Texas Board of Law Examiners

Foreign Attorney Admission Information

Your interest in becoming a member of the State Bar of Texas is important to us. However, the Board and its staff do not provide advisory opinions on the qualifications of prospective applicants. If a potential applicant wishes to have a determination made regarding eligibility, the applicant must submit an application, the accompanying documentation and applicable filing fees. Because the processing of an application is a lengthy and detailed process, you must complete an application and submit all required fees before a determination on any application is made. Application fees are not refundable or transferable. Before submitting an application, all applicants are responsible for reading the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas and all application instructions.

The general requirements for admission are found in Rule II of the Rules Governing Admission to the Bar of Texas.

• See Rules II(a)(4), III(a) and XIII(b)(1) and (b)(2) and the instructions in the general application form for additional information

• Must be an attorney holding a valid, active law license issued by a foreign nation

• Must meet the same general requirements for admission as other applicants and must take the Texas Bar Examination

• To be admitted to the Texas Bar Examination must hold a Juris Doctor degree from an A.B.A.-accredited law school or demonstrate all of the qualifications required for an exemption under either XIII(b)(1) or (b)(2) if licensed in a foreign nation, or under Rule XIII(a)(2) if licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction.

• At the time of filing a Texas application and at all times during the period of practice for which credit is sought the applicant must have a valid, active law license under which the applicant has been entitled to engage lawfully in the practice of law in the jurisdiction that issued the license. See Rule I(a)(14)

• No applicant will be admitted under this rule who fails the Texas Bar Examination, who cannot meet the character and fitness requirement or who cannot meet the requirements of Rule II(a)(5)

• Must have a scaled score of at least 85 on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). See Rule II(a)(7) and Rule V

All foreign-educated attorneys must demonstrate that the legal education that they have received is the substantial equivalent of the education provided by an ABA-approved law school.  To that end, all such individuals must submit their proof of their educational qualifications to a professional credential evaluation service.  Please click here for specific information.  (This is a pdf document, and requires use of the Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

All foreign-educated attorneys are encouraged to provide complete contact information for their licensing and educational entities. This information should include the name of the entity, its mailing address, phone number, fax number, website and email address. A street address should also be provided if it is different from the mailing address.  Country codes should be provided with phone/fax numbers.

These attorneys are also encouraged to provide fax numbers, websites, and email addresses for the employers from whom they are seeking credit towards the practice requirements found in Rule XIII.

This information will need to be provided in a separate letter that accompanies the Application.

since July 17, 2003

Last modified  August 12, 2009 01:01 PM

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Questions about the bar admission process should be directed to information@ble.state.tx.us