Contacts
Supreme Judicial Court for the County of Suffolk
Phone
Hours: Weekdays (except holidays) 8:30 am - 4:30 pm.
Online
Board of Bar Examiners
Phone
Office hours are 8:30am-4:30pm M-F.
Online
The Details of Petition for Admission by Motion
What you need for Petition for Admission by Motion
Information on filing the Petition for Admission by Motion
- Applications may only be submitted by e-filing.
- Applications will not require wet signatures for attorney recommendations or letters of recommendation. Photocopies will be accepted.
- All other questions may be directed to the Attorney Services Department at (617) 557-1050 or via email at sjc.mass.bar.admission@jud.state.ma.us.
- Valid email address
- NCBE number
- Surname Information - date, location, and reason for change
- Address history for previous 10 years, including dates
- Education history including all disciplinary actions and applicable records as well as explanations
- Employment (legal and other) history with dates of employment, employer reference, and reason for leaving
- Dates of all other applications and admissions to jurisdictions
- Dates of all Professional licenses applications (other than as an attorney)
- Appointed, Elected or Judicial appointments
- Professional discipline - other than attorney discipline - (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.) and applicable records as well as explanations
- Legal practice discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.) and applicable records as well as explanations
- Legal Proceedings (civil, administrative, criminal, financial, charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.) and applicable records as well as explanations
To better ensure that you receive future important emails, please check your spam/junk email folder frequently, and consider safelisting email messages from @jud.state.ma.us and @bbe.state.ma.us. Safelisting varies from platform to platform. Adding our email addresses to your email contacts will also help to ensure our communications are not mistakenly treated as spam or junk emails.
Documents you are required to attach to your Petition for Admission by Motion:
- Recommendation dated within 90 days from a member of the bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, or of any state district or territory of the United States (see required form in Downloads below). The Board of Bar Examiners may request updated documents throughout the application process.
- MPRE Score Report
You may request a copy of your MPRE Score Report by contacting the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) via email at score.services@ncbex.org or visit the NCBE website. You can also contact NCBE at 608-280-8550. Note: If you cannot obtain a copy of your MPRE Score Report before filing your Petition, call 617-557-1050.
If you have not previously taken the MPRE, you must take and achieve a scaled MPRE score of 85 or greater prior to e-filing a Petition. - Letters of Recommendation dated within 90 days - You must adhere to the strict protocol required for the Letters of Recommendation. See the Guidelines for Letters of Recommendation in the downloads below for additional information. The Board of Bar Examiners may request updated documents throughout the application process.
- Certificates of Admission and Good Standing- Current (dated within 90 days of filing) Certificate(s) of Admission and Good Standing from the highest judicial court of each state, district, territory, province or foreign country to which you are admitted. The Board of Bar Examiners may request updated documents throughout the application process.
- Grievance Letters - Current (dated within 90 days of filing) Grievance Letter(s) from the grievance or disciplinary entity of each state, district, territory, province or foreign country to which you are admitted, indicating that there are no charges pending against you. The Board of Bar Examiners may request updated documents throughout the application process.
- Records of any Legal Practice discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable as well as explanations.
- Records of any Professional (other than attorney) discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable, as well as explanations.
- Records of any Legal Proceedings (civil, administrative, criminal, financial, charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable, as well as explanations.
Note - To successfully e-file, you must assemble all required documents and electronically save them so that they are available for upload during your completion of the Petition for Admission interview. For information on how to correctly name your attachments, please review our Naming Conventions Document.
Fees for Petition for Admission by Motion
Name | Fee | Unit |
---|---|---|
Filing Fee | $1,015 | each |
How to apply Petition for Admission by Motion
Electronic Filing:
- Register with the Court's e-filing vendor, Tyler Technologies. Please be sure to take this step before starting your petition. Click on the silhouette in the top right corner of the web page and select Register.
- Always be sure you are logged into Odyssey Guide and File prior to doing any work on your petition or your work may be lost.
- Complete the online interview found here: Petition for Admission to the Massachusetts Bar by Motion or by Transfer of Score.
- Once the interview is completed, review your answers and confirm that all requisite documents to your Petition for Admission were uploaded, including any records required as a result of certain affirmative responses within the interview.
- Once you begin the review summary at the end of the interview, it is recommended that you download and save to your local computer a copy of all documents created. (You will not be able to view the XML file.) You should ensure your attachments adhere to the naming conventions as listed on our Naming Conventions Document.
- Fees - Electronically pay the court filing fee and the Tyler Technologies service fees, or file your completed Affidavit of Indigency or fee waiver request, if eligible. Please remember that court fees are statutory and NOT refundable.
- Electronically File your Petition for Admission with the Court. You will receive an e-confirmation from Tyler that your Petition was submitted to the Court. Within 10-15 business days, your filing will be reviewed and you will receive an additional e-confirmation from the Court indicating that your filing has been accepted.
Questions regarding these filing requirements may be directed to the Attorney Services Department of the Clerk for the County of Suffolk at 617-557-1050, unless otherwise stated.
Questions regarding the content of the Petition for Admission may be directed to the Board of Bar Examiners at (617) 482-4466.
More info for Petition for Admission by Motion
Once a Petition for Admission is filed, you will be required to complete, at your own expense, a Request for Preparation of a Character Report from the National Conference of Bar Examiners (the "NCBE Character Report"). See Board of Bar Examiners Rule IV. Following the initial review of your Petition for Admission by Motion by the Board, you will be notified by the Board of your requirement to submit to a request for the NCBE Character Report, including instructions on the procedure for requesting the report. Upon completion of the NCBE's investigation and submission of its character report to the Board, completed in approximately four (4) months, the Board will review and evaluate the findings of NCBE. The Petitioner will be provided with a determination of the Board's decision following the completion of this process.
Every person filing a Petition for Admission to the Bar of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on or after March 1, 2018 is required to pass a Massachusetts Law Component exam as a condition of bar admission. See The Massachusetts Law Component (MLC) for further information regarding this requirement.
Regarding Electronic Dissemination of Public Case Information
Please note: The following public case information contained in a Petition for Admission to the bar may be disclosed by the court to third parties in electronic form: name, address, email address, exam period and date of admission.
Please be further informed that any third party who requests this information will be required to enter into a Third Party Non Disclosure Agreement prohibiting it from selling, renting, giving, exchanging, trading or sharing any of the information with other third parties.
Petitions for Admission by Motion may take one year or longer based on the completion of required documentation.
Downloads for Petition for Admission by Motion
Contact for Petition for Admission by Motion
Address
Phone
Hours: Weekdays (except holidays) 8:30 am - 4:30 pm.
Online
Address
Phone
Office hours are 8:30am-4:30pm M-F.