virginia

bar admission administrative agency:

bar admission options:

without bar examination
eligibility requirements:
*character check by the virginia board of bar examiners. each applicant must complete the virginia board of bar examiners character and fitness questionnaire.
*received your j.d. degree from a law school approved by the american bar association at the time you received the degree.
*are not a graduate of a foreign law school (e.g., outside of any u.s. state or territory).
*have never failed more than two bar exams given in any u.s. state or territory.
*have not failed a bar exam given in any u.s. state or territory within the 5 years immediately preceding the date you intend to file your application for admission without examination.
*admitted to practice before the highest court of a reciprocal jurisdiction (i.e., admitted to practice before the court of last resort of a jurisdiction which permits lawyers licensed in virginia to be admitted to practice without examination in such jurisdiction.).
*have been engaged in the full time, active (as defined below) practice of law in a jurisdiction other than virginia and subsequent to your having been licensed to practice law in such other jurisdiction for at least 5 years out of the past 7 years immediately preceding the filing of your application to virginia.
*have been licensed to practice law in the reciprocal jurisdiction for at least 2 years.
*you intend immediately to establish an office in virginia and to practice law full-time (as defined below) from such virginia office.
*do you expect to divide your time between a virginia law office and one in another jurisdiction at any time within two years following your admission.

"active practice of law" ordinarily shall mean:
(i) private practice as a sole practitioner or for a law firm, legal services office, legal clinic, or similar entity, provided such practice was subsequent to being licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction in which that practice occurred;
(ii) practice as an attorney for a corporation, partnership, trust, individual or other entity, provided such practice was subsequent to being licensed to practice law in the jurisdiction in which the practice occurred, and involved the primary duties of furnishing legal counsel, drafting legal documents and pleadings, interpreting and giving advice regarding the law, and preparing, trying or presenting cases before courts or administrative agencies;
(iii) practice as an attorney for the federal or a state or local government with the same primary duties as described above regarding attorneys for a corporation;
(iv) employment as a judge for the federal or a state government, provided that such position requires a valid license to practice law in the jurisdiction in which such employment occurred; or
(v) service on active duty in the u.s. armed forces as a judge advocate or law specialist , as those terms are defined in the uniform code of military justice, 10 u.s.c. § 801, as amended, provided that such position requires a valid license to practice law and involves the same primary duties as described above regarding attorneys for a corporation. with the exception of the positions described in (iv) above, each qualifying position must involve an attorney-client relationship.

application deadline: not applicable

application/admission fees: $1,500.00 (includes character and fitness report fee).

with bar examination
examination required for all other applicants.

examination components:
1. academic: mbe and 9 state essays. mbe scores may not be transferred from another jurisdiction.
2. ethics: mpre scaled score of 85 or higher. your score can only be considered if you took the mpre during the same calendar year in which you passed the general virginia bar examination or within the two calendar years immediately prior thereto or within the two calendar years immediately following the year in which you passed the virginia bar examination.

examination dates:
february (deadline: december 15 of the preceding year)
july (deadline: may 10)

late applications will not be accepted.

application/admission fees:
$275.00 examination fee, plus the cost (which can range from $175.00 to $325.00) of the virginia board of bar examiners character and fitness report.

other state bar requirements:

1. character check by the virginia board of bar examiners. each applicant must complete the virginia board of bar examiners character and fitness questionnaire.

2. graduation from a law school approved by the aba at the time of graduation.

3. required annual fees: $250.00 for active members and $125.00 for associate (inactive) members.

regulation of in-house counsel

virginia supreme court rule 1a:5 establishes a two-tier regulatory regime for in-house counsel practitioners who are not members of the virginia state bar. rule 1a:5 requires the mandatory licensing of all in-house corporate counsel working in virginia. an in-house counsel admitted to practice in another u.s. jurisdiction may either (1) apply to the virginia state bar for a certificate as a registered virginia corporate counsel, or (2) register with the virginia state bar as a corporate counsel registrant.

bar association status:

[x] mandatory (see required annual fees above.)

[ ] voluntary

specialty certification

virginia has no specialty certification program, does not recognize aba-accredited programs or any other certification programs, and otherwise is silent on lawyer specialization. the state supreme court has had a virginia bar council certification plan before it for several years, but has taken no action on it.

virginia rule of professional conduct 7.4 permits lawyers to communicate information regarding certification, provided that such communications include the name of the certifying organization and state that "there is no procedure in the commonwealth of virginia for approving certifying organizations" [rule 7.4(d) and dr 2-104].