Admission on Motion

See Rule 12 for a schedule of fees or view this chart.

Yes, although we prefer that you pay by personal check, money order, or certified check made payable to the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. The Board is unable to make change.

Yes.

No.

No, if you are applying on years of practice (Rule 7A). If you are applying for admission under Rule 7B (MBE score), you must apply within 36 months of the date of the qualifying exam being used as the basis for admission. If you are applying for admission under Rule 7C (UBE score), you must apply within 36 months of the date of the qualifying exam being used as the basis for admission.

See Rule 4A(3). Minnesota requires one of the following:

1) Graduation with a J.D. or LL.B degree from a law school that is provisionally or fully approved by the ABA;

2) (i) a bachelor’s degree from an institution that is accredited by an agency recognized by the United States Department of Education or foreign equivalent;

(ii) a J.D. degree or equivalent from a law school attended following completion of undergraduate studies;

(iii) the applicant has been licensed to practice law in any state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia in 60 of the previous 84 months; and

(iv) the applicant has been engaged, as principal occupation, in the practice of law for 60 of the previous 84 months in one or more of the activities listed in Rule 7A(1)(C); or

(3) the applicant has been licensed to practice law in any state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia for at least 10 years.

Generally, no. An LL.M. degree (whether or not from an accredited law school) is not sufficient to meet the educational requirements of Rule 4A.  However, lawyers who have been licensed to practice law in any state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia for at least 10 years should review Rule 4A(3)(c).

If your educational requirements qualify under Rule 4A, there are three ways you can be admitted on motion in Minnesota:

1) If you have been practicing law for at least 1000 hours per year for at least 36 of the past 60 months, you may be eligible. See Rule 7A for additional requirements.

2) If you received a scaled score of 145 or higher on the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) in the past 36 months, you may be eligible. See Rule 7B for additional requirements.

3) If you received a scaled score of 260 or higher on the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) in the past 36 months, you may be eligible. See Rule 7C for additional requirements.

It does not matter. As long as you meet the deadline requirements, there is no benefit to applying by one rule instead of the other.

Once you’ve checked the jurisdiction in which you are admitted for rules regarding release of score information, visit the NCBE’s website for information on transferring your score.

Visit the NCBE’s website for information on transferring your UBE score.

The National Conference of Bar Examiners handles all MPRE score transfers. Visit their website or call (319) 337-1304 for information.

85 or higher. If you do not know what your score is, call our office to ask. We cannot tell you what your score is, but we will tell you if you qualify for Minnesota standards.

If you want to preserve the option to sit for the Minnesota bar exam, you must file your application for the bar exam by the Minnesota filing deadline (see Rule 6B). If you later find out that you qualify to apply for admission based on your MBE or UBE score, you may transfer your submitted application from a Rule 6 (Examination) application to a Rule 7B (MBE score) or Rule 7C (UBE score) application and pay the additional fee, if any.  If you would like to submit a UBE transfer application in anticipation of receiving a UBE score of 260 or higher once those bar results are released, you may submit a concurrent UBE application pursuant to Rule 7C(2).  If you do not obtain a UBE score of 260 or higher, you will not be transferred to a bar exam application and will have 12 months from the date of application to submit a qualifying score.

Yes. As long as you received a UBE score of 260 or higher that has been certified as a UBE score by the NCBE, and you apply to Minnesota within 36 months of the date of the qualifying exam.

No. Everyone who applies for admission to the Minnesota Bar must take the MPRE and receive a scaled score of 85 or higher.

No, your MPRE score remains a valid score and does not expire.

For motion applicants, an application takes an average of 3 to 6 months to process. The process may take longer if you do not initially provide complete information in response to each application section and question, attach complete records as required by any supplemental forms, provide timely responses to the Board’s requests for additional information, or if there issues in your past that require further investigation. To expedite the investigation, we recommend carefully reviewing your application before submission to ensure that you are providing all requested information and records, and checking your portal frequently to address any additional requests from the Board after you have applied.

Yes. The Lawyer Registration Office organizes monthly admission ceremonies in the courtroom of the Supreme Court.

You may also be admitted in absentia through the Lawyer Registration Office. You may contact the Lawyer Registration Office for additional assistance.

Applicant for admission on motion may NOT attend the ceremonies that are held for those applicants that sat for and passed the most current bar application.

Fill out an affidavit saying why you need a new wall certificate. Mail it to the Board office, along with a $25.00 check and the old certificate (if available). If the wall certificate is not available, include why it is not available in your affidavit. If you have a name change, send a copy of your marriage certificate or court order with your request.

Yes. If you want a copy of the application and attachments you filed or uploaded during the course of the application process, send a written request along with a $30.00 check or money order made payable to the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. Your request must include your name as it appeared on the application and the address in which to mail the requested document(s) (personal, business, or another jurisdiction).

You must contact the state or jurisdiction where you are admitted to have them provide these documents to the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners. They must be original documents – we cannot accept a copy.

The state supreme court is typically the proper authority to issue a certificate of good standing, unless the authority to do so or to maintain the state’s official registry of attorneys authorized to practice law in the state has been affirmatively delegated to a mandatory state bar association. The disciplinary office that investigates attorney complaints or grievances is typically the proper authority to issue the disciplinary document, since the document must contain information about matters that are pending.

Rule 4D(4) states that “[a]n applicant who has been admitted to practice in another jurisdiction shall also file or cause to be filed . . . [a] document from the proper authority in each other jurisdiction where admitted indicating whether the applicant is the subject of any pending complaint or charge of misconduct” (emphasis added).  Common reasons for deficient documentation include when it states: no discipline has been imposed, that there is no record of public discipline, or that a lawyer is currently in good standing without any reference to pending discipline.  A document stating that no complaints have ever been filed against you would implicitly satisfy the requirement.  Please note that you may need to execute an authorization or waiver in order to facilitate the release of this information, since information concerning pending disciplinary matters is typically non‑public.  Please contact the disciplinary office in the other state(s) in which you are licensed and request that they send our office a certificate, letter, or other document that indicates whether you are the subject of any pending complaint or charge of misconduct.

A certificate of good standing is generally sufficient, because the Board is not presently aware of a jurisdiction that does not include the lawyer’s admission date on its certificates of good standing, and that is the information required by Rule 4D(2). If that were to change, a certificate of admission would be required.

A document that is more than six months old is not considered current. Board staff may also request updated jurisdictional documents during the application process on a case-by-case basis.

If you are not in good standing due to any type of noncompliant status, whether due to a disciplinary matter or an administrative suspension (including for CLE noncompliance, failure to pay dues, etc.), you are likely ineligible for admission under Rule 4A(6). Please review the applicable Rules and/or contact the Board Office with any questions. If you are unable to obtain a certificate of good standing for another reason, please contact the Board Office for additional information.

The American Bar Association and National Conference of Bar Examiners publish the “Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements” which lists all states’ admission requirements. Visit the NCBE’s website to view or purchase the publication.

Mail or fax a written request with your signature to the Board office, attn: Bar Administrator. We cannot accept email requests. Sometimes, jurisdictions requesting this proof have a specific form for this request that can be sent to us.

Once you are admitted, you may submit name or address changes through Lawyer Registration. Visit their website for more information.

Contact the Federal Clerk of Courts at website or (651) 848-1100.

No. You must complete and submit a new application and send the appropriate fees for this license. We recommend that applicants who qualify under either Rule 10 or Rule 7A apply under Rule 7A, even if the Applicant will be working for a corporation and qualifies under Rule 10.

Read the language of Rule 7A(1) and 7A(2) and the Policy Statement on Admission without Examination, Eligibility by Practice carefully to determine if your work history qualifies. If you are practicing in a jurisdiction in which you are not licensed, you will be required to provide documentation detailing how the practice meets the requirements of Rule 7A(2).

We may be able to provide either the score or advise that you received a score of 85 or higher. Send a letter to the Board office with your request. Include your name when you applied for admission in Minnesota, the date you were admitted in Minnesota, the date of the bar exam (if applicable), and the address where you want us to send the information. If we no longer have your actual score, we will send a letter stating that Minnesota requires an MPRE score of 85 to be admitted, and that you would have received a score of 85 or higher.

No. As advised by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) on June 1, 2020, the October 5-6, 2020 emergency remote exam included a limited set of questions rather than the full-length Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), so scores earned on that exam were for use in local admission decisions only and are not eligible to be transferred by NCBE as UBE or Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) scores. Minnesota did not administer the October 5-6, 2020 emergency remote exam and there is not a mechanism under the Board’s Rules to apply for admission on motion on the basis of having taken that exam in another jurisdiction.