Eligibility for Foreign-Educated Individuals to Sit for the UBE in Colorado or Transfer an Eligible UBE Score

An applicant who receives an LL.B., J.D., or equivalent degree from a school of higher education in a nation other than the United States may be eligible to sit for the Colorado bar exam or transfer a Uniform Bar Exam score provided that such applicant meets all of the requirements of at least one of the following three eligibility categories:

PATH A: The applicant:

1. has completed a course of study at a foreign law school that is accredited in the jurisdiction where it is located, and the course of study is based on the principles of English common law and substantially equivalent in duration to a J.D. legal education program provided by an ABA-accredited or state-accredited U.S. law school;
2. is authorized to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction or another U.S. jurisdiction and is in good standing in all jurisdictions where admitted or authorized to practice; and
3. has been actively and substantially engaged in the lawful practice of law for at least three of the last five years as defined by C.R.C.P. 203.2 immediately preceding the applicant’s most recent application.

A J.D. degree or an equivalent professional law degree completed at a foreign law school that is earned primarily through online courses or other distance-learning programs that do not meet the distance learning requirements of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools does not satisfy the requirements of this rule.

PATH B: The applicant:

1. has completed a course of study at a foreign law school that is accredited in the jurisdiction where it is located, and the course of study is based on the principles of English common law and substantially equivalent in duration to a J.D. legal education program provided by an ABA-accredited U.S. law school; and
2. has completed an LL.M. degree that meets the curricular requirements of this rule at an ABA-accredited U.S. law school.

A J.D. degree or an equivalent professional law degree completed at a foreign law school that is earned primarily through online courses or other distance-learning programs that do not meet the distance learning requirements of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools does not satisfy the requirements of this rule.

PATH C: The applicant:

1. has completed a course of study at a foreign law school that is accredited in the jurisdiction where it is located, and the course of study is not based on the principles of English common law, but is substantially equivalent in duration to a J.D. legal education program provided by an ABA-accredited U.S. law school; and
2. is authorized to practice law in a foreign jurisdiction or in another U.S. jurisdiction and is in good standing in all jurisdictions where admitted or authorized to practice; and
3. completed an LLM degree that meets the curricular requirements of this rule at an ABA-accredited U.S. law school.

A J.D. degree or an equivalent professional law degree completed at a foreign law school that is earned primarily through online courses or other distance-learning programs that do not meet the distance learning requirements of the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools does not satisfy the requirements of this rule.

LLM Degree Curricular Requirements

LLM degrees completed entirely online will not be considered for eligibility purposes. If your LLM coursework was completed entirely in-person or hybrid (i.e., a combination of in-person and online), please provide a letter from your ABA-accredited U.S. law school detailing which classes you have attended in person and which you have attended online.

An LLM degree satisfies eligibility requirements of this rule specific to LLM degrees when the course of study for which the degree is awarded meets each of the following requirements:

1. the program must consist of minimum of 24 semester hours of credit—or the equivalent, if the law school is on an academic schedule other than a conventional semester system—which must consist of courses in substantive and procedural law or professional skills. Courses completed online or by other distance-learning programs that do not meet the ABA Standards for Approval of Law Schools will not count toward the required minimum 24 semester hours of credit required by this rule;
2. the program must require at least 700 minutes of instruction time, exclusive of examination time, for the granting of one semester of credit;
3. the program must include a period of instruction consisting of no fewer than two semesters of at least 13 calendar weeks each, or the equivalent, exclusive of reading periods, examinations, and breaks;
4. the program must not be completed exclusively during summer semesters, but a maximum of four semester hours of credit may be earned in courses completed during summer semesters;
5. the program must be completed within 24 months of matriculation;
6. all coursework for the program must be completed through an ABA-accredited law school in the United States;
7. the program must include:
   • at least two semester hours of credit in professional responsibility;
   • at least two semester hours of credit in legal research, writing, and analysis, which may not be satisfied by a research-and-writing requirement in a substantive law course;
   • at least two semester hours of credit in a course designed to introduce students to distinctive aspects and fundamental principles of United States law, which may be satisfied by an introductory course in the American legal system or a course in United States constitutional law, civil procedure, or contract law—additional credit hours earned in a course that meets the requirements of this subparagraph may be applied towards the requirements of subparagraph (iv); and
   • at least six semester hours of credit in subjects tested on the Uniform Bar Examination.

Your eligibility as a foreign educated law school graduate will be assessed by the Office of Attorney Admissions. This process can take up to one month, possibly longer.

Please plan accordingly to ensure you submit your documentaiton per the schedule:

Bar Exams February Bar Exam July Bar Exam

Submissions Period June – September November – February

Submissions received too far in advance (e.g. a request made in September for the July Bar Exam) will be rejected and the applicant instructed to resubmit per the submission schedule. You must receive a Foreign Eligibility Determination Letter from our Office prior to submitting your application for admission. The eligibility determination is good for one exam only. While waiting for your assessment to be completed by our Office, you are encouraged to begin working on your application. Again, do not pay and submit your application until you have received the determination letter from our Office. You may review application instructions and start your application, respectively.

Once you decide which “Path” is applicable to your circumstances, send the required documents for that “Path” (listed below) to bleinfo@csc.state.co.us and clearly indicate the “Path” under which you seek an eligibility determination. Emails received by our Office from a foreign registered email address will be blocked and not be received by OAA. If you need assistance with submitting your documentation, please contact our Office at 303-928-7700.

The burden is on you to provide the documentation required for a complete eligibility determination.

For Path A, you will need to provide all of the following:

1. Law school transcript (unofficial is sufficient) reflecting the date your degree was conferred,
2. The name of the entity that accredited your law school at the time of your attendance or other documentation showing the school’s accreditation,
3. Certificates of Standing for every jurisdiction in which you were ever admitted to practice law, and
4. A complete employment history since you were first admitted to practice law (resume is sufficient).

For Path B, you will need to provide all of the following:

1. Law school transcript (unofficial is insufficient) reflecting the date your degree was conferred,
2. The name of the entity that accredited your law school at the time of your attendance or other documentation showing the school’s accreditation, and
3. LLM transcript (unofficial is sufficient) clearly identifying your coursework. If the LLM transcript does not clearly identify the subject of a certain course, include a course description. For example, a transcript showing “LAW 100: Professional Responsibility” clearly identifies the subject of the course. A transcript showing “LAW 100: P.R. US & Multinational” does not clearly identify the subject of the course.

For Path C, you will need to provide all of the following:

1. Law school transcript (unofficial is insufficient) reflecting the date your degree was conferred,
2. The name of the entity that accredited your law school at the time of your attendance or other documentation showing the school’s accreditation,
3. Certificates of Standing for every jurisdiction in which you were ever admitted to practice law, and
4. LLM transcript (unofficial is sufficient) clearly identifying your coursework. If the LLM transcript does not clearly identify the subject of a certain course, include a course description. For example, a transcript showing “LAW 100: Professional Responsibility” clearly identifies the subject of the course. A transcript showing “LAW 100: P.R. US & Multinational” does not clearly identify the subject of the course.