First Time Bar Exam

If you are seeking testing accommodations and previously met the Application Deadline for the Request for Non-Standard Testing or Courtesy Accommodations, you must have all required NST Forms uploaded to or received by the Board on or before the Final Deadline. For complete instructions, go to the Non-Standard Testing Accommodations page. Some Requests for Accommodations require professional assessment, including administration of evaluative testing that may be subject to expiration.

• If you did not graduate from an accredited undergraduate school or have a foreign undergraduate degree and earned a J.D. from an ABA accredited or Tennessee-approved law school, you must submit a petition for waiver of the accreditation requirement. (See Rule 7 § 2.01(c) and Policy P-2.01). You must include evidence that your undergraduate education is substantially equivalent to an undergraduate degree from a regionally accredited school
• If you received your legal education in a foreign country and did not receive a J.D. from an ABA-accredited or Tennessee-approved law school, see Foreign-Educated Applicants. 
• If you did not receive a J.D. from an ABA-accredited or Tennessee-approved law school, see Non-ABA Accredited Law School Graduates, below.

• If you received your legal education at a law school that was not ABA-accredited at the time of your graduation (other Tennessee law schools approved by the TN BLE), you may be eligible for admission in Tennessee by examination if: 
  • Your legal education was based on in-person attendance;
  • You were awarded a J.D. Degree;
  • You passed the bar examination in the state in which your law school is located; and
  •  You are licensed and have been engaged in the active practice of law for three of the five years immediately preceding the date of your application. You must submit documentation regarding the legal education you received and an Affidavit of Past Practice (found in Forms). See Rule 7 § 2.02(d).
• You must provide the following by the Final Deadline:
  • Proof of bar examination passage in state in which the law school is located- in the form of a score report or letter from the appropriate authority in the jurisdiction in which the applicant was educated certifying that the applicant was successful on the examination;
  • Proof of licensing in the form of a Certificate of Admission; note that an applicant licensed in another U.S. Jurisdiction has additional filing requirements as noted below;
  • Information sufficient for the Board to determine that the applicant’s law school was approved in the state in which it is located by an authority similar to the TN BLE;
  • Documentation that the curriculum offered is equivalent to a three-year course of study that is substantially equivalent to the legal education provided by approved law schools located in Tennessee. The curriculum cannot include distance, online or other than in-person learning beyond that permitted under Rule 7, section 2.02(e) for ABA-accredited law schools as provided in Definitions 7 and 8 and Standards 306, 311, and 511 of the Standard and Rules of Procedure for Approval of Law Schools; and 
  • An Affidavit of Past Practice. See also Rule 7, § 5.01(c) and Policy P-5.01(c).

If you received your legal education outside the United States and do not have a J.D. from an ABA-accredited or Tennessee-approved law school, you have additional requirements that must be submitted by the Final Deadline. See the Foreign Education page.

If you are or have been licensed in another U.S. Jurisdiction, you must also provide the following by the Final Deadline:

• Certification of Admission to the highest court of each state in which you are or were admitted (required to be uploaded to Synergy every two years, unless a change in status, in .pdf file format only); and
• Certification from the Disciplinary Authority of each state in which you are or were licensed and admitted attesting to your current standing and your disciplinary history (required to be uploaded to Synergy every two years, unless a change in status, in .pdf file format only).
•  Note that certification may take the form of one certificate or two, but must show the date of admission to the highest court and certify the applicant’s current standing (disciplinary and administrative, with disciplinary history) with the bar of each state in which the applicant is licensed.
• The required certificates must be dated within the 6 months immediately preceding the application and be from the highest court of each state in which you are or have been licensed, include the date that you were admitted to the highest court of the jurisdiction, and from the disciplinary authority certifying the current standing of your license in the jurisdiction (good, inactive, suspended, etc.) and your disciplinary history.
• A certificate from the state bar association is not sufficient unless the State Bar is the agency charged with maintaining the official admission and disciplinary records.
•  If you become licensed in another jurisdiction while your Tennessee application is pending, you must amend your application and provide certification of admission to the highest court and good standing.

• If you are licensed to practice law in a foreign (non-U.S.) jurisdiction, regardless of whether you were educated outside the U.S., you must also provide the following by the Final Deadline:
  • Certified copy of the record or license of the court which admitted you to practice, and
  •  Three letters from attorneys in each country in which you are licensed who can verify that you are licensed and attest to your practice in that country (see Rule 7 § 7.02), provided: 
    •  The letter must relate to your work with the recommender in the practice of law and,
    • If the letter is from a relative, the relationship must be disclosed in the letter. (Note that letters from an Applicant’s parents, grandparents, siblings or spouse who are practicing attorneys are not permitted). 
  • Documents not in English must include a translation to English by a certified translator and be  provided with the original document.
  • Letters must be updated every 2 years

• If you have been unsuccessful 5 or more times on the former Tennessee Bar Exam or the Uniform Bar Exam in any jurisdiction, you must also submit a petition and supporting documentation; see Board Policy P-4.05 for information.
• The petition must be submitted in writing, under oath. See Rule 7 § 13.02.
• You must also submit your UBE Score Report; contact the NCBE to have the report transferred to Tennessee.