If you received your J.D. from an ABA-approved law school, you do not need to demonstrate any practice requirement. This section does not apply to you.

If you received your J.D. from a non-ABA-approved law school, then you must satisfy a 3-year practice requirement. This section discusses how to satisfy that requirement.

Documenting the Active, Substantial, and Lawful Practice of Law

Proof of Income. You must provide proof of income you earned from the practice of law for at least 5 of the last 7 calendar years immediately preceding the filing of your application.

• For income you earned from the practice of law as an employee (Form 1040, Line 8), upload:
  • Form 1040 and all relevant W-2s; or
  • A Wage & Income Transcript (if available).
• For income you earned from the practice of law through sole proprietorship, single-member LLC, or other small business that reports on Form 1040, Line 12, upload:
  • Form 1040 and Schedule C; or
  • A Wage & Income Transcript (if available).
• For income you earned from the practice of law through a Partnership, S Corporation, or other entity that reports on Form 1040, Line 17, upload:
  • Form 1040, Schedule E, and all relevant K-1s; or
  • A business return and all relevant K-1s; or
  • A Wage & Income Transcript (if available).
• For income you earned in another country from the practice of law, upload:
  • A copy of each income tax form and schedules required to be filed by you in that country.

Wage & Income Transcript. To request a Wage & Income Transcript, submit Form 4506T to the IRS. Under Step 6, you must select Option C – Record of Account. The IRS will only provide transcripts for the current year and returns processed during the prior 3 processing years. If a Wage & Income Transcript is not available for a particular calendar year, you must provide the other documentation set out above.

No tax returns. For any of the 5 calendar years during which you are claiming employment as an attorney but for which you have not filed a federal income tax return or other form, provide documentation of your total adjusted gross income and the portion of that income attributable to your law practice.

Authorization to Practice Law. Generally, at all times during the period of practice for which credit is sought, you must have had an active law license under which you have been, lawfully entitled to practice law in the issuing jurisdiction, unless controlling federal or foreign law provides otherwise.

For each jurisdiction in which you practiced law without holding a valid, active license issued by the jurisdiction in which the practice occurs, you must have the jurisdiction in which the practice occurs to confirm in writing to the Board that it regards such practice as lawful in order for it be considered for purposes of any practice requirement of Rule 13. Only when it is demonstrated that written confirmation of lawful practice has been sought from the jurisdiction and cannot be obtained, alternate proof of lawfulness can be provided in the form of a verifiable written statement citing court rule, statute or other authority in the jurisdiction, demonstrating to the satisfaction of the Board that the jurisdiction does not regard such activity or practice as unlawful.

Proof of authorization to practice law may be satisfied by proof that you were lawfully engaged in the practice of law as an in-house counsel in a foreign jurisdiction that requires a person to surrender the person’s license in order to practice in-house.

Job Descriptions. For each law practice employment you have had, you must provide a copy of the official job description from the employer’s personnel records, describing the position you held. If the employer indicates that no official job description exists, have the employer write to the Board, on firm or company letterhead, and provide a detailed description of the work you performed in the position and a statement as to whether the employment was full-time, and if not, providing detailed documentation of the hours you worked providing legal services in this position.

Military Lawyers. If you are seeking to count practice as a military lawyer, you must submit copies of all officer evaluation performance reports for the period of time you are claiming, in addition to your DD Form 214, as applicable, at the time you file your application.

Part-Time Practice. Demonstrated practice of at least 30 hours per week is necessary to establish active and substantial practice. If your practice experience includes part-time law practice, or time that may not be counted under the Policy Statement on Practice Requirements for Rule 13, you may be required to establish the actual number of hours per week you rendered legal services for that period of time to count toward the Rule 13 requirements.

No credit will be given for practice unless the required documentation is provided. You must submit an English translation of any required document that is not written in English.