Can anyone answer the following:

I hold and have completed the following: a UK LLB, Masters and Bar Vocational Course (BVC). I have been called to the Bar in the UK. I have not undertaken pupillage in the UK (i.e. the one year training year that entitles a barrister to practice in the courts of the UK).

I want to apply to sit for the California bar. I have been told that admission to one of the four Inns of Court in the UK (one of which I am admitted to) entitles me to sit for the attorney's exam in CA. However, admission to an Inn of Court does not entitle one to practice law as a barrister in the UK nor does a Call to the Bar without going through a formal pupillage process.

Therefore, can someone confirm that Call to the Bar in the Uk entitles me to sit the Attorney's exam in CA? If it does not, must i then submit my qualifications for assesment and then undertake one year at a US law school before I am eligible to sit the CA bar?

Any information regarding the above would be very useful. Thanks for reading.

You must meet one of the following requirements to qualify to sit the CA BAR:

1. have been LICENSED to practiced law in UK for at least two years; or
2. get an LLM degree from an ABA accredited program.

Note, if you got your LLB from either of Oxford, Cambridge or the University of London (UCL, LSE, KCL); then you automatically qualify to sit the NY Bar, after you pass the NY Bar (and get admitted as an attorney in NY), you qualifiy to sit the CA Bar (due to applicable "reciprocity" rules amongst CA and NY; that is, since you are a licensed attorney in a "sister state".). This route saves you the expense of the LLM; but only if you got your LL.B from the aforementioned programs.

Thank you for your reply Comandante,

In other words you are saying that at the very least I must have the right to practice i.e. take on cases and clients in the UK and argue in front of judges (because i am licensed to do so) and must have had this right for two years before i am eligible to sit the Attorney's exam?

or, in addition to my UK education i make up the credits i lack for the equivelant US qualification by doing an LLM for one year?

Unless, I happened to do my degree at Oxbridge or London.

Well its all very, shall we say, encouraging. Can you tell me where you found or how you know this information?

Kind regards,

Yes and Yes.

The source of the information are the eligiblity requirement provisions of the respective State Bars, which can be found in their respective websites.

As stated ealier, If you want to sit California, absence the two-years eligibility to practice in the UK (either as a solicitor or a barrister) then you need to take an LLM in the US or be qualified as an attorney in a "sister state". NY will allow certain LLB holders (Oxbrige and London) to sit the NY Bar upon graduation (i.e. there are no work or licensing requirements for these select degree holders). Nevertheless, you will need to submit your academic credentials to the NY Bar (which are a formality plus a fee or should I say a formality to justify collection of a fee) and they will send you an eligiblity letter which you will need to use when submitting you application to sit the NY Bar. Once you pass the NY Bar and get admitted in NY, then you automatically qualify to sit the CA Bar (by virtue of the reciprocity rules).

The NY qualification method is wayyyyy cheaper and quicker if eligibility to sit the CA Bar is all you want (unless of course you don't mind spending USD ~70K and another year of your life pursuing an LLM in the US).

Well actually, if you are already qualified in the UK but not for the required two years' period, then it is even cheaper to just wait for the two years to run and then apply to sit the CA Bar.

Good luck!