Registering Online as an Applicant

If you are a law student or attorney applicant, you must register with the State Bar in the Applicant Portal. 

Law students must register within 90 days of beginning the study of law.

Attorney applicants should register as soon as possible.

Please follow these steps to complete the registration process:

  1. Create an account: Use your name, email address, and password to to create an account and gain access to the Applicant Portal.
  2. Complete the Registration Application: Once you have created an account, fill out and submit the registration application.
  3. Submit all required documentation and pay any outstanding application fees within 60 days of submission, or your application will be deemed abandoned. We do not issue refunds for abandoned applications.

Once your registration application is approved, you will be able to access other applications in the Applicant Portal, including:

Documentation and verification

Only certain categories of applicants need to provide documentation when they register.

No documentation needed

  • Law school applicants who hold a U.S. bachelor's degree do not need to provide proof of education when they register with the State Bar.
  • U.S. attorney applicants do not need to provide proof of law licensure when they register.
  • Law school applicants with some U.S. or foreign undergraduate education are not required to provide proof of education when they register. The State Bar will request a pre-legal certification form from your law school(s).

Documentation needed

  • Law Office Study students: You must provide official sealed transcripts from your undergraduate school(s) or provide your College Level Examination Program (CLEP) scores from the College Board.
  • Foreign-educated applicants: You must provide an evaluated law degree equivalency report or an evaluated course breakdown of all post-secondary education, as well as a "Foreign Law Study Evaluation Summary" form with a certified transcript of all your legal studies completed by a credential evaluation agency approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners.
  • Foreign attorney applicants: You must provide an original Certificate of Admission or Certificate of Good Standing from at least one jurisdiction in which you are admitted. Please note that all foreign-language documents must be accompanied by an English translation by a certified translator; the original foreign-language documents must also be submitted.

If you have any questions or require further assistance with registering in the Applicant Portal, please email admissions@calbar.ca.gov.

Do not register if

If you are an out-of-state attorney applying for Pro Hac Vice or the Out-of-State Attorney Arbitration Counsel Program, you do not need to submit a Registration Application.

If you are a disciplined or disbarred California, please do not create a new account in the Applicant Portal or submit a new Registration Application. Instead, please call the Contact Center at 800-843-9053 to receive a password reset email for your account..

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