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Prepare for the Bar Exam

Here to Help! 

Our team is here to help you prepare for the bar exam throughout law school and after graduation. Please reach out to Dean Wall and Dean Deutsch directly anytime we can be of help.

Past Virginia Bar Exams:

  • The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners has made several years worth of past Virginia bar exams, along with sample answers written by faculty and staff from Virginia law schools, available at no charge for your review. 

Bar Exam Preparation and Application Information for Current Students

  • Make sure you know your application and character & fitness deadlines! Each jurisdiction is different. All third-year students will have a meeting with our team at the beginning of their third-year of law school and will receive a document with the most up-to-date application deadlines available.
  • All third-year students are welcome to take Advanced Legal Analysis & Doctrine (Law 361) in the final semester of law school to get a jump start on getting ready for the bar exam.
  • Applicants are encouraged to review the requirements for any jurisdiction in which they intend to seek admission by contacting the jurisdiction. Addresses for all relevant agencies are available through the National Conference of Bar Examiners.
  • Almost all of our students take a commercial bar preparation course. You should consider which option works best for you. The majority of our students work with the following companies and their regional representatives as follows:

Bar Exam Application Resources

  • Some bar applications require notarization. Remember the Notary Public is certifying your signature.  You MUST sign the document in the presence of the Notary, and you may use any Notary Public to notarize your application.
  • A copy of your law school application may be requested by the Bar and will be included in the materials sent to the board of bar examiners by the Law School Registar's Office. If you need to review your application in order to make sure that you properly disclosed everything, and to ensure that you properly disclose everything in your Character & Fitness application, please contact the Law School's Admissions Office.
  • Certificates of legal education, good standing and/or graduation may be required as attachments to your application.  Submit forms or request for certification letters to the Law School Registrar's Office. Please do so in a timely manner.
  • Some boards of bar examiners require fingerprints. You can go to the William & Mary Police Department, or any police station, to have this done. Wherever you go, be sure to take two photo ids (driver's license and/or passport, student id, military id).
  • Transcripts showing degree conferral are required by some Bars (e.g., New York, California, Texas and Florida).  You must request an official transcript and can do so during your final semester of legal education.
  • Please direct any financial aid questions to Dean Issa. 

New York Bar Admission Requirements

In September 2012, the New York Court of Appeals adopted a 50-hour pro bono service requirement for admission to the New York bar. Applicants who will be admitted to the New York bar after January 1, 2015, must satisfy this requirement. 

Please make sure that you read the full text of the rule, the FAQs issued by the New York Court of Appeals, and the affidavit of compliance available here. You and your supervisor should complete the affidavit at the time you complete the service, rather than waiting until you apply to take the bar.  Please contact Dean Wall or Dean Deutsch if you have questions.  

For admission, the New York bar requires certification of applicant's competence in skills and professional values by completing one of five pathways contained in Rule 520.18; most applicants can be in certified under Pathway 1. As determined by William & Mary Law School, and required by ABA Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools Standard 302(b), (c), and (d), Pathway 1 is met: 

Virginia Bar Exam Information

  • Please visit the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners website for full information and all forms needed for the bar admission process in Virginia.
    • The Bar Application requires a Certificate of Legal Studies, obtained by request to the Law Registrar's Office. 
    • The Law School will automatically send the Graduation Certificate for all Virginia Bar takers to the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners, immediately following the Commencement exercises; there is no need to request the Graduation Certificate.
  • Summer Bar Exam: The summer bar exam in Virginia typically is held in Roanoke.
  • Winter Bar Exam: The winter bar exam in Virginia typically is held in Norfolk.
  • Students sometimes have questions about how treatment for mental health issues or chemical or psychological dependency will affect their admission to the bar.  The Board of Bar Examiners in Virginia has specifically noted,   “The mere fact of treatment for mental health problems or chemical or psychological dependency is not, in itself, a basis on which an applicant is ordinarily denied admission in Virginia, and the Board of Bar Examiners regularly licenses individuals who have demonstrated personal responsibility and maturity in dealing with mental health and chemical or psychological dependency issues.  The Board encourages applicants who may benefit from treatment or counseling to seek it.”