Candidates seeking admission to practice law in the State of New York must graduate from a law school with ABA-Accreditation and also complete or comply with a series of requirements reviewed below.
The Court of Appeals governs the admission of attorneys.
PART 520. RULES OF THE COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE ADMISSION OF ATTORNEYS AND COUNSELORS AT LAW
To ensure that newly admitted attorneys are prepared for the practical demands of legal practice, New York requires all bar applicants to demonstrate skills competency under Section 520.18 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals.
Candidates can satisfy this requirement through one of several pathways, including completion of a law school curriculum that incorporates experiential learning, supervised legal work, or a combination of law school and professional experience. New York Law School students complete this requirement via Pathway 1.
✔️ Applicants must submit a Skills Competency Affidavit at the time of their bar admission application.
✔️ NYLS Graduates may submit the Skills Competency Affidavit to the Registrar - Registrar@nyls.edu - for completion and submission to the Character and Fitness Committee.
As part of its commitment to access to justice, New York requires all bar applicants to complete 50 hours of qualifying pro bono service before admission.
✔️ The work must be law-related and supervised by an attorney or faculty member.
✔️ Applicants must submit a Form Affidavit of Compliance detailing their pro bono work as part of the admission process.
Applicants for admission in New York be required to complete an online course on New York law (NYLC) and take and pass an online examination on New York law (NYLE).
The NYLC is an online, on demand course on important and unique principles of New York law in the subjects of:
The NYLC consists of approximately 17 hours of recorded lectures with embedded questions which must be answered correctly before an applicant may continue viewing the lecture.
✔️ An applicant must complete all of the videos before the applicant may register for the New York Law Exam (NYLE).
Following the NYLC, candidates must take and pass the New York Law Exam (NYLE), a 50-item multiple-choice test that evaluates understanding of New York-specific legal principles.
✔️ The NYLC and NYLE are distinct from the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) and are mandatory for admission in New York.
NOTE: You must view each NYLC lecture in its entirety and at its normal speed. Advancing or speeding up the video by any means is strictly prohibited.
✔️ Your time viewing each video segment will be audited by the Board.
✔️ Failure to view each lecture in its entirety and at its normal speed may result in the institution of misconduct charges under Board Rule 6000.13.
✔️ Penalties may include requiring you to repeat the NYLC in its entirety, nullification of your registration for the NYLE, nullification of your NYLE score, a period of suspension from repeating the NYLC and/or NYLE, and disclosure of your misconduct to the Appellate Division in New York having jurisdiction over your application for admission and to other jurisdictions.
Attorneys are admitted to the practice of law in New York State through the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.
✔️ If you pass the UBE, MPRE and NYLE, the State Board of Law Examiners (Board) officially certifies you for admission to one of the four departments of the Appellate Division in the State, based upon your address. The Board will send you a "Notice of Certification."
✔️ Applicants must pass a thorough Character and Fitness evaluation conducted by the Committee on Character and Fitness in the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court. This review assesses the applicant's moral character, financial responsibility, and overall fitness to practice law. The process includes submitting a detailed application, letters of recommendation, and possibly being interviewed by the committee.
Attorneys in New York are required to complete Continuing Legal Education (CLE) as part of their professional development.
✔️ During the first two years after admission, attorneys must complete 32 credit hours, including credits in ethics, skills, diversity, and professionalism.
✔️ The CLE requirement continues throughout an attorney’s career to ensure ongoing competency in legal practice.
Newly admitted attorneys must earn a total of 32 CLE credit hours (with 16 credit hours each year) in the newly admitted cycle as follows:
Experienced attorneys must earn at least 24 CLE credit hours each biennial reporting cycle as follows:
