If your spouse or partner is an active-duty Service Member who has been ordered to be stationed within California, you may seek permission to practice law in California as a Registered Military Spouse Attorney (RMSA). If you are approved as an RMSA, you may practice law in California and engage, under supervision, in all forms of legal practice that are permissible for a licensee of the State Bar of California, including pro bono legal services. For more details, see Cal. Rules of Court rule 9.41.1 and Rules of the State Bar, Title 3, Div. 3, Ch. 1, Art. 1.
You must first register as an attorney applicant with the State Bar’s Office of Admissions. The registration application is available in the Applicant Portal or upon request from the Office of Admissions.
To be eligible to become an RMSA, you must be:
You are ineligible for the program if you have taken and failed the California Bar Examination within the last five years before applying for the program.
To become an RMSA, you must submit the RMSA Application and an Application for Determination of Moral Character in the Applicant Portal.
You are required to submit the following documentation with your RMSA Application:
You will be required to provide fingerprints with your Application for Determination of Moral Character.
For current application fees, please see the Schedule of Charges and Deadlines.
All items must be submitted before an application will be considered complete.
Applications are typically processed within 30 days of the date the State Bar receives a complete and accurate application. If you fail to complete the application, submit all required documentation, or pay the required fee within 60 days of submission of the application, your RMSA Application will be deemed abandoned without a refund of fees paid. You will have to start a new application if you wish to participate in the program.
Once your RMSA Application has been approved, the Office of Admissions will email you an approval letter and Certificate of Registration as a Military Spouse Attorney. You may practice as an RMSA for a total of no more than five years.
You may practice as an RMSA while your Application for Determination of Moral Character is pending. Please note you will be terminated from the program if your Application for Determination of Moral Character is withdrawn, denied, or abandoned.
Within your first year of practice as an RMSA, you must satisfy the MCLE requirements, including ethics education, that licensees of the State Bar of California must complete every three years. Then, you must satisfy the MCLE requirements for your compliance group as set forth in rules 2.70 and 2.71 of the Rules of the State Bar.
You must submit annual renewal fees through your My State Bar Profile. You will also report your MCLE compliance through your My State Bar Profile when applicable.
Separately, you must also submit the RMSA Renewal Application in the Applicant Portal annually.
The annual renewal period opens on November 1 in the Applicant Portal, and December 1 in My State Bar Profile. You must complete the annual renewal requirements before the following March 1, or you will be suspended from the program.
You must notify the State Bar within 30 days if:
You must report a change in your supervising attorney or employment by submitting the RMSA Change of Employment Notice in the Applicant Portal.
You must also report the following changes within 30 days in the Applicant Portal:
If you no longer meet the qualifications to be an RMSA, your participation in the program will be suspended. After one year of suspension, your participation in the program will be terminated. If you wish to become an RMSA again following a termination, you must submit a new RMSA Application and a new Application for Determination of Moral Character if your positive determination has expired.