Coming back

[Ruach]

What is the name of your state (FL)?

I decided that I want to return to the US full time. I received a degree from the University of Central Florida in legal studies. My problem is that Florida does not recognize my degree that I am getting in Germany therefore I am unable to sit for the bar exam in the state. What is the fastest way to go about getting this taken care of without costing me an arm and a leg?

 

[justalayman]

from the Bar:

Educational Qualification. All applicants seeking admission to The Florida Bar must be enrolled in an ABA-accredited law school that will ultimately result in the awarding of a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, or must have already been awarded the JD degree from an ABA-accredited law school at a time when the law school was accredited or within 12 months of accreditation or be found educationally qualified by the board under the alternative method of educational qualification as set forth in the rules.

so, you either attended an ABA accredited school or you meet the alternative method of educational qualifications.


and that would be this rule:

4-13.4Alternative Method of Educational Qualification.

a.Applicants Not Meeting Educational Qualifications.An applicant who does not meet the educational qualifications in rule 4-13.1, must meet the following requirements:

1.evidence as the board may require that the applicant was engaged in the practice of law for at least 10 years in the District of Columbia, in other states of the United States of America, or in federal courts of the United States or its territories, possessions, or protectorates, and was in good standing at the bar of the jurisdictions in which the applicant practiced; and

2.a representative compilation of the work product in the field of law showing the scope and character of the applicant's previous experience and practice at the bar, including samples of the quality of the applicant's work, including pleadings, briefs, legal memoranda, contracts, or other working papers that the applicant considers illustrative of his or her expertise and academic and legal training. The representative compilation of the work product must be confined to the applicant's most recent 10 years of practice and must be complete and include all supplemental documents requested.

b.Deadline for Filing Work Product.To be considered timely filed, the work product must be complete with all required supplemental documentation and filed by the filing deadline of the General Bar Examination as required by rule 4-42. Work product initially filed incomplete and perfected after the deadline will not be considered timely filed. Late or incomplete work product will be given consideration for admission into the next administration of the bar examination for which the deadline has not passed.

c.Acceptance of Work Product.If a thorough review of the representative compilation of the work product and other materials submitted by the applicant shows that the applicant is a lawyer of high ability whose reputation for professional competence is above reproach, the board may admit the applicant to the General Bar Examination and accept score reports from the National Conference of Bar Examiners or its designee.

d.Board Discretion.In evaluating academic and legal scholarship under subdivision (a), the board is clothed with broad discretion.