Anonymous User wrote:NJ is a very easy bar exam - one of the easiest in the country. However, NJ also has very onerous CLE requirements, which made me drop my NJ membership after about a year because of all of the time, effort and vacation days I would need to take to maintain NJ compliance. Unless you think you're very likely to move to a NJ law firm, I would not bother despite the ease of the exam and the lack of reciprocity with NY.
The CLE distinction is only valid for the first year (where you have to take like 12 particular NJ classes). Afterwards its full reciprocity (1/2 have to be live if you have additional NJ ties). I knocked out my NJ-specfic requirements before starting work in one afternoon for like $200. The bar itself is easy, it's just the MBE, law school style issue spotters, and one NJ specific question (probably on land use or something esoteric) that you merely need to make an attempt on. With a good MBE, It's a practical impossibility to fail.
Pretty much NJ makes it as hard as possible for NY attorneys to apply (no previous years MBE, time intensive first year requirements, early C&F process), but very easy for new graduates. The rationale is pretty straight forward. They don't want practicing NYC attorneys to swamp the market for local counsel, but they want us Jersey boys to compete in NY and still be able to come home.