Banner

The New York Bar

Main Content

Please note: This information is for JD graduates who plan on taking the bar exam. For bar exam information related to LLM graduates, please visit this page.

The New York Bar application and examination each have some unique requirements and processes that make it different than other jurisdictions.  This page offers guidance for successfully completing those requirements and processes.  Comprehensive information about the New York Bar application and examination is provided on the New York State Board of Law Examiners website at http://www.nybarexam.org and in the New York State Bar Information Guide.

NY Bar Exam Components

Applicants to the New York Bar must successfully complete the following three components of the bar exam:

  • The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), see http://www.nybarexam.org/MPRE/MPRE.html and http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpre/.
    • An applicant may take the MPRE during the 3L year in the fall (November) or spring (March), or just after the July bar exam (August).
  • The New York Law Course (NYLC) and New York Law Examination (NYLE)
    • The NYLC is available online at any time.  The materials are available at http://www.nybarexam.org/Content/CourseMaterials.htm. The NYLC may be completed up to one year before or any time after the date on which the applicant first sits for the UBE.
    • The NYLE is typically offered four times per year. Applicants must complete the NYLC before they're eligible to register for the NYLE.
  • The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), see http://www.nybarexam.org/UBE/UBE.html.
    • The application window for the UBE (the July bar) is March 1 through March 31.

Skills Competency Requirement

NOTE: Per an order of the New York Court of Appeals, strict compliance with the skills competency requirement is waived for May 2020 graduates.

For JD students who entered law school after August 1, 2016, the New York bar has implemented a Skills Competency Requirement. There are multiple “pathways” for meeting this requirement. JD students graduating in May 2021 or later typically will be certified under Pathway 1. Click here to review Duke Law’s Pathway 1 plan. Students graduating before May 2021 typically will be certified under Pathway 2. Pathway 2 requires that students have at least 15 credit hours of practice-based experiential learning while in law school. Six of these 15 credits maybe conveyed through summer employment experience at a rate of 50 hours per credit. This amounts to 300 hours, which is 7.5 weeks of full-time (40 hours/week) work. Summer employment that qualifies for certification of the New York Skills Competency Requirement will meet all of the following criteria. If you have questions about Pathway 2 certification, please contact James Lambert (james.lambert@law.duke.edu).

Pro Bono Requirement

The New York Bar requires that applicants for admission complete 50 hours of pro bono prior to being licensed. For JDs, the work must be completed between the first day of law school and when they submit their Application for Admission. Note that the NY Bar’s pro bono definition differs from Duke Law’s pro bono definition. The NY Bar definition broadly includes law school clinics and externships, some summer internships (even if compensated), and many extracurricular pro bono projects. Carefully review the Office of Public Interest and Pro Bono’s NY Bar Pro Bono Requirement guidance for details on what counts and how to certify your work as part of your bar application.

Certificate of Attendance

The New York Board of Law Examiners requires, in lieu of an official transcript, that the Law School certify each JD applicant’s academic history via a Certificate of Attendance.  This section provides instructions for JD applicants to the New York Bar. 

International LLM students must submit a transcript to the NY BOLE, and also complete a different version of the Certificate of Attendance, and therefore should refer to information provided by International Studies about the New York Bar Exam.

In addition to the information provided here, applicants must also review the NYBOLE’s website, including the rules, policies, and forms therein.

With regard to the Certificate of Attendance, the following instructions are specific to Duke Law School JD applicants:

Question 2 – Credit Awarded toward the Juris Doctor degree

  • JD students:  the answer here is 87 credits (perhaps plus a few extra if you took additional classes).
  • JD-LLM students:  the answer is still 87 credits.  The NY Bar wants to know the total number of credits earned toward your JD degree.  The additional credits earned toward your LLM are not counted here.
  • JD-Masters students:  the answer is also 87 for you.  You have earned 75 law credits and a minimum of 12 credits in your other degree program.  We are counting those 12 non-law credits toward your JD degree to reach 87, and the NY Bar recognizes this.  If you put 75, it will appear that you do not meet the minimum of 83 credits required to be eligible for the NY Bar.

Question 5 – Credits awarded for standalone course(s) in Professional Responsibility

This refers to the course you took to me the Ethics requirement. You should enter 2 or 3 credits depending on the course you enrolled in.

After the application period closes, the BOLE will upload your Certificates of Attendance to their online portal. Once degrees are conferred in May, we will verify and submit your Certificates of Attendance to the NY BOLE. We will make any needed corrections.

Transcript Request

JD applicants to the NY Bar are not required to submit a law school transcript to the NY BOLE.  LLM applicants to the NY Bar are required to submit a Duke Law School transcript to the NY BOLE with your final semester grades posted and degree conferred.  To complete this process, please make a transcript request as follows:

  • Fill out the Duke University Transcript Request Form
  • In the box for “recipient name and mailing address or fax number” state PICKUP REQUEST APPROVED FOR LAW SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVE.
  • Number of copies: 1
    • If you require additional copies of your transcript, please request those separately.
  • Select DO NOT PLACE EACH TRANSCRIPT IN A SEPARATE ENVELOPE.
  • Where the form states “If you want us to delay sending your transcript(s), please check the reason(s):” check both boxes PLEASE WAIT UNTIL MY GRADES HAVE BEEN POSTED FOR THIS TERM and PLEASE WAIT UNTIL MY DEGREE HAS BEEN POSTED.
  • Drop the form off to James Lambert in the Office of Student Affairs.  Note: the Law School Registrar’s Office cannot process your transcript request.

After grades are posted in early June, we will obtain your transcript from the University Registrar and send it, with the Certificate of Attendance, via FedEx to the NY BOLE prior to the June 15 deadline.

Form Law School Certificate

The NY BOLE conducts its character and fitness investigation after you have passed the bar exam, using a form titled the Form Law School Certificate. Please submit your Form Law School Certificate to the Law School Registrar’s Office,  as follows:

  • Hard copy forms – bring to the Registrar’s Office, Room 2027
  • Faxed forms – send to the Registrar’s Office at 919-613-7285
  • Electronic copy forms – send to Registrar_Office@law.duke.edu

By mail to:

Office of the Registrar
Duke University School of Law
Box 90359
210 Science Drive
Durham, NC 27708

The Registrar’s Office works with the Office of Student Affairs to process character and fitness forms with attention to the jurisdiction’s deadline for submitting the form.  Please indicate or highlight on your Form Law School Certificate what your jurisdiction’s deadline is. 

There is a two-week turnaround for processing all bar forms.  If your Form Law School Certificate must be filed with the state bar two weeks before your swearing-in, then you must submit the form to the Law School Registrar’s Office four weeks before your swearing-in.  Applicants who submit their Form Law School Certificate close to the deadline must keep in mind that the Registrar’s Office and Student Affairs could be processing a high volume of forms from current student and recent graduate bar applicants at any given time, and will do their best to meet a close deadline within reason. 

Questions that appear on the Form Law School Certificate typically address the conduct and integrity of the applicant. Additionally, bar examiners often investigate whether any disclosures made to the bar were also made during the law school admission process.  Questions on the Form Law School Certificate include the following:

  • Was applicant charged with any misconduct, or disciplined, suspended, or dropped for misconduct?
  • Is there any other discreditable information in the personnel or other records of the law school regarding the applicant’s conduct or activities or bearing upon applicant’s character not otherwise set forth in this form?

If you have questions about information to be disclosed on your character and fitness form, please contact Assistant Dean for Student Affairs Lewis Hutchison.

In this section