The First-Year Law Students' Examination, or "baby bar," is a one-day test given in June and October in the Los Angeles and San Francisco areas.
Not all law students have to take the baby bar. Law students completing their first year of law study in a juris doctor degree program at a State Bar-unaccredited registered law school, through the Law Office Study Program and those without two years of college work attending a Committee of Bar Examiners- or an American Bar Association-accredited law school must take the First-Year Law Students' Examination after completing their first year of law study. Law students who have been advanced to their second year of law study at an ABA or California-accredited law school and completed a minimum of 60 semester or 90 quarter units of undergraduate work are generally exempt from the examination.
An applicant who is required to pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination will not receive credit for any law study until the applicant passes the examination. Passage must be achieved within the first three consecutive administrations after the applicant becomes eligible to take the examination. If the applicant passes subsequent to that, credit will be received only for the first year of law study.
Register for the exam online.
Credit and debit card payments: For credit or debit card payments, a processing fee of 2.5 percent will be added to all charges. If your credit or debit card transaction is denied, you will not be able to submit your application until you provide another Mastercard, Visa, American Express or Discover card.
ACH (e-check) Payment: You may also make payment by ACH. If the payment is declined or is rejected for insufficient funds, your application will not be considered complete until a replacement payment with any imposed late fees and service charges is received.