Frequently Asked Questions: Law Office Study Program

The LOS Program allows you to complete your legal education by studying law in a law office or judge’s chamber. 

You will complete four years of study in a law office under the supervision of a qualifying attorney or in a judge’s chamber under the supervision of a judge of a court of record in California. Your studies must be completed in the supervising attorney’s law office or judge’s chamber during normal business hours.

You must fulfill the pre-legal education requirements that apply to students who attend law school. This includes at least two years of college work, or show equivalent intellectual achievement by attaining a score of 50 or higher on specified College-Level Examination Program (CLEP) examinations, as detailed on the College Equivalency Education webpage. 

Your pre-legal education will be evaluated upon submission of your LOS application. If any legal education has been completed prior to applying for the LOS program, it’s suggested that you apply for a legal evaluation to determine if you have established exemption from the FYLSX. You must register with the Office of Admissions, and the Registration Application must be approved before you can submit a request for a legal evaluation. When submitting your LOS Notice of Intent, you must submit your official, sealed undergraduate transcripts, CLEP scores, or a course-by-course evaluation of your foreign study from an approved credential evaluation agency if you have foreign undergraduate study. All official, sealed legal education transcripts must be submitted before a legal evaluation can be completed.

You must submit a Registration Application in addition to the LOS Notice of Intent, the required documentation, and the applicable fees in the Applicant Portal within 30 days of beginning your legal studies in a law office or judge’s chamber. You will not receive credit for any study completed if the State Bar does not approve your applications. 

Please do not submit the LOS Notice of Intent before you have found a qualified supervising attorney or judge.

Generally, the State Bar will process your LOS application within 2-3 weeks of receipt if you submit a complete and accurate application. 

Incomplete applications will take longer to process. If your application is deemed incomplete, you will have 60 days from the date you submitted your application to provide the missing information or documentation. If your application is not deemed complete within this period, your application will be abandoned without a refund of any fees paid.

No. Working in a law office or judge’s chambers is insufficient to get credit for legal study under the LOS Program.

Unfortunately, the State Bar is unable to refer you to an attorney or judge. You are required to find a qualified attorney or judge who is willing to supervise your legal studies. You may wish to contact your local bar association for assistance.

An attorney must be an active licensee of the State Bar of California in good standing for at least five consecutive years immediately before beginning oversight of the student’s legal studies. They must also have actively practiced law during this period. In addition, a supervising attorney may not supervise more than two LOS students simultaneously. 

A judge must be a judge of a court of record of California, such as a California Superior Court or California Court of Appeal. 

Please refer to rule 4.29(B) of the Rules of the State Bar.

You may request to study under a different attorney or judge by submitting a new LOS application, the required documentation, and the fee in the Applicant Portal within 30 days beginning study with the new attorney or judge. 

If you change the attorney or judge under whom you are studying during a six-month study period, you must submit a report from your previous attorney or judge that indicates all study completed with that person along with the semi-annual report fee in the Applicant Portal within 30 days of beginning study with the new attorney or judge. Within 30 days of completion of the six-month study period, you will also have to submit a semi-annual report reflecting the study conducted under the new attorney or judge that covers the remainder of the six-month study period.

Your supervising attorney or judge will decide on the content of the monthly exams. Your supervising attorney or judge may wish to review what is covered on the First-Year Law Students' Examination and the Bar Examination when creating your course of study.

You must submit a semi-annual report to the State Bar after completion of each six month period of study through the LOS Program. If you submit a semi-annual report more than 30 days late, it will not be accepted, and you will not receive credit for that six-month period of study. Your LOS application and participation will be categorized as inactive if you fail to submit a semi-annual report within a year of your last provided semi-annual report. You must submit your semi-annual reports through the Applicant Portal. To submit a semi-annual report (i.e., Law Office Study Session):

• Log in to your Applicant Portal.
• Scroll down to “My Applications.”
• Click on the case number associated with your most recent Law Office Notice of Intent case.
• Under Law Office Study Sessions, click “New.”
• Provide the requested information and click “Save.” A LOS Session ID will be created.
• Click on the new LOS Session ID number. Upload a completed LOS Session Semi-Annual Report Cover Sheet and your six graded exams, each with an appended LOS Session Exam Cover Sheet under the files section. Please make sure the LOS Session Semi-Annual Report Cover Sheet has the correct dates and the total hours studied for the period.
• Click “Pay Now” and follow the steps to submit the study session.

To resume study after you have been placed on suspended status from the LOS Program, you must submit a new LOS Notice of Intent, the required documentation, and the fee in the Applicant Portal within least 30 days or resuming your legal studies.

All students in the LOS Program are required to take the FYLSX after completing their first year of study.

You will be required to take the FYLSX unless you establish an exemption, as specified in rule 4.55(A) of the Rules of the State Bar. 

If you are required to take the FYLSX, you must pass it within the first three consecutive administrations after becoming eligible to receive credit for your law study completed to date. 

If you are required to take the FYLSX and you fail to pass it after the first three consecutive administrations after becoming eligible to take the exam, you will only receive credit for your first year of legal studies. You must still pass the exam to become eligible to receive credit for your studies beyond the first year of legal studies. 

If you completed law study at an accredited or registered law school prior to beginning the LOS Program, it is suggested to obtain a legal education evaluation. As a part of the evaluation process, you are required to provide those official, sealed law school transcripts. The Office of Admissions will evaluate your prior completed law study to determine if you are exempt from the FYLSX. In addition, the Office of Admissions will advise how much credit has been recognized for the prior law school study and let you know how much more study you need to complete in the LOS Program to qualify for the California Bar Exam.

An applicant becomes eligible to take the FYLSX after completion of their first year of law study. If your second session, which completes the first year, ends prior to the final eligibility deadline for the current FYLSX, you are required to apply for the examination. 

The final eligibility deadline is always two weeks prior to the exam. All deadlines for the FYLSX can be found by visiting our website.