Ala. R. Bar Admis. IV

A. General Requirements. Any person who is at least 19 years of age, and

who has complied with the requirements of Rule I, is entitled to be examined for

admission to the Alabama State Bar, at any examination held as prescribed by these

Rules, upon proof that he or she has complied with the education requirements set

out in this rule.

B. Education Requirements.

(1) Proof of Prelegal Education.

(a) An applicant who has graduated from a law school that was not on the

approved list of the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's

graduation shall give proof that he or she has met the following prelegal education

requirements:

(i) that the applicant has received a baccalaureate degree from a university or

college that, at the time of the applicant's graduation, appeared on the

approved list of any accrediting agency recognized by the United States

Department of Education, or that meets substantially the same standards

required for appearing on the approved list of such agency; and

(ii) that the degree was received before the applicant entered law school.

(b) An applicant who has graduated from a law school that was on the approved

list of the American Bar Association at the time of the applicant's graduation shall

not be required to give proof that he or she has met the prelegal education

requirements set out in paragraph (a), unless such proof is required by the

Committee on Character and Fitness.

(c) An applicant who has graduated from a program awarding a law degree at

a university or college that, at the time of the applicant's graduation, was located

outside the United States and its territories shall not be required to give proof that

he or she has met the prelegal education requirements set out in paragraph (a) of

this subsection.

(2) Proof of Legal Education. An applicant shall make proof of legal study by filing

with the Secretary a certificate or certificates from the dean or deans of one or more law

schools, from which it shall appear that the applicant has completed legal study

conforming to and fulfilling the following requirements:

(a) That the applicant has pursued and satisfactorily completed, as a resident

student in a law school or law schools, a course of law studies that extended for at

least 3 academic years of at least 30 weeks each; that the applicant has graduated

from such a law school; and that at the time of the applicant's graduation the school

from which the applicant graduated was approved by the American Bar Association

or the Association of American Law Schools; or

(b) That the applicant has pursued and satisfactorily completed, as a resident

student at Birmingham School of Law, Jones School of Law of Faulkner University

before June 11, 2006, the date on which Jones School of Law was provisionally

accredited by the American Bar Association, or Miles College of Law, (1) a course

of law studies that extended for at least 4 academic years of at least 30 weeks

each or (2) a course of full-time law studies that extended for at least 3 academic

years of at least 30 weeks each; that the applicant has graduated from one of these

law schools; and that at the time of the applicant's graduation the school has been

continuously located and has remained in continuous operation in the county in

which it was operating on August 30, 1995.

For purposes of determining whether a student is engaged in "full-time law

studies" so as to be able to complete those studies in 3 academic years of at least

30 weeks each the following shall apply:

(i) An academic year shall consist of not fewer than 130 class days,

which days shall extend into no fewer than 8 calendar months. A class day

is a day on which classes are regularly scheduled throughout the day. Time

for reading periods, examinations, or other activities may not be counted for

purposes of meeting this 130-class-day requirement. A day on which

classes are not scheduled throughout the day is not a "class day" for

purposes of determining whether a student is engaged in "full-time law

studies."

(ii) An academic year shall consist of not fewer than 130 class days,

which days shall extend into no fewer than 8 calendar months. A class day

is a day on which classes are regularly scheduled throughout the day. Time

for reading periods, examinations, or other activities may not be counted for

purposes of meeting this 130-class-day requirement. A day on which

classes are not scheduled throughout the day is not a "class day" for

purposes of determining whether a student is engaged in "full-time law

studies."

(iii) The law school shall require that a student pursuing fulltime law

studies be enrolled for at least 10 semester hours of credit, and in each

semester the student must receive credit for 9 hours in order to be

considered a student pursuing fulltime law studies.

(iv) The law school may permit a student pursuing full-time law studies

to graduate in fewer than six academic semesters by earning not more than

one semester of credit hours by taking courses offered by the law school

during a summer session, provided the student meets the class-hour

requirements; or

(c) That the applicant has pursued and satisfactorily completed as a resident

student at a law school located outside the State of Alabama, but within the United

States or one of its territories, that, as of the date of the applicant's graduation, had

not been approved by the American Bar Association, a course of law studies that

extended for at least 4 academic years of at least 30 weeks each, and is a graduate

of that law school; that the applicant has been admitted to the practice of law before

the court of highest jurisdiction in the state or other jurisdiction in which that law

school is located; that the applicant has, after the applicant's admission to practice

law before the court of highest jurisdiction in that state or other jurisdiction, been

continuously engaged in the active practice of law for at least 5 years; and that the

applicant is a member in good standing of the bar of that court of highest

jurisdiction; provided, however, that an applicant may qualify under this paragraph

(c) only if the state or other jurisdiction in which is located the law school from

which the applicant graduated extends comity to graduates of Birmingham School

of Law and Miles College of Law and to graduates of Jones School of Law of

Faulkner University before June 11, 2006, who seek admission to the bar of that

state or jurisdiction, and graduates of those schools are permitted to seek

admission to the bar of that state or jurisdiction on terms and conditions no more

onerous than those imposed on the applicant by this paragraph (c); or

(d) That the applicant has pursued and satisfactorily completed a law-degree

program of a university or college that, at the time of the applicant's graduation,

was located outside the United States and its territories and was approved in that

foreign jurisdiction and that the applicant has been admitted to the practice of law

in the jurisdiction in which that university or college is located and (i) that the

lawdegree program completed by the applicant includes a substantial component

of the study of English common law; or (ii) that the applicant has satisfactorily

completed at least 24 semester hours of legal studies in subjects covered by the

bar examination in regular law-school classes, under the same standards and

conditions as are applied to other students, at a law school that was then on the

approved list of the American Bar Association; or (iii) that the applicant has been

admitted to the practice of law before the court of highest jurisdiction in a state or

other jurisdiction within the United States, that the applicant has, after such

admission, been continuously engaged in the active practice of law for at least 3

years in a state or other jurisdiction within the United States, and that the applicant

is a member in good standing of the bar of that court of highest jurisdiction.

C. Certification of Eligibility

If the applicant is entitled to take the examination, the Secretary shall issue to such

applicant a certificate substantially as follows:

The Committee on Character and Fitness of the Alabama State Bar does

hereby certify that __________________, who has satisfied the applicable

requirements of the Rules Governing Admission to the Alabama State Bar,

is entitled to take the examination for admission to the Alabama State Bar

to be administered on _____________ at ___________________.

BY:_________________________

Secretary, Board of Commissioners

Alabama State Bar

Such certification shall be presented and verified before such applicant enters upon

the examination, and the Board of Bar Examiners shall not examine any applicant by

whom such certificate has not been presented and verified. The Secretary, upon issuing

or refusing to issue the said certificate, shall preserve in his or her office a record of the

fact that such certificate was or was not issued and the date of such action, and shall

preserve in his or her office said application with the papers attached thereto and other

records in connection with the said application, all of which shall be kept on file until the

examination is completed, report made thereon, and pending application finally disposed

of. If an applicant is not admitted to the practice of law, the application and all other papers

in connection therewith shall be kept on file in the Secretary's office for reference in

connection with any future application for admission to the Bar, or for investigation and

examination of the record by any person entitled thereto.

D. Limitation on Examinations. The number of times an applicant may be

examined for admission to the Alabama State Bar shall be unlimited.