Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 39, September 25, 2024
(a)
General.
An applicant may qualify to take the New York State bar
examination by submitting to the New York State Board of Law Examiners
satisfactory proof that:
(1) the
applicant attended and was graduated with a first degree in law from an
approved law school;
(2) the
applicant attended and successfully completed the prescribed course of
instruction required for a first degree in law at an approved law school, but
has not been awarded the degree as of the date proof of eligibility to sit for
the bar examination is required to be filed with the State Board of Law
Examiners. The State Board of Law Examiners shall not certify the applicant for
admission to the bar pursuant to section
520.7(a) of this
Part until the applicant has presented satisfactory proof that the applicant
has been awarded a first degree in law; or
(3) the applicant satisfies the requirements
of section
520.17 of this
Part.
(b)
Approved
law school defined.
For purposes of this Part, an approved law
school is one:
(1) that is
approved by the American Bar Association at all times during the period of the
applicant's attendance; and
(2)
that is located in the United States or its territories.
(c) The academic program, calendar and
instructional requirements contained in the American Bar Association Standards
and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools shall apply with the
exception of distance education provisions, which are as follows:
(1) Distance education course. A distance
education course is a course in which students are separated from all faculty
members for more than one-third of the course instruction and the instruction
involves the use of technology to support regular and substantive interaction
between the students and all the faculty members, either synchronously or
asynchronously; and
(2) Up to 15
credit hours for distance education courses may be counted toward both the
credit hours required for graduation and the classroom credit hours required;
and
(3) No credit shall be allowed
for distance education courses until the student has completed the equivalent
of 28 credit hours toward the first degree in law; and
(4) Remote participation in a non-distance
education course by a student as an accommodation under the Americans with
Disabilities Act or any other law requiring accommodation will not cause the
course to count toward the distance education credit limits in this section for
the accommodated student. The law school must document all instances in which
it permits a student's remote participation in a nondistance education course
for which credits will not be counted toward distance education credit limits
in this section.
(d) Law
school certificate of attendance. The applicant shall file a law school
certificate of attendance with the State Board of Law Examiners that must
include:
(1) a certification that the
applicant has successfully completed the prescribed course of instruction for
the J.D. degree at a law school approved by the ABA at all times during the
period of the applicant's attendance;
(2) the date of graduation or the date on
which the J.D. degree will be conferred;
(3) the number of credits completed in
distance education courses under section
520.3(c)(1) of
this Part; and;
(4) a certification
that the applicant did not complete any credits in distance education courses
during the first 28 credit hours toward the first degree in
law.
(e) Credit for law
study in foreign country. An approved law school may, in its discretion, grant
such credit as it may deem appropriate toward the total credits required for a
first degree in law, but not exceeding one-third of the total credits required
for the degree, to an applicant who has studied law in a law school in a
foreign country. No such credit shall be allowed for law study in a foreign
country that was undertaken in a distance education course as defined in
section 520.3(c)(1) of
this Part, nor shall any credit be allowed for correspondence
courses.
