Hi everybody,

After completing my LL.M., I would be very interested in passing the US Bar exams, in a State which accepts foreign educated lawyers (from a non common law system) with a LL.M. earned from a US law School.

California and NY Bar are said to be opened to foreign educated lawyers.

That said, given the description of the exams (I found on the ABA web site), the NY bar exams seem to be slightly "easier" than the California one for a foreign educated lawyer (NY bar exams are mainly based on multiple choice questions and, in comparison, California bar exams have more essay questions).

I understand that, with a LL.M. delivered by UCLA, I would be entitled to attend the Bar exams of the California State (providing, of course, that my first degree in Law is recognized by the Bar Association).

Furthermore, my LL.M. degree delivered by UCLA should also allow me to attend the NY bar exams, since no specific requirement is applicable to the Law school where the applicant earned his LL.M. degree.

In other words, earning a LL.M. degree at UPenn or at UCLA will not prevent the applicant to attend the NY bar exams.

Could someone more experienced than me in this field confirm the above?

Any additional information is welcomed as well :-)

Thanks everybody for your great posting and your questions, this LLM Guide is full of resources for any LLM student!

You are eligible to take the bar if you have the bar in your own country. If you don't, you need to have a US LLM. For the Cal bar unfortunately, you need to take a lot of particular courses during your LLM to be eligible, see the Cal Bar website for the details. For the NY bar, it's much easier, the requirements are less complicated, like introduction to US law, plus another class of a field tested at the bar is sufficient. California LLM students generally go take the NY bar except if they have the bar in their country already.

Thanks for your input and this comprehensive information.

Do you know if UCLA provides classes for these "courses" required for the NY bar exams, as you can find at Columbia, NYU or Upenn?

Of course yes, for the NY bar it's any field tested on the exam, they give a bunch of examples on their website, like constitutional law, torts, etc.

What's the advantage for foreign student to have American Bar? I really want to know.

if not mandatory, it might of course help you find a job

Unlike NY, LLM is not a prerequisite for taking the CA bar by foreign educated attorneys. However, an attorney's license is. As long as you're licensed to practice as a lawyer in your home country, you could be a high school drop-out, and still be allowed to take the CA bar. Conversely, if you're not licensed, you could have a phd in law and still would not be able to qualify for the exam.

Then again, very few people without US JDs have ever passed the CA bar, ever. So you might just forget about it, and focus on the NY bar.

Thanks for your answers.

Erich, you definitely right and I come to the same conclusion after having carefully read the sequence of the CA Bar exams on the State bar association website. Therefore, I focus on the NY bar.

That said, I have two additional questions regarding UCLA.

1) Firstly, the West Coast Job Fair hosted by UCLA, which is presented as a very attractive feature of the LL.M. program.

Has anyone experienced it? Are foreign trained attorneys likely to find interesting opportunities there (I mean compared to the NY one)?

2) Secondly, the preparation of the NY Bar. I understand that some specific preparation courses for the Bar exams are taught as of May, at the end of the LL.M. Program. I heard that these special classes are mainly given in NY but are also re-transmitted in several Law School (such as UPenn for example).

As to UCLA, my concern regards the distance from LA to NY. How do the applicants manage that? Do they choose to get the NY Bar Preparation at UCLA (if possible) and then to go to NY city only for the days of the examinations, or they move to NY city after having accomplished their LL.M. in California.

Any comment, experience or input are welcome.

Actually, a foreign law school student obtaining an LLM degree can be qualified for the CA bar without getting a lawyer's license in advance, according to Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2009 published by ABA. The original rule listed in the Guide are excerpted as follows:
Foreign-educated law school graduates who obtain an LL.M. degree or 1 year of law study, which includes a certain number of credits in bar examination subject matter areas, at an ABA-approved or California-accredited law school can qualify to take the examination.