Law Student Registration
Some jurisdictions have registration requirements for law students as part of their licensing procedures, which allows bar examiners to review character and fitness issues in advance. Such preliminary procedures can serve to facilitate identification of issues that could otherwise present a problem at the time of bar application or licensing and can also speed up the licensing process when the bar examination occurs. In addition, this early registration can also serve to eliminate areas of concern to law students or clarify the potential impact of particular behavioral factors.
Approximately 16 jurisdictions use law student registration and, as a result, even first year law students should become familiar with the specific requirements for the jurisdiction in which they intend or hope to practice. These requirements vary greatly. For example, some jurisdictions require that students register at some point during their first semester of law school, while others require that registration occur during the second year or later. Still other jurisdictions simply encourage students to engage in the early registration process. The following information illustrates the range of these differences:
- Students must register within 60-90 days of starting law school (i.e., Alabama, California, Iowa)
- Students are encouraged to register within 180 days of starting law school (i.e., Florida)
- Students must register by specified dates that follow the commencement of law school (i.e., Illinois, Oklahoma)
- Students must register by specified dates in their second year of law school (i.e., Mississippi, North Dakota, Ohio)
Since the relevant information includes events or conduct occurring prior to and during law school, students must be certain to provide the necessary additional information to update their registration materials should events occur after they've submitted them to ensure accuracy.
The jurisdictions listed below currently either offer or require law student registration:
|
Alabama |
Iowa |
Ohio |
|
California |
Louisiana |
Oklahoma |
|
Florida |
Mississippi |
Texas |
|
Illinois |
North Dakota |
Law students who fail to register as required, which can occur when they don't know where they want to practice law until later in their law school careers, are generally allowed to take the bar examinations in most instances. However, fees for late registration may be imposed.
Accordingly, students are strongly encouraged to research the requirements of the two or three jurisdictions in which they are most likely to seek employment as soon as possible. In order to obtain accurate and specific information on student registration requirements, students can refer to an annual publication, "The Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements" (Call number KF 302A15C66), which is on reserve in the VULS library. They can also refer to the website of the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which provides relevant information: http://www.ncbex.org/character/lawregister.htm
