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
• 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
• Legal practice discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.) and applicable records
• Legal Proceedings (civil, administrative, criminal, financial, charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.) and applicable records

Documents you are required to attach to your Petition for Admission by Motion:

• Recommendation 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).
• 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 their website at www.ncbex.org 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  - 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.  
• 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.
• 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.
• Records of any Legal Practice discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable.
• Records of any Professional (other than attorney) discipline (charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable.
• Records of any Legal Proceedings (civil, administrative, criminal, financial, charges, grievances, suspensions, etc.), if applicable.

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.

Once a Petition for Admission is filed, the Petition will be evaluated over a period of up to six (6) months, during which time you may 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.