california bar exam

sfnch

hi guys,
looking for any advice / experience regarding this exam.
have been through the NYbar thread and im sure its much the same but wanted to be specific.
two major questions though;
is there any reason why the NYexam is so much more popular?
AND, i have a BA and MA, no law degree though but i have all my fe1's,
do people think il be allowed to sit?
all and any replies greatly appreciated.

Dante10

sfnch wrote: »

hi guys,
looking for any advice / experience regarding this exam.
have been through the NYbar thread and im sure its much the same but wanted to be specific.
two major questions though;
is there any reason why the NYexam is so much more popular?
AND, i have a BA and MA, no law degree though but i have all my fe1's,
do people think il be allowed to sit?
all and any replies greatly appreciated.

Heya, well i would imagine that the NYB is more popular because people like the idea of lawyering in NY probably because of its image as arguably the largest corporate hub in the world. This in turn means that there are probably more large law firms there than elsewhere, which means more job opportunities. Also, I would imagine that to a lot of people, NY is an attractive place to reside.
From what Ive heard, the California bar exam is even more difficult than the NY one. (Ive done neither so im not exactly sure by what I mean by "difficult")
I dont know about the California bar but I know that for the NYB, you need to have a law degree. Unfortunately, your FE1s are useless to you anywhere other than at the law society of Ireland (afaik).
Again im not sure about specific requirements but you'll probably find all of the info you need here: calbar.ca.gov/

r14

For California Bar you need to be a qualified lawyer in another jurisdiction before you can sit the exam. That's why anyone who is not qualified sits the NY Bar instead.

bahhoweya

Yes, I think one of the main reasons people sit the New York Bar over the California Bar is that for New York you only need to hold a law degree, and for California you need to be qualified and I think you need 3 years experience too, if anyone could confirm that it would be much appreciated!

I'd love to sit the California bar too, it's a few years away fo me but getting a bit of information would be great! Friary Law do a course for it, so they probably have some information seminars etc

bar man

To sit the CA bar with a foreign law degree, you need to have first completed an LLM in an American “ABA” approved college.
http://www.calbarxap.com/applications/CalBar/info/bar_exam.html#foreign


If you have an Irish LLB, you can sit the NY bar. Once you have been called to the NY bar, you can sit the CA exam.
http://www.calbarxap.com/applications/CalBar/info/bar_exam.html#eligibility


Note, this is a new rule, until a few years ago, you could sit the CA exam with just an LLB.

FreudianSlippers

bar man wrote: »

To sit the CA bar with a foreign law degree, you need to have first completed an LLM in an American “ABA” approved college.
http://www.calbarxap.com/applications/CalBar/info/bar_exam.html#foreign


If you have an Irish LLB, you can sit the NY bar. Once you have been called to the NY bar, you can sit the CA exam.
http://www.calbarxap.com/applications/CalBar/info/bar_exam.html#eligibility


Note, this is a new rule, until a few years ago, you could sit the CA exam with just an LLB.

You can also sit it with a professional degree (ie as a barrister or solicitor) as previously mentioned.