Guidelines On Reciprocity Or Admission On Motion Among The States As Per American Bar Association LawCrossing

When one bar admits a lawyer based mainly on his/her membership in another bar, this is reciprocity or “admission on motion.” It is not a standardized process. While the American Bar Association (ABA) promotes guidelines it believes each jurisdiction should follow in accepting outside lawyers, each state is free to accept or disregard those suggestions and make its own rules.

See the following articles for more information about the bar exam:

A Comprehensive Guide to Bar Reciprocity: What States Have Reciprocity for Lawyers and Allow You to Waive into the Bar

Taking the Bar in Multiple States

The Different Policies of Various State Bar Associations Regarding the Transfer of MBE Scores from One Jurisdiction to Another
Of the 50 states and five territories listed on the chart “Reciprocity, Comity & Attorneys Exam” in the ABA’s Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2015, 25 states participate in a form of reciprocity. Eight states and/or regions will allow attorneys to take the Attorneys Exam, which is only the written part of the bar exam, and still others require passing scores on specific standardized exams.

Standardized tests offered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) are often components of an application to a state bar.

The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) are the most commonly used tests for bar entrance, and some states require an applicant to pass one or more of these exams despite, or in lieu of, having reciprocity from his/her home state. The MBE and MPRE are the most common exams used, with only three or four jurisdictions opting to use other exams.

See A Comprehensive Guide to Bar Reciprocity: What States Have Reciprocity for Lawyers and Allow You to Waive into the Bar for more information.

Since 2011, states have had the option to administer the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). The UBE is an effort among certain states to standardize the bar admission process and make it easier for test-takers to transfer their legal education across state lines by applying for admission to multiple UBE states at one time.  The UBE consists of the MBE, MEE and MPT.

This article first appeared “Guidelines On Reciprocity Or Admission On Motion Among The States As Per American Bar Association “ on LawCrossing,  also on Powershow.
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