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No. Your certification is only valid for the period stated in your application. You must submit a new Application for the Certified Law Student Program in the Applicant Portal with the required documentation and fee.
You can participate in the program if you are currently enrolled in or have graduated from:
On the end date of your study session, the State Bar will send your supervisor an email asking about your progress over the last six-month study period. Your supervisor is required to attest whether you have demonstrated sufficient academic progress to continue to the next study session for each six-month period. If your supervisor does not provide a positive attestation or fails to provide one, your participation in the program will be terminated, unless the requirements of State Bar rule 4.29(N)(1)–(2) are met.
You will not receive credit for hours of study devoted to repetition of studies previously completed and you will lose credit for the entire six-month study session.
No, you cannot pause your studies during your six-month study period. A pause between sessions can take place; however, your participation in the LOS Program will be terminated if you fail to submit a semi-annual report within a year of your last semi-annual report. You will retain law study credit already received and recognized by the State Bar.
To receive credit for a six-month study period, applicants must study law under the supervision of their approved attorney or judge for at least 72 hours per month for six consecutive months, lasting at least 24 weeks and no longer than 26 weeks, as well as submit a semi-annual report within 30 days of completion for each six-month period that conforms to the State Bar requirements.
The supervisor must supervise the applicant directly for at least 20 hours per month, either in person or remotely. At least 10 of those hours over each six-month period must be in person.
Applicants enrolled in both programs, along with their respective supervisors, are expected to take proactive steps to avoid or address any actual or potential conflicts of interest or ethical issues. This includes exercising good judgment in situations where their dual roles may overlap. For example, an applicant who studies in the Law Office Study Program under the supervision of a judge should avoid appearing before that same judge when representing a client in the Certified Law Student Program.
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 strongly encouraged to apply for the FYLSX, as it will be considered your first eligible administration in the calculation of your legal study credit.
The final eligibility deadline is two weeks prior to the exam. All deadlines for the FYLSX can be found on our First-Year Law Students’ Examination webpage.
All students in the LOS Program are required to take and pass the FYLSX after completing their first year of study, unless you establish an exemption, as specified in rule 4.55(A) of the Rules of the State Bar.
You must take and pass the FYLSX within the first three consecutive administrations of first becoming eligible to receive credit for your law study completed to date. If you fail to take or pass it after the first three consecutive administrations of first becoming eligible to take the exam, upon passage, you will only receive credit for your first year of legal studies.
If you completed law study at an accredited or registered law school prior to beginning the LOS Program, you are required to provide 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.
To resume study after you have been terminated from the LOS Program, you must submit a new Application for the Law Office Study Program, the required documentation, and the fee in the Applicant Portal 30 days prior to the date you plan on resuming your legal studies.
Contact the LAP office for details about the income eligibility requirements and the application process. Financial assistance can cover up to one year of LAP group fees and one year of lab testing fees.
For more information, see the LAP Growth Grant Criteria.
There is no set time for Support LAP. It is completely voluntary. Participants can enroll, withdraw, and re-enroll whenever they want to.
After submitting your completed membership enrollment card, allow one to two weeks for delivery, then check Attorney Search to confirm your enrollment and find your bar number. If you do not see your name on the State Bar website after two weeks from the date you submitted the card, call 888-800-3400 or email AttorneyRegulation@calbar.ca.gov.
No. Pursuant to rule 9.46 of the California Rules of Court and Title 3 Division 3 Chapter 1 Article 3 of the Rules of the State Bar, you must reside in California. As defined in rule 3.370(D), this means that you must live or be located in California on more than a temporary or transient basis.
Contact the LAP office for details about the income eligibility requirements and the application process. Financial assistance can cover up to one year of LAP group fees and one year of lab testing fees.
For more information, see the LAP Growth Grant Criteria.
There is no set time for Support LAP. It is completely voluntary. Participants can enroll, withdraw, and re-enroll whenever they want to.
After submitting your completed membership enrollment card, allow one to two weeks for delivery, then check Attorney Search to confirm your enrollment and find your bar number. If you do not see your name on the State Bar website after two weeks from the date you submitted the card, call 888-800-3400 or email AttorneyRegulation@calbar.ca.gov.
No. Pursuant to rule 9.46 of the California Rules of Court and Title 3 Division 3 Chapter 1 Article 3 of the Rules of the State Bar, you must reside in California. As defined in rule 3.370(D), this means that you must live or be located in California on more than a temporary or transient basis.
No. All applicants for the MJP program must first submit a registration application in the Applicant Portal to register as an attorney applicant. Your registration application must then be approved.
Once your registration application is approved, you must submit 1) the application for the MJP Program you wish to apply for – RIHC, RLAA, or RMSA, and 2) the Application for Determination of Moral Character.
You may only practice under the MJP Program once your MJP application has been approved. You may practice under the MJP Program while awaiting a moral character determination. However, if you receive an adverse moral character determination, you will be terminated from the MJP Program.
Applicants will receive hard copy examination materials for the written and MBE sessions through the February 2028 exam. When registering for the exam, applicants will choose to either use their personal laptop to type their answers or handwrite their answers. The multiple-choice session is comprised of 200 questions where applicants must record their answers by darkening circles using a Number 2 pencil on an answer sheet.
Applicants have approximately one hour for a lunch break. You are allowed to bring lunch but may not eat it in the exam room. Please review the sample schedules online, as lunch schedules vary. Each day may have one of three lunch designations:
• No lunch break: Typically, you will not have a lunch break if you only take one session of the exam that day for no more than four and a half hours.
• Lunch break between sessions: Typically, you will have a lunch break scheduled between sessions if you take two sessions of the exam that day, and they are each scheduled for no more than four and a half hours. You must leave the testing room and report at the designated time for the start of your next exam session. You are not allowed to eat lunch in the testing room unless you have received prior approval as an accommodation.
• Lunch break during a session in the secure lunchroom: Typically, you will have a lunch break during the session if you only take one session of the exam for more than four and a half hours. The timing of your lunch break will be determined on the day of the exam with your proctor, and you must eat lunch in the secure lunchroom. There may be other applicants eating in the secure lunchroom. Applicants are not allowed cell phones or reading materials in the secure lunchroom. You must bring your lunch as you will not be allowed to leave the secure testing area. You will not be permitted to retrieve your lunch from your car or buy lunch at the exam site. You are not allowed to eat lunch in the testing room unless you have received prior approval as an accommodation.
If you are a PLL or a Supervising Lawyer, please send an email to provisionallicensure@calbar.ca.gov to share any concerns, challenges, or feedback about your experience in the PLP. While this is not a formal complaint process, we value your input and feedback.
Staff who review the submissions may:
• Reach out to your supervisor, with your permission, to discuss with them the concerns you are having;
• Connect you with the Lawyer Assistance Program (LAP) to get career counseling;
• Connect you with professional associations or your law school to assist in locating a new Supervising Lawyer;
• Pursuant to rule 8.4.1, if you believe your Supervising Lawyer has engaged in discrimination, harassment, or retaliation, we will direct you to the complaint process and provide assistance, as needed; or
• Collect data to understand systemic issues, etc
If the State Bar Court determines that a PLL is culpable of conduct that would result in discipline if they were fully licensed by the State Bar, or if the PLL is sanctioned for misconduct by any court or professional licensing authority, the provisional license terminates, and the matter is referred to moral character.
At the time the application becomes available, applicants can check their eligibility to apply for the Pathway PLP through the Applicant Portal under the status tab. Only applicants who meet the qualification, specifically those who achieved a score between 1390 and 1439 at first read or as a total scaled score for any California Bar Exam between July 2015 and February 2020, will be granted access to the PLP application.
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