Once your application (with or without exam score) has been approved and you are eligible for admission and licensing, there are still several steps you must take prior to beginning the practice of law in Tennessee. Deadlines for completing the process licensing and admission process are noted below. Please read all of the information provided as it outlines the process for taking the Oath of Admission and receiving your license.
LICENSE REGISTRATION AND OATH OF ADMISSION – In order to obtain your license and be authorized to practice law in Tennessee, you must:
- Register with the Board of Professional Responsibility (BPR) and pay the fees associated with your registration;
- Receive your Certificate of Eligibility from the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners (BLE); and
- Take the Oath of Admission as prescribed in Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 6 within 2 years of the date of your letter of approval for UBE Score Transfer , Comity and Military Spouse applications, or two years from the date grades were released for UBE Scores earned in Tennessee or elsewhere.
- If your UBE score has not expired as provided in Rule 7, Sec. 4.07(e), you may be eligible to reactivate your application. See Board Policy P-1.02.
EXPIRATION OF ELIGIBILITY[1]: You must complete the BPR registration and have the oath of admission administered within two years from:
- the date of the notice from the Board that you were successful on the Uniform Bar Examination administered in Tennessee, or
- the date of the notice of the Board’s approval of your application for admission by transferred UBE score (§ 3.05), without examination (§ 5.01), or as spouse of a military service-member (§ 10.06).
Please carefully read the required steps below, which are time sensitive and require your immediate attention and diligence upon receipt of your approval for licensing and admission:
STEP 1: Within 5 business days of this letter, you will receive a “Welcome Email” from the Tennessee Board of Professional Responsibility (www.tbpr.org). Your login credentials and instructions for online registration and payment will be in the email. Additional instructions, How to Register at the BPR Portal, are included beneath the signature block of this letter.
STEP 2: Your Certificate of Eligibility will be issued by the Board of Law Examiners no more than 5 business days after you complete your registration with BPR (STEP 1) and is valid for 90 days.
- Subject to the time limit imposed by Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, Sec. 1.02, the Board may grant a reasonable, one-time extension of the time within which you must complete the licensure process upon showing to the satisfaction of the Board that you were not able to complete the process within the 90-day period.
- See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7 Sections 1.02, 9.01(b), and 13.02 if you must petition the Board for an extension of time.
- If your Certificate of Eligibility expires but your scores are still valid, you may reactivate your application as provided in Rule 7, Sec. 1.02 and Board Policy P-1.02.
- Note that your investigation may expire and you may be required to update your investigation.
STEP 3: In order to practice law in Tennessee, you must be approved for licensing and be admitted to practice before the Tennessee Supreme Court pursuant to Tenn. Sup. Ct. Rule 6, copied at the end of this letter. You may comply with Rule 6 in one of two ways. You must choose one or the other but not both when you complete your registration with BPR (STEP 1, above):
- Upon oral motion in open court before the Tennessee Supreme Court at one of the Admission Ceremonies, if any Admissions Ceremonies are currently scheduled.
- The Admissions Ceremonies are conducted by the Supreme Court Justices, usually in June and November.
- Applicants are required to register for the Admissions Ceremonies through the BPR portal; please note that space is limited.
- Applicants are expected to dress appropriately for Court and to be on time to sign-in.
- Upon written application by completing and returning the Application by Affidavit for Admission in accordance with Rule 6(2) and taking the oath before one of the judicial officials in Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 6, Paragraph 4, below.
Once you have taken the oath of admission, you are authorized to practice law in the State of Tennessee. You will receive your permanent license from the Board of Law Examiners within 2 months of taking the oath of admission.
[1] See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, § 1.02(b)(2). The date of notification of a passing examination score or approval of an application under Rule 7, §§ 3.05, 5.01, or 10.06 may be earlier than the date of this notice if you had not completed all requirements for admission after approval by the Board. Please note that anyone who takes the oath of admission and is on the roll of the Board of Professional Responsibility on June 1 will be assessed the Tennessee Professional Privilege tax of $400, even if only recently admitted.
HOW TO REGISTER AT THE BPR PORTAL
You can complete the entire registration process with the Board of Law Examiners, Board of Professional Responsibility and Appellate Court Clerk’s Office through the Board of Professional Responsibility online portal by doing the following:
1. Open the “Welcome Email” you received from the BPR. Be sure to check your Spam/Junk Mail folders and accept the domain, tbpr.org, as a trusted sender.
2. Go to the website for the Board of Professional: www.tbpr.org and log in with the credentials and instructions included in your Welcome Email. Once logged in, you will be able to complete your registration, register to enroll as an attorney with the Supreme Court and pay your law license registration fee.
3. The registration fee includes fees for all three judicial agencies (the Board of Law Examiners for law license fee, the Board of Professional Responsibility for registration; and the Appellate Court Clerk for enrollment to appear before the Tennessee Supreme Court); note that these fees are subject to change. Additionally, you may be assessed for prorated annual dues by the Board of Professional Responsibility, based on your birth month. You may use your major credit card for payment of the fee in the attorney portal (a credit card processing fee will be charged); a $5.00 processing fee is charged by the Board of Professional Responsibility for payment by cash, check or money order.
4. In order to participate in the Admission Ceremony, if Ceremony dates are provided in the BPR Portal, you must:
a) Complete the on-line registration process and pay the fee by the deadline listed in the online registration portal, no later than five business (5) days prior to the date of the selected Admissions Ceremony. The list of Admission Ceremony registration deadlines is attached, if any dates are currently available, and will be posted on the TBLE website (www.tnble.org) under the “Licensing, Registration, and Admissions” tab.
- Failure to register before the deadline means that you will not be eligible to participate in your preferred Admission Ceremony. You may either register for a different ceremony or you will have to take the oath through the Admission by Affidavit process.
- If the deadline has passed for all Admissions Ceremonies, you must be admitted through the Admission by Affidavit process. Please note that you may not be admitted by affidavit and participate in the Admission Ceremony.
b) Select to be introduced by a sponsor or by the Tennessee Bar Association President:
- If you have a sponsor who will introduce you at the ceremony, have that information available at the time you register. You may have only one sponsor introduce you. Note: If both of your parents are attorneys licensed in Tennessee and both wish to introduce you, list one parent only on your registration and then contact Lisa Perlen at the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners, BLE.Administrator@tncourts.gov.
- If you do not have a sponsor, the Tennessee Bar Association President will introduce you to the Court.
- You may not change this selection after you complete your registration.
c) The Appellate Court Clerk’s Office will provide you information, including links to the virtual ceremony and the process to be followed, approximately one week prior to the Ceremony.
You will be appearing before the Justices of the Tennessee Supreme Court and should dress appropriately for open court.
5. If you opt to be admitted by affidavit or if no ceremony dates are open, you must take the following steps:
a) Complete the registration process on-line and pay the fees listed in item 3, above.
b) Complete the Admission by Affidavit form. A copy of the Admission by Affidavit with instructions may be downloaded from the Tennessee Court System website.
c) Take the oath of admission before a judicial official authorized to administer the oath, or virtually through video conference technology; see Rule 6, Paragraph 4, below.
d) Submit the completed Admission by Affidavit form to the Appellate Court Clerk’s Office, Middle District (address highlighted below).
JIM HIVNER, APPELLATE COURT CLERK
Return all completed Application for Admission by Affidavit forms to the Middle Division:
Middle Division – Mary Beth Lindsey, Chief Deputy Clerk
Supreme Court Building
401 7th Avenue North
Nashville, TN 37219-1407
(615) 741-2681
Eastern Division – Becky Royal, Chief Deputy Clerk
Supreme Court Building
P.O. Box 444
Knoxville, TN 37901
(865) 594-6700
Western Division – Angie Dempsey, Chief Deputy Clerk
Supreme Court Building
P.O. Box 909
Jackson, TN 38302-0909
(731) 423-5840
Rule 6. Admission of Attorneys.
An applicant who has been approved for licensing under Rule 7 may seek admission to the bar of this Court by either:
(1) Appearing in open court and representing, through a reputable member of the bar, that he or she is a person of good moral character and that he or she has been issued a Certificate of Eligibility for Admission to be licensed to practice law under Rule 7 and the statutes of this state; or
(2) Filing with the Clerk of the Supreme Court an application for admission by affidavit. The documents submitted by the applicant shall demonstrate that he or she possesses the necessary qualifications for admission.
(A) The application for admission on affidavit consists of the following:
(i) An application in the form provided by the Appellate Court Clerk’s Office and which includes a statement that the applicant possesses all qualifications and meets all requirements for admission as set out in the preceding paragraph; and
(ii) A copy of the Certificate of Eligibility issued by the Board of Law Examiners pursuant to Rule 7, Section 9.01.
(B) An applicant seeking admission by affidavit shall appear before one of the judicial officials in Tennessee listed in paragraph 4, below, who will administer the oath of admission.
(C) Upon the applicant’s taking the oath or affirmation, applicant shall file the completed application for admission by affidavit, with the signature of the judicial official administering the oath, within 30 days of the date the oath was administered. Applications shall be filed in the office of the Clerk at Nashville. Upon receipt of the application for admission by affidavit and payment of the fee therefor, the Clerk shall issue a certificate of admission. The fee for admission to the Bar of this Court shall be fixed by the Court.
(3) Each applicant for admission shall take the following oath:
I, ___________, do solemnly swear or affirm that I will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Tennessee. In the practice of my profession, I will conduct myself with honesty, fairness, integrity, and civility to the best of my skill and abilities, so help me God.
(4) The foregoing oath of admission may be administered as follows:
(i) In person, by one of the following judicial officials in Tennessee: (A) a Justice of the Supreme Court; (B) a Judge of the Court of Appeals; (C) a Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals; (D) a Circuit Court Judge; (E) a Chancellor; (F) a Criminal Court Judge; (G) a General Sessions Court Judge; (H) a Judge of any other inferior court established by the General Assembly pursuant to Article VI, Section 1 of the Tennessee Constitution; (I) the Clerk of the Appellate Courts; (J) a Chief Deputy Clerk of the Appellate Courts; or (K) the Clerk (not including deputy clerks) of any of the courts of such trial judges listed above; or
(ii) Virtually, through video conference technology by a Justice of the Supreme Court, the Clerk of the Appellate Courts or a Chief Deputy of the Appellate Courts. The applicant shall present proof of identification in the form of an unexpired Driver’s License, Passport, or Military ID prior to taking the oath of admission, in addition to complying with the other requirements for admission by affidavit.ing the oath of admission, in addition to complying with the other requirements for admission by affidavit.