| Training, Other Qualifications, and Advancement
To practice law in the courts of any State or other jurisdiction, a person
must be licensed, or admitted to its bar, under rules established by the
jurisdiction’s highest court. All States require that applicants for
admission to the bar pass a written bar examination; most States also
require applicants to pass a separate written ethics examination.
Lawyers who have been admitted to the bar in one State occasionally may
be admitted to the bar in another without taking an examination if they
meet the latter jurisdiction’s standards of good moral character and a
specified period of legal experience. In most cases, however, lawyers
must pass the bar examination in each State in which they plan to
practice. Federal courts and agencies set their own qualifications for
those practicing before or in them.
To qualify for the bar examination in most States, an applicant usually
must earn a college degree and graduate from a law school accredited by
the American Bar Association (ABA) or the proper State authorities. ABA
accreditation signifies that the law school—particularly its library and
faculty—meets certain standards developed to promote quality legal
education. As of 2005, there were 191 ABA-accredited law schools; others
were approved by State authorities only. With certain exceptions,
graduates of schools not approved by the ABA are restricted to taking
the bar examination and practicing in the State or other jurisdiction in
which the school is located; most of these schools are in California. In
2005, seven States—California, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia,
Washington, and Wyoming—accepted the study of law in a law office as
qualification for taking the bar examination; three
jurisdictions—California, the District of Columbia, and New Mexico—now
accept the study of law by correspondence. Several States require
registration and approval of students by the State Board of Law
Examiners, either before the students enter law school or during their
early years of legal study. |
