Admission Without Examination - Minimum Threshold Requirements

This list is only a brief synopsis of the Minimum Threshold Requirements. For the complete 1A:1 Rule and Regulations click here.

To apply for Admission Without Examination in Virginia, you must meet all of the following requirements:

Reciprocity:

• You must be admitted to the highest court of a reciprocal jurisdiction (no minimum time requirement). Click here for list of reciprocal jurisdictions.

Minimum Period of Bar Admission:

• You must have been admitted for at least 5 years to the highest court of any jurisdiction (reciprocal or non-reciprocal).
• You must be in good standing (active or inactive) in all jurisdictions where you have been admitted.
• You must have no pending disciplinary matters, investigations or charges in any jurisdiction.

Requirement of Minimum Current Practice:

• You must have been engaged in the full-time (minimum 32 hours per week) practice of law for three (3) of the last five (5) years.

Practice of Law:

• You must have been licensed in the jurisdiction where your law practice was conducted or provide satisfactory evidence (statute, rule, court order, etc.) that your law practice was permitted in an unlicensed jurisdiction (i.e., practicing federal law in a jurisdiction where you are not licensed to practice law, etc.).
• Your practice of law must have involved an attorney-client relationship (exception for judges and judicial law clerks) and ordinarily shall not include document review work.

Legal Education:

• You must have received either (i) a JD degree from a law school that was approved by the American Bar Association at the time of such applicant’s graduation, or (ii) a JD degree from a law school not approved by the American Bar Association at the time of such applicant’s graduation (including a JD degree from a foreign law school), and an LL.M. from a law school approved by the American Bar Association at the time of such applicant’s graduation, and passed a bar exam in a state or territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia.

Bar Examination History:

• You cannot have failed any bar exam in the last five (5) years.
• You can only have failed two (2) bar exams ever.

Instruction in Virginia Law:

• You must complete the Rule 1A:1 Reciprocity Course within six (6) months prior to filing your application. Click here for the approved Reciprocity Course.
• You must have read the Virginia Rules of Professional Conduct.

More information may be found in the FAQs/Admission Without Examination.