Sitting the New York Bar: A Guide for UK-Educated Lawyers

New York is the most common US bar for UK lawyers. That is because it is one of the few states that lets you sit the bar exam without an American law degree (JD). But you are not automatically eligible. The New York State Board of Law Examiners (BOLE) decides each case on its own facts, and its rules for UK applicants got stricter in 2025.

This page is for UK LLB students, conversion-route graduates, trainees and pupils, admitted solicitors, barristers and advocates, and UK lawyers already working in New York.

This page gives general information about published rules and it is not legal advice. Only BOLE can tell you whether you are eligible, through its advance evaluation (see Step 1).

The journey at a glance

  1. Get BOLE’s advance evaluation of your eligibility (6–12 months)

  2. Complete a US LL.M., only if your evaluation requires one (9–12 months)

  3. Apply for and sit the bar exam (February or July)

  4. Pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE) (about 20 - 30 hours of study plus a 2-hour exam)

  5. Complete the New York Law Course and pass the New York Law Exam (about 15- 20 hours of study plus a 2-hour exam)

  6. Complete 50 hours of pro bono work (can be done outside the U.S.)

  7. Meet the Skills Competency Requirement (usually met by UK practice)

  8. Apply for admission, including the character and fitness review (2–6 months)

  9. Take the oath (remote ceremonies are available)

Stages 4 to 7 can run alongside stages 1 to 3. Stages 4 to 8 must all be finished within three years of the second day of your exam, or you may have to sit it again (Rule 520.12).

Step 1 — Are you eligible?

Eligibility is governed by Rule 520.6 and explained in BOLE’s Foreign Legal Education Handbook (revised 30 October 2025). There are two routes in.

Route 1: your UK law degree alone. No US degree is needed. Your degree must meet the educational requirements to qualify as a lawyer in the UK. You do not have to have actually qualified. It must also come from an accredited university, be long enough, and cover enough of the same ground as a US law degree. BOLE generally expects three years of full-time study in a common law jurisdiction with six to eight courses a year (The Bar Examiner).

Route 2: admitted lawyer plus a US LL.M. This route is for people whose degree does not qualify on its own but whose professional qualification does. Your training contract, traineeship or pupillage can count towards the length requirement. An LL.M. is always required on this route.

The LL.M. fix. If your degree falls short on either length or content, but not both, a qualifying US LL.M. can make up the gap. To qualify, the LL.M. must be from an ABA-approved law school, carry at least 24 credits, include set amounts of professional responsibility, legal writing, American legal studies and bar-tested subjects, and be studied in person on a US campus.

What this likely means for you

Examples of common scenarios are:

  • 3-year on-campus LLB (England & Wales or Northern Ireland): Route 1. No LL.M required.

  • 4-year Scottish LLB: Route 1 (see the Scotland note). No LL.M required.

  • 2-year accelerated or graduate-entry LLB: LL.M. fix is likely required.

  • 2-year accelerated or graduate-entry LLB + SQE + qualifying work experience: Route 2. LL.M. fix is likely required.

  • Non-law degree + Postgraduate Diploma In Law (PGDL)/Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) + Legal Practice Course (LPC) or Bar Course (the “conversion route”): LL.M. fix likely required.

  • 2-year accelerated or graduate-entry LLB + Diploma in Professional Legal Practice (DPLP) (Scotland): LL.M. fix may be required.

  • An “LLB” that is really a packaged GDL + LPC: LL.M. likely required.

  • Online or distance-learning LLB: distance study is not counted. LL.M. likely required.

Scotland is a mixed jurisdiction, but is considered a common law jurisdiction by BOLE. Its route through the evaluation follows the same pattern as England & Wales.

Northern Ireland is a common law jurisdiction. Its route through the evaluation follows the same pattern as England & Wales.

Barristers and advocates are treated the same as solicitors. The rule asks only whether you have been “admitted to practice law.”

NOTE: in addition to the above, there may be other combinations of education, training and experience that the BOLE may find equivalent in substance and duration to an American law degree. While UK Lawyers In New York are available to answer general questions, only the BOLE can definitively confirm equivalence.

The advance evaluation is mandatory, and slow

Every applicant on these routes must get BOLE’s evaluation before applying to sit the exam. You submit the form through your BOLE account. Then your university sends the sealed original documents directly to BOLE. Plan for at least six months after BOLE has everything. Edinburgh warns it can take up to a year.

  • No LL.M. needed, February exam: form by 31 October; documents by 15 January.

  • No LL.M. needed, July exam: form by 31 March; documents by 15 June.

  • LL.M. needed, February exam: documents by 1 May of the year before.

  • LL.M. needed, July exam: documents by 1 October of the year before.

The application fee for foreign-educated applicants is $750, compared with $250 for US graduates. If you apply to sit the exam before you have a decision, you do so at your own risk. The fee is not refunded if BOLE cannot decide in time.

Admission on motion is not available to you

New York lets some lawyers be admitted without sitting the exam (“on motion”). That route requires a first law degree from an ABA-approved US law school (Rule 520.10). An LL.M. does not count, and neither does long experience in practice. For a UK-qualified lawyer, the exam is the only route to full admission.

Step 2 — The exam

Which exam you will sit

New York is moving from the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) to the new NextGen Bar Exam, with no overlap period (Notice to the Bar, January 2025).

  • Up to February 2028: the current UBE. This is two days: 200 multiple-choice questions (MBE), six essays (MEE) and two practical tasks (MPT). New York’s pass mark is 266 out of 400. Many UK candidates find the practical tasks the easiest part, because they test lawyering skills rather than recall of US law.

  • From July 2028: NextGen. This is about nine hours over a day and a half, combining multiple-choice questions, integrated question sets and performance tasks. New York has not yet announced its NextGen pass mark, its exam dates or its laptop arrangements.

A warning about transferring scores. New York will not accept NextGen scores earned in other states before July 2028 (BOLE, January 2026).

Dates, deadlines and logistics

  • The exam is held on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July.

  • The application windows are 1–31 October (for February) and 1–31 March (for July). There is no late filing (BOLE exam dates).

  • You must sit the exam in person in New York State. There is no remote or overseas option. Your exam site is assigned about a month beforehand. Do not book travel to a specific city until your site is confirmed.

  • Results usually come out in late October (for July) and late April (for February).

  • In February 2026, foreign-educated first-time takers passed at 44%, against 78% for US-educated first-time takers (BOLE). Plan your study time with that gap in mind.

The other tests

  • New York Law Course and New York Law Exam (NYLC and NYLE). These cover New York–specific law. The course is free, online and about 17 hours long. The exam is 50 open-book multiple-choice questions, taken online from home, with a pass mark of 30 out of 50. Both can be done from the UK. A committee is reviewing whether these should change when NextGen arrives (NY UBE Guide).

  • MPRE (the ethics exam). This has 60 multiple-choice questions, and New York’s pass mark is 85. It is offered in March, August and November, and the fee is $185 (NCBE).

Preparing

Past New York exam questions with sample answers are the most useful single resource. NCBE also offers study aids. The main commercial courses (BARBRI, Themis, Kaplan, Pieper, Marino) are all online and can be taken from the UK. A common benchmark is 8–10 weeks of full-time study.

Step 3 — Getting admitted

Passing the exam does not make you a New York attorney. These steps all have to be completed within the three-year window.

50 hours of pro bono work (Rule 520.16). This can be done entirely in the UK. Pro bono work at a UK firm counts even if you are on a salary, as long as the client pays nothing and you get no extra reward for it. Translation, moots, mentoring and political work do not count.

The Skills Competency Requirement (Rule 520.18). This applies if you started your law degree after 1 August 2016, or your LL.M. after 1 August 2018. For most UK applicants, it is met by one year of full-time practice after admission in the UK, which can be in separate periods and from any time in the past. A six-month apprenticeship in a law office is the alternative.

Character and fitness. If you live outside New York and do not work there full-time, your application goes to the Appellate Division, Third Department in Albany (AD3 Admissions). The Third Department routinely handles overseas applicants and holds remote admission ceremonies. You will need:

  • two character references from people who have known you for at least two years and are not relatives, law school teachers or your current employer

  • employment confirmations for every law-related job you have held

  • certificates of good standing from every body you are admitted with

  • your pro bono and skills affidavits

An interview may be required. How overseas applicants attend it is not published, so check with the Third Department before making travel plans.

After admission

  • Registration: $375 every two years, payable before you take the oath (Part 118). New York has no “inactive” status for lawyers still practising elsewhere.

  • CLE (continuing legal education): 32 credits over your first two years (CLE Board).

  • Practising from the UK: Judiciary Law § 470 requires New York attorneys who live outside the state to keep a physical office in New York to practise New York law. Holding the admission as a credential while working in London is fine. Repeal efforts are ongoing (NYC Bar).

Alternatives to full admission

Foreign Legal Consultant licence (Part 521). This lets a qualified UK lawyer advise on UK law from a New York office, with no exam and no US degree. You must have practised for at least three of the last five years, be over 26, and keep an office in New York. You cannot appear in court or advise on US law yourself. It suits an experienced solicitor seconded to New York to advise on English or Scots law (NY Courts).

Other options are registered in-house counsel, pro hac vice admission for a single case, and temporary practice under Part 523.

Where to get answers

  • New York State Board of Law Examiners: offers a complete guide here, and can answer specific eligibility, evaluations, and exam application questions. nybarexam.org

  • Appellate Division, Third Department: admission for applicants living outside New York. nycourts.gov/ad3/admissions · AD3AdmissionsOffice@nycourts.gov ·

  • OCA Attorney Registration Unit: registration questions.

  • NCBE: MPRE, UBE, NextGen, score transfers. ncbex.org

This page summarises rules published by the New York Court of Appeals, the Board of Law Examiners, NCBE and UK regulators as they stood in August 2026. Rules, dates and fees change, and the NextGen transition in particular will change Step 2 before July 2028. Check anything you plan to rely on against the primary source. Nothing here is legal advice.