Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate Forum

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UKGraduate

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Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by UKGraduate » Sun Nov 03, 2019 11:05 pm

Hi All,

I would like to seek some guidance in getting admitted to the Alabama State Bar (ASB).

I am a foreign-educated law graduate (English common law) who has not been admitted anywhere else. I sat the UBE in another state but did not pass it, however, my score is sufficient for an ASB admission. The rules on the ASB's website (or the NCBE comprehsnive guide) are not sufficiently clear (or at the very least, slightly ambiguous) on whether you need to also be admitted in another jurisdiction, in addition to the rest of the requirements, before being admitted to ASB.

Any help or hints would be very much appreciated.

Thank you in advance!

kmanskey

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by kmanskey » Mon Nov 04, 2019 5:16 pm

My advice to you would be to go anywhere but Alabama and to just retake the UBE. In all likelihood, you would need to separately apply for and be approved for Alabama bar admission, along with getting your score transferred over. Most states don't recognize UBE scores from a jurisdiction in which you did not pass, even if that score would be considered passing in the jurisdiction.

That being said, barring any personal connections or reasons for wanting to practice law in Alabama, I would strongly recommend against it for reasons you can figure out from anyone who doesn't live there. It sounds like you maybe just want to waive in so that you're barred somewhere, which may not be the best idea. Just put your all into studying again and retake.
Last edited by QContinuum on Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Outed for anon abuse.

QContinuum

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by QContinuum » Mon Nov 04, 2019 9:36 pm

kmanskey wrote:My advice to you would be to go anywhere but Alabama and to just retake the UBE. In all likelihood, you would need to separately apply for and be approved for Alabama bar admission, along with getting your score transferred over.
I'm not sure what "n all likelihood" means. Every state runs its own bar admissions process for every applicant seeking admission in that state; AFAIK, no state simply accepts another state's C&F determination.
kmanskey wrote:Most states don't recognize UBE scores from a jurisdiction in which you did not pass, even if that score would be considered passing in the jurisdiction.

This is flatly untrue. UBE scores are portable regardless of whether they are considered to be "passing" in the jurisdiction where one sat for the UBE. Someone who "failed" in AK with a 270 is perfectly eligible to seek admission in NY with that score.

kmanskey wrote:It sounds like you maybe just want to waive in so that you're barred somewhere, which may not be the best idea.

Depending on one's goals and employment prospects, getting barred somewhere asap may actually be the best idea.

kmanskey wrote:That being said, barring any personal connections or reasons for wanting to practice law in Alabama, I would strongly recommend against it for reasons you can figure out from anyone who doesn't live there.

This part I agree with. AL is a very insular, very tiny market, as is ND. Absent a personal tie to one of the 260 jurisdictions, Minnesota, Missouri and New Mexico (not necessarily in that order) are probably the best bets.

The added wrinkle here, of course, is that OP is foreign-educated. Many/most states do not allow foreign-educated graduates to apply for admission (sometimes not even with a U.S. LL.M.). NY is actually kind of an outlier in that regard.

UKGraduate

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by UKGraduate » Tue Nov 05, 2019 8:32 pm

Thank you both for the input.

For now, I just need to get admitted somewhere. The question is whether Alabama State Bar allows (aside from all the other requirements) for a foreign-educated common law student, who has not been admitted anywhere else, to be admitted there? There is conflicting information on this, with the rules being, quite frankly, unclear.

It would be most helpful if someone could answer the above question.

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cavalier1138

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by cavalier1138 » Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:41 am

UKGraduate wrote:Thank you both for the input.

For now, I just need to get admitted somewhere. The question is whether Alabama State Bar allows (aside from all the other requirements) for a foreign-educated common law student, who has not been admitted anywhere else, to be admitted there? There is conflicting information on this, with the rules being, quite frankly, unclear.

It would be most helpful if someone could answer the above question.
Short of someone from the Alabama State Bar happening to stumble across this post, it's extremely unlikely that anyone here can answer your precise question. Why haven't you called the bar yourself to ask?

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UKGraduate

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by UKGraduate » Wed Nov 06, 2019 11:04 am

[/quote] Why haven't you called the bar yourself to ask?[/quote]

I have, but they were pretty rude and said to read the rules. The rules are not clear on the above, so I was hoping someone might be able to answer this on the forum here.

JingB

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by JingB » Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:16 pm

I am in the same predicament. The specific jurisdiction will not provide advisory opinion nor answer specific questions. I am looking at between Alabama or Missouri. Is there someone here with a US-LLM ABA approved law school graduate and a foreign law graduate who applied for UBE score transfer in those jurisdictions? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

UKGraduate

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by UKGraduate » Wed Nov 06, 2019 5:30 pm

JingB wrote:I am in the same predicament. The specific jurisdiction will not provide advisory opinion nor answer specific questions. I am looking at between Alabama or Missouri. Is there someone here with a US-LLM ABA approved law school graduate and a foreign law graduate who applied for UBE score transfer in those jurisdictions? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Good that I am not the only one with this problem. What is your situation? Are you admitted elsewhere? What is your interpretation of the rules for Alabama State Bar admission?

QContinuum

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by QContinuum » Thu Nov 07, 2019 3:55 pm

UKGraduate wrote:Thank you both for the input.

For now, I just need to get admitted somewhere. The question is whether Alabama State Bar allows (aside from all the other requirements) for a foreign-educated common law student, who has not been admitted anywhere else, to be admitted there? There is conflicting information on this, with the rules being, quite frankly, unclear.

It would be most helpful if someone could answer the above question.
The rules don't seem all that unclear.

http://www.ncbex.org/pubs/bar-admission ... .html#p=25

1) Your foreign law school must be approved in its jurisdiction, AND
2) You must be admitted to practice law in your foreign law school's jurisdiction, AND
3) At least one of the following:
3A) Your foreign law school curriculum included a "substantial component of English common law" - generally, this only applies to law schools in the Commonwealth, OR
3B) You successfully completed at least 24 semester hours of bar subjects at a U.S. ABA-accredited law school - generally, a U.S. LL.M., though you have to have taken 24 semester hours for the LL.M. and all of those hours have to have been on bar subjects, OR
3C) You are already admitted in another U.S. jurisdiction (state/D.C./territory), are in good standing in that jurisdiction, and have continuously practiced law in that jurisdiction for at least 3 years.

So no, you don't need 3C. You can qualify under 3A or 3B (so long as you also satisfy 1 and 2).

Unless you have ties to Alabama, I continue to think Missouri is likely to be the better option.

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UKGraduate

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by UKGraduate » Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:46 pm

[/quote]

2) You must be admitted to practice law in your foreign law school's jurisdiction, AND

[/quote]

I read the same on the NCBEX website and guide, but on the Alabama State Bar it is worded quite differently. MO does not allow admission without the above.

Thank you, QContinuum.

rkd2020

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by rkd2020 » Tue Nov 02, 2021 6:04 am

JingB wrote:
Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:16 pm
I am in the same predicament. The specific jurisdiction will not provide advisory opinion nor answer specific questions. I am looking at between Alabama or Missouri. Is there someone here with a US-LLM ABA approved law school graduate and a foreign law graduate who applied for UBE score transfer in those jurisdictions? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

I find myself in the same situation now! People from AL bar is giving me a hard time answering my questions and yes, their rules are not clear! They got to a point that they said transferring of UBE score is considered admission without examination and therefore only JD applicants can transfer. I will retake NY in February because I’m not in the mood of paying $850 just for them to tell me I can’t apply. But was wondering if you were successful applying. Thank you!

Sk007

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Re: Alabama State Bar Admission as a Foreign-educated Law Graduate

Post by Sk007 » Sun Apr 17, 2022 7:08 am

Hello has anybody successfully applied to Alabama using a ube transfer Under the foreign graduate route?

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