U.S. Bar Exam Information
The LL.M. in Law and Government is not specifically designed as a U.S. bar exam preparation course; however, after graduating from the program, many of our students sit for the New York bar exam. We urge students interested in taking a U.S. bar exam to review the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements, which lists the bar eligibility requirements of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. The guide is published by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
Students interested in sitting for the D.C. bar exam will be required to take 30 credits over 3 semesters. Please review the complete eligibility requirements.
Information about the New York bar is available at www.nybarexam.org. Foreign-trained attorneys should pay particular attention to Rule 520.6 of the Court of Appeals for the Admission of Attorneys and Counselors at Law and to the pre-LL.M. education requirements. Foreign-trained attorneys must submit an evaluation of their foreign credentials up to one year in advance of sitting for the New York bar exam.
New York Bar Exam Track
Foreign-trained LL.M. students who wish to take the New York Bar Exam must complete at least 12 credits of required classes of the 24 credits needed for the LL.M. degree including:
- American Legal Institutions (2 credits, Offered Fall and Spring)
- Legal Research and Writing (2 credits, Offered Fall and Spring)
- Legal Ethics (2 credits, Offered Spring) OR Ethics for Trial Lawyers (2 credits, Offered Spring)
At least 6 credits from the following approved courses:
- U.S. Business Law (3 credits, Offered Fall and Spring)
- U.S. Contracts Law (4 credits, Offered Spring)
- U.S. Constitutional Law (3 credits, Offered Fall)
- U.S. Criminal Law (3 credits, Offered Fall)
- Evidence (4 credits, Offered Fall, Spring, and Summer; Pre-requisite: U.S. Criminal Law)
- Criminal Procedure (3 credits, Offered Fall and Summer; Pre-requisite: U.S. Criminal Law)
- Other courses may be eligible dependent on the semester. Please refer to the List of Approved Courses for courses approved for the New York Bar Track.
Because of these increased requirements, students who are opting to sit for the New York bar exam may be limited in their other course selections. If you are interested in discussing your course of study and the various requirements for the LL.M. and the New York Bar, please email llm@wcl.american.edu.