north carolina

north carolina

bar admission administrative agency:

executive director
board of bar examiners of the state of north carolina
one exchange plaza, suite 700
p.o. box 2946
raleigh, nc 27602
tel: 919/828-4886
fax: 919/828-2251
website: http://www.ncbar.com/
website: http://www.ncbar.org/
website: http://www.ncble.org/
website: http://www.nclawspecialists.org/

bar admission options:

without bar examination
an applicant who has graduated from an aba-accredited law school, meets the other state bar requirements and:
1. is admitted to practice in another u.s. jurisdiction which has comity with north carolina (these states include alaska, colorado, connecticut, district of columbia, georgia, illinois, indiana, iowa, kentucky, massachusetts, michigan, minnesota, missouri, nebraska, new hampshire, new york, north dakota, ohio, oklahoma, pennsylvania, tennessee, texas, vermont, washington, west virginia, wisconsin, and wyoming);
2. has passed the mpre;
3. has, in the state in which the applicant is licensed, actively engaged in the full-time practice of law for four out of the last six years immediately preceding the date of application, may be admitted without examination. practice of law includes:
a) legal service as a corporate counsel;
b) judicial service in a court of record or other legal service with any federal, state, or local government;
c) service as a member of a judge advocate general's department of the u.s. armed forces; or
d) full-time faculty member in a law school approved by the council of the north carolina state bar.
4. has submitted certificates of moral character from four individuals who know the applicant; and
5. has satisfied the board that the state, or territory of the united states, or the district of columbia, in which the applicant is licensed, and from which he seeks comity, will admit north carolina attorneys to the practice of law in such state, or territory of the united states, or the district of columbia, without written examination, other than the multistate professional responsibility examination.

employment in north carolina, when conducted pursuant to a license granted by another jurisdiction, to meet the requirement of this rule is limited to:
a) employment as house counsel by a person, firm, association, or corporation engaged in business in this state which business does not include the selling or furnishing of legal advice or services to others; or
b) employment as a full-time faculty member of a law school approved by the council of the north carolina state bar; or
c) employment as a full-time member of the faculty of the institute of government of the university of north carolina at chapel hill; or
d) service as a member of a judge advocate general's department of one of the military branches of the united states.

application deadline: none
note: requests for reciprocity take approximately six months to approve.

application/admission fees: $1,500.00

with bar examination
examination required for all other applicants.

examination components:
1. academic: mbe and 12 state essays.
2. ethics: mpre scaled score of 80 is transferable from another jurisdiction within a 24 month period preceding the date of the examination.

examination dates:
february (deadline: 1st tuesday in october of the preceding year; late fees apply until the 1st tuesday in november)
july (deadline: 1st tuesday in january; late fees apply until 1st tuesday in march).

application/admission fees:
$600.00 (general applicants not licensed); $1,200.00 (licensed attorneys from states not having comity with north carolina). applications with late fees will be accepted.

other state bar requirements:

1. minimum age: 18

2. (a) holds an llb or jd degree from a law school approved by the american bar association at the time the degree was conferred, or (b) prior to august 1995, holds an llb, jd, llm or sjd degree from a law school approved by the council of the north carolina state bar at the time the degree was conferred, or (c) prior to august 2005, received an llm or sjd degree from a law school approved by the american bar association at the time the degree was conferred.

3. character check by the board.

4. required annual fees: $175.00 and $20.00 for the client security fund

regulation of in-house counsel

north carolina bar admission rules cover in-house counsel (see without bar examination above).

bar association status:

[ ] mandatory (see “required annual fees,” above.)

[x] voluntary
annual dues are graduated based on the number of years of admission. the first year of membership is free.

specialty certification:

attorneys may be certified by the north carolina board of legal specialization, the aba, or by an approved private entity. advertisements of specialty certification must include the name of the certifying organization.