree (LLM) based on a minimum of 20 semester or equivalent units of legal education. That education shall include no fewer than a total of 12 semesters or equivalent units with a minimum of one course in four separate subjects tested on the California Bar Examination. One of the four courses must be Professional Responsibility that covers the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and leading federal and state case law on the subject; or
     
  2. Successfully completed 20 semester or equivalent units of legal education, in a LLM program. That education shall include no fewer than a total of 12 semesters of equivalent units with a minimum of one course in four separate subjects tested on the California Bar Examination. One of the four courses must be Professional Responsibility that covers the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and leading federal and state case law on the subject.
     
  3. Prior to June 18, 2021, the guidelines required that foreign-educated applicants complete a Professional Responsibility course that included California-specific Professional Conduct Rules in addition to the ABA Model Rules. That requirement was removed in June 2021. Professional Responsibility courses taken prior to June 18, 2021, which did not meet the prior standard but do meet the above standards, may be used to satisfy the above requirements.
    1. All course work for the degree and for the legal education required by the guidelines must be graded using the standards the law school uses in grading course work of students in its JD degree program. An applicant must receive a passing grade in all courses.
       
    2. The degree or the course work required by the guidelines must be awarded or completed, as applicable, within three calendar years of the date the applicant began qualifying study at a law school, whether or not the LLM degree is awarded by or the course work is completed at that law school. An applicant begins study on the first day of their first semester or term of qualifying study.