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All information about program participation is reported in aggregate. To view data about the LAP, please see the annual Lawyer Assistance Program Fact Sheet.
If a testing accommodations application is denied in whole or in part, applicants may request review of the decision by the Committee of Bar Examiners once for each exam cycle. However, if you submit your initial application less than 60 days before the filing deadline, there may not be enough time after receiving a decision to appeal for the upcoming administration of the exam. Requests for review must be submitted through the Applicant Portal no later than the first business day of the month in which that exam is scheduled to be administered. Launch a case via the Applicant Portal by clicking the Request for Review link on the right side of the page, under the column labeled Application Action Link. You must complete the required questions, including a statement of the reason you do not agree with the initial determination, and upload any documentation you wish for the committee to consider.
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.
Make sure you complete all demographic information located in your Admissions Applicant Portal. To locate this section, go to My Profile at the top right corner and click on the Update the contact information link. Select the Edit button and scroll down to Demographic section.
If you have a pending request for testing accommodations, your Admittance Ticket will not be released until your testing accommodation case is concluded. If you launch or draft a testing accommodation case after a decision is sent to you, you will no longer have access to your Admittance Ticket. If you launched the testing accommodation in error or would no longer like to proceed with the submission, please contact testing.accommodations@calbar.ca.gov to have your application updated and your Admittance Ticket released.
Yes. The process for requesting testing accommodations is separate from the application to take an exam. You are not required to wait for a determination regarding your testing accommodations to register for an exam, and doing so is not recommended.
For the FYLSX, applicants receive the multiple-choice questions electronically and must select their answers using a computer.
Items listed in the Admittance Ticket Bulletin are allowed without prior approval. The Admittance Ticket Bulletin can be found on the First-Year Law Students’ Examination webpage. Items not listed in the bulletin will require approval through the testing accommodations process. If the bulletin is not yet available for the exam you intend to take, refer to the bulletin for the prior administration of the exam; however, please note that the bulletin is subject to change.
The exam is comprised of 100 multiple-choice questions administered in two 90-minute sessions, with a 20-minute break between sessions.
The First-Year Law Students’ Exam (FYLSX) will be administered primarily in person at various Prometric test centers. Once approved to take the exam, you will receive an email detailing how to make your exam appointment with Prometric.
Items listed in the Admittance Ticket Bulletin are allowed without prior approval. The Admittance Ticket Bulletin can be found on the California Bar Exam webpage once logistics for the exam are confirmed. Items not listed in the bulletin will require approval through the testing accommodations process. If the bulletin is not yet available for the exam you intend to take, refer to the bulletin for the prior administration of the exam; however, please note that the bulletin is subject to change.
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.
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.
No. Entry into the Pathway PLP is only permitted for those who scored between 1390 and 1439 on a bar exam from July 2015 through February 2020. Program participants do not need to retake a bar exam if they complete 300 hours of supervised legal practice in the Pathway PLP and fulfill all other requirements of the rule.
Please review the Moral Character Statement and the Moral Character Determination Guidelines.
Yes. The moral character application requires disclosure of all civil actions, including but not limited to divorce, dissolution, and class action cases in which you were a named plaintiff or defendant.
Contact the citing or arresting agency to obtain a copy of a law enforcement report and contact the court where the related proceedings were held to obtain a copy of the charging document, court docket, and judgment (please see Form 2 for the complete list of required documents). You must contact each agency to determine whether records may be requested or obtained online, in person, or through the mail. The identity of the citing or arresting agency may sometimes be found in related court documents. The prosecutor’s office, such as the District Attorney or City Attorney, may be able to assist in identifying the court in which certain proceedings were held.
A nonjudicial punishment, court-martial, resignation in lieu of court-martial, administrative discharge, or a discharge that is not “honorable” may be relevant to a moral character determination, but it does not automatically exclude an applicant for admission to practice law in California.
You must disclose your current employer, even if it is not law-related, and you have not been there for at least six months.
You are not required to disclose to a potential employer. The moral character application requires you to disclose any employment, past or present, lasting more than six months, and any law-related employment, regardless of its duration.
If you obtain new employment while your moral character application is pending or after you have received a positive moral character determination, but before you take the attorney’s oath, you must provide the new employment information to the State Bar within 30 days.
You must disclose all residences for the past eight years, regardless of how long you resided at the location.
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