The international student seeking a law degree in the United States must plan their educational track carefully and as early as possible in order to succeed. The international student who wishes to practice law in the United States may encounter confusion in the law school admission process. One of the main difficulties the student will face is the varying criterion of each of the individual states. Each state has its own criteria for a student wishing to be admitted to that state's bar. There are, however, two basic criteria that seem to cross all state lines.
Most states require all students to earn a Juris Doctor degree that has the approval of the American Bar Association. At this time, these accredited schools are only located within the United States and are not available online. If a foreign student earned a law degree, or any portion thereof, in another country, they will not be eligible for the state bar exam in most states. There are currently five states that do recognize international attorney eligibility. These five states are: Alabama, California, New York, New Hampshire, and Virginia.
While these five states allow foreign attorneys the ability to gain admission to the Bar, the process can be long and difficult. The first step is approval of their law degree by the American Bar Association. If the ABA approves of the candidate, they are then able to take that state's bar exam just as any applicant would. Once they have passed that state's bar exam, it is possible that the foreign candidate could practice law in other states based upon an agreement of reciprocity among states.
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