Hello,

I took the GDL and LPC in London, which also give us an LLB. I know that for the NYS Bar we need at least three, but I ve heard people had been able to qualify to take the NYS Bar.

Is there anyone who knos for sure whether I am eligible?

Thank you so much for your help

Florence

In short: you need two years of "substantively equilvilent" education, failing which you may remedy this shortfall by taking American law courses (e.g. LLM/JD).

520.3
(d) Full-time program defined. A full-time program shall consist of at least 75 and no more than 105 calendar weeks in residence, including reading periods not to exceed one week per semester and examinations, of at least 10 classroom periods per week, scheduled principally between the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m., totaling not less than the equivalent of 1,120 hours of classroom study, exclusive of examination time. A calendar week shall include four days of scheduled classes; however, no more than three three-day weeks per semester may be counted toward the 75-week minimum. A semester which includes successful completion of at least 10 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 15 full-time weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision. As allowed under subdivision (h) of this section, a summer session which includes successful completion of at least 5 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 7.5 full-time calendar weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision.

(e) Part-time program defined. A part-time program shall consist of at least 105 and no more than 135 calendar weeks in residence, including reading periods not to exceed one week per semester and examinations, of at least eight classroom periods per week, irrespective of the hours at which the classroom periods are scheduled, totaling not less than the equivalent of 1,120 hours of classroom study, exclusive of examination time. A calendar week shall include three days of scheduled classes; however, no more than three two-day weeks per semester may be counted toward the 105-week minimum. A semester which includes successful completion of at least 8 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 15 part-time weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision. As allowed under subdivision (h) of this section, a summer session which includes successful completion of at least 4 credit hours per week of study shall be counted as 7.5 part-time calendar weeks in residence toward the residency weeks requirement of this subdivision.


520.6 Study of law in foreign country; required legal education.

(a) General. An applicant who has studied in a foreign country may qualify to take the New York State bar examination by submitting to the New York State Board of Law Examiners satisfactory proof of the legal education required by this section.

(1) The applicant shall show fulfillment of the educational requirements for admission to the practice of law in a country other than the United States by successful completion of a period of law study at least substantially equivalent in duration to that required under subdivisions (d) and (e) of section 520.3 of this Part...
...
(ii) if applicant does not meet the durational equivalency requirements of subdivision (b)(1) of this section but has at least two years of substantively equivalent education, or if applicant does not meet the substantive equivalency requirements of subdivision (b)(1)(i) of this section, that applicant has successfully completed a full-time or part-time program consisting of a minimum of 20 semester hours of credit, or the equivalent, in professional law subjects, which includes basic courses in American law, in an approved law school in the United States; or

basically, this is saying that you need two years of "substantively equilvilent" education, failing which you may remedy this shortfall by taking American law courses (e.g. LLM/JD).

to be sure, write to the board. i'd becareful with what you represent to them though (especially with regard to time), because those will become facts in case of a dispute as to compliance with the rules and you end up appealing to the court (which my friend did but ultimately failed and had to do a US LLM). FYI, my friend had