Looking for opinions on obtaining licensure in multiple states. I'm currently licensed in one southern state, and have completed applications to be admitted to NY and D.C. They are pending. I'm also considering completing applications for a handful of other states.
Is obtaining bar admission in multiple states a good idea to widen potential job prospects, or is it an unnecessary expense? Is there any real con besides money?
Multi state Bar admission, advantage in job search or unnecessary expense? Forum
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Re: Multi state Bar admission, advantage in job search or unnecessary expense?
It's a LOT of money to stay active in that many bars (and complete the required CLEs annually). If there's a combo you know will be desirable to prospective employers - like you want to work in NJ on NJ/NYC matters - adding a bar might be useful. But without knowing where a specific employer will want you to practice it seems way too expensive to add states in the hope that it will look appealing to unknown hypothetical employers. (Also if you're looking at firms that practice in federal court you only need be admitted in basically one state to get admitted federally.) If you narrow down your target markets, sure, add those states. But I don't think being admitted a lot of places is really a draw for most employers. (Most bios list where a lawyer is admitted so you can look at target jobs and see how many admissions most people have. For most people it's not a ton.)
