Admissions

Admission to Practice Law in the State of Nevada

Nevada has no reciprocity or admission by motion of any kind, everyone must sit for the full 2 1/2 day bar examination. The bar examination is administered the last Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of February and July in Las Vegas and Reno simultaneously. Overall pass rates vary, however generally range between 62 – 65%. The rules of the Supreme Court of Nevada regarding admission to practice law require that all applicants must have the following qualifications:

(a) SCR 51(3) Have received a degree of bachelor of laws, or an equivalent law degree, from a law school approved by the committee on legal education and admissions to the bar of the American Bar Association, and shall present evidence of the same.

(b) SCR 51(4) Demonstrate that the applicant is of good moral character and is willing and able to abide by the high ethical standards required of attorneys and counselors at law.

(c) SCR 51(6) Not be subject to any mental or emotional disorder which would render the applicant unfit to practice law.

(d) SCR 51(7) Not be an abuser of alcohol or prescription drugs, or a user of illegal drugs.

(e) SCR 51(8) Demonstrate financial responsibility.

(f) SCR 51(9) Be in full compliance with any court order, including without limitation, spousal or child support orders.

(g) Pass the annual written bar examination given in July. The same examination is administered to all applicants, including attorneys, irrespective of the number of years of practice. Attorneys are not admitted on motion or by reciprocity and there is no reciprocity as to Multistate Bar Examinations previously taken in other jurisdictions.

(h) Pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scale score of at least 85 either the year prior or the year during the year in which the applicant sits for and passes the bar exam. The MPRE is administered every March, August and November by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Applications to take the MPRE must be obtained from the American College Testing at (319) 337-1287.

Policies and Procedures of the
Functional Equivalency Committee

1. Number of Members on the Committee. By order filed September 29, 1993, ADKT No. 171, the Supreme Court of Nevada created the Committee on Functional Equivalency (“committee”). The Committee was formally codified in Supreme Court Rule 49 in 1996. The Committee is composed of seven members who are active members of the State Bar of Nevada. Four of the members are appointed by the Supreme Court of Nevada (“court”), and three members are appointed by the Board of Governors. The Chair will be selected by the Court from the appointed members.

2. Terms of Office. The terms of the members of the committee shall be three years; provided however, that no attorney may serve on the committee for more than a lifetime total of nine years.

3. Responsibilities and Powers of the Committee. The committee shall have all those powers and duties delegated under the Nevada Supreme Court Rules to the board of governors and the board of bar examiners relating to the conduct of investigations and hearings, and the submission of reports and recommendations to the board of bar examiners and the court respecting those petitioners seeking certification in accordance with S.C.R. 51.5.

A. Chair. The chair will be selected by the Supreme Court from the committee members and is responsible for ensuring that petitions for certification of the qualifications set forth in S.C.R. 51.5 are processed in accordance with the Supreme Court Rules and the policies and procedures of the committee as set forth herein.

B. Vice-Chair. The vice-chair is to be appointed by the committee and shall take on the duties and responsibilities of the chair in his/her absence.

4. Quorum. No less than four of the seven members of the committee, meeting either in person or by telephone conference, shall constitute a quorum for the purposes of a hearing. Committee decisions and recommendations require a majority vote of those in attendance.

5. Certification Procedure. Before submitting an application for examination for a license to practice in Nevada, a prospective applicant who has received a degree of bachelor of laws or an equivalent law degree from a law school that has not been approved by the Committee on Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar of the American Bar Association as required by S.C.R. 51(3) must first obtain certification by the committee that the prospective applicant has met the qualifications set forth in S.C.R 51.5 (“certification”). Applications for admission submitted without prior certification shall immediately be rejected and the application fee shall not be refunded.

To apply for certification, a prospective applicant who has met the standards set forth in S.C.R. 51.5 must submit to the director of admissions an original and two (2) copies of a verified petition for certification under S.C.R. 51.5, together with a $750 filing fee, and proof of service of the petition on the chair of the functional equivalency committee. The chair may be served at the office of the State Bar of Nevada. The petition must be filed no later than September 1 of the year prior to the year in which the petitioner seeks to sit for the bar examination, and shall contain a statement of facts accompanied by copies of all relevant documents, a statement of each ground upon which relief is alleged to be warranted, and legal points and authorities, setting forth the legal basis for each ground for the relief requested.

In this petition, the burden of proof shall be upon the petitioner, without imposing an excessive burden on the committee, to demonstrate that he or she meets the qualifications set forth in subsection 1(a), 1(b), or 1(c) of S.C.R. 51.5.

Listed below are the minimum qualifications that will be considered by the committee in its investigation. Petitioners shall provide the committee with evidence addressing the following applicable items:

1. Quality of Law School (profit vs. non-profit, correspondence vs. attendance, etc.)

2. Curriculum (courses taken, content, common law subjects, length of classes for individual sessions, semester or other term, participation required, moot court, etc.)

3. Faculty (number of full-time faculty members, faculty/student ratio, professional credentials, availability of faculty to students after class, etc.)

4. Admission Standards (requirement of LSAT or equivalent, average GPA, BA/BS required or AA acceptable, number of students, etc.)

5. Resources and Research Facilities (library facility, number of volumes in library, types of volumes in library, study facilities, etc.)

6. Physical Plant (size, classroom size, moot court facilities, offices for faculty, separation of law school from general university, etc.)

7. Existing Accreditation, Prior Accreditation History or Attempt (prior ABA accreditation or provisional accreditation, attempt at ABA accreditation, accreditation of foreign law school by agency analogous to ABA, etc.)

8. Evidence of experience in the full-time practice of law in any state of the United States of America, a territory of the United States of America, the District of Columbia, or a foreign country for at least ten of the preceding twelve years. Such evidence should include, but not be limited to: a sworn affidavit detailing the nature and extent of the petitioner’s legal work experience during the time the petitioner claims to have engaged in the full-time practice of law; legal memoranda prepared by the petitioner; copies of published cases resulting from the petitioner’s pleadings and/or pleadings and papers filed by the petitioner in his/her capacity as an attorney and counselor at law as a sole practitioner or for a law firm, legal services office, legal clinic or the like, or as an attorney for an individual, a corporation, partnership, trust; and/or letters of reference from the bench and bar in the jurisdiction in which the petitioner has been engaged in the practice of law.

The above listing is not meant to be exhaustive. Rather, it is illustrative of the minimum qualifications that the committee will consider in determining whether the petitioner has met the qualifications set forth in S.C.R. 51.5.

6. Fees and Expenses. Verified petitions for certification shall be accompanied by a $750 filing fee which shall be paid to the State Bar of Nevada. The filing fee shall cover those costs which in the opinion of the committee are reasonably necessary to conduct investigations and to hold hearings. Costs under this rule shall include, without limitation, the cost of court reporters, consultants, experts, telephone and telecopy, as well as transportation, meals and lodging incurred by the members of the committee in the furtherance of its investigation. In the event the filing fee exceeds the actual costs incurred in the investigation, the committee shall refund the excess to the petitioner within thirty (30) days of the committee’s final disposition.

In the event the initial filing fee shall prove to be inadequate to cover the actual costs of the investigation, a written estimate of costs shall be served on the petitioner. Within ten (10) days of service of the written estimate of costs, the petitioner shall pay the additional estimated amount to the state bar. Failure to pay the filing fee or any estimated costs under this rule shall result in denial of the petition as abandoned.

7. Hearings. In accordance with S.C.R. 57, the committee may, in conducting its investigations, take and hear relevant evidence, administer oaths and affirmations, and compel by subpoena the attendance of witnesses and the production of books, papers and documents, subject to the Supreme Court Rules.

Upon payment of the filing fee and estimated expenses, the committee shall review such evidence and conduct such hearings as it deems necessary to investigate the grounds asserted by the petitioner and to make a determination whether the petitioner has met the qualifications set forth in S.C.R. 51.5. The petitioner shall be entitled to notice as set forth in section 8, and to be present, together with counsel, if desired, to present evidence to substantiate the claim. The petitioner shall also be entitled to all rights and privileges as are set forth in the Supreme Court Rules relating to the conduct of investigations and hearings. In any proceeding before the committee, the petitioner shall bear the burden of proof to demonstrate that the petitioner meets the qualifications as set forth in S.C.R. 51.5.

8. Notice. In accordance with S.C.R. 59, whenever a petitioner is required to appear before the committee the petitioner shall be entitled to five (5) days’ notice thereof if served personally, and ten (10) days’ notice if served by mail at the petitioner’s last-known address.

9. Recommendation to the Board of Bar Examiners. On or before March 1 of the year in which the petitioner seeks to sit for the bar examination, the committee shall make a determination whether the petitioner meets the qualifications as set forth in S.C.R. 51.5. If the committee has noted questions relating to the petitioner’s ability to meet the moral character and fitness requirements of S.C.R. 51(4), (5), (6), (7), (8), or (9), the committee may recommend to the Board of Bar Examiners that the petitioner be referred to the committee on moral character and fitness for further investigation and/or hearings prior to review by the committee.

A. Favorable Recommendation. If the committee recommends that certification be granted in accordance with S.C.R. 51.5, the committee shall reduce such recommendation to writing and shall transmit to the board of bar examiners, together with proof of service by mail on the petitioner, its certification that the petitioner has met the qualifications set forth in S.C.R. 51.5(1)(a), (b), or (c). Service shall be complete upon mailing. The report shall be filed with the board of bar examiners within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of any hearing, unless otherwise ordered by the board of bar examiners, and no later than March 1 of the year in which the petitioner seeks to sit for the bar examination. Upon receipt of such certification, the board of bar examiners shall permit the petitioner to apply for admission, unless the board determines that further investigation is necessary. The petitioner may, in the board’s discretion, be permitted to sit for the bar examination if the petitioner meets all other applicable requirements.

B. Adverse Recommendation. If the committee recommends that certification be denied based upon its determination that the petitioner has not met the qualifications set forth in S.C.R. 51.5, the committee shall file a report with the Board of Bar Examiners, together with proof of service by mail on the petitioner, describing the basis for the committee’s adverse recommendation. Service shall be complete upon mailing. The report shall be filed with the board of bar examiners within thirty (30) days of the conclusion of any hearing, unless otherwise ordered by the Board of Bar Examiners, and no later than March 1 of the year in which the petitioner seeks to sit for the bar examination. Absent a timely verified petition for review filed in accordance with section 10 below and S.C.R. 51.5(7), the Board of Bar Examiners shall approve the adverse recommendation of the committee, unless the Board of Bar Examiners determines that further investigation is necessary.

10. Procedure for Review by the Supreme Court. If the committee recommends to the Board of Bar Examiners that a petitioner be denied certification, the petitioner may, within fifteen (15) days from the date of service of such report, file an original and two (2) copies of a verified petition for relief with the Supreme Court, which shall be accompanied by a non-refundable $200 filing fee and proof of service of a copy upon the director of admissions of the State Bar, the chair of the Board of Bar Examiners, and the chair of the Functional Equivalency Committee. Such petition shall contain any relevant documentation necessary for the court’s understanding of the matter, a statement of facts supported by adequate citation to any record, and legal points and authorities setting forth the legal basis for each ground upon which the committee’s recommendation is alleged to be erroneous.

Within fifteen (15) days of service of any verified petition, the Board of Bar Examiners shall file the committee’s report with the court. Additionally, within fifteen (15) days of service of any verified petition, the Board of Bar Examiners and/or the committee, or their representative may file a supplement to the committee’s report addressing any issues raised in the petition.

If the court is of the opinion that the committee’s recommendation should not be disturbed, it may deny the petition. Otherwise, the court may enter an order fixing the time within which an answer may be filed by the committee, if the committee has not already filed an answer. Should the court determine that the petitioner is entitled to relief, it may direct the Board of Bar Examiners to permit the petitioner to file an application for admission and to process the application in accordance with Supreme Court Rules 49 to 75.