Application Submissions

Each applicant must be eligible for admission and submit an application and fee through the Online Bar Application. For additional information about eligibility or fees, see the Board’s Eligibility and General Requirements or Fees and Payments FAQs.

The Online Bar Application is designed to lead applicants through submitting the required application information and documents step by step. We encourage applicants to review the documentation that will be required well in advance of applying and to begin making any necessary third-party requests.  For a preview of what documents will be required, please see the following checklists:

• Rule 6 (Exam) Submission Requirements
• Rule 7A (Eligibility by Practice) Submission Requirements
• Rule 7B (MBE Score Transfer) Submission Requirements
• Rule 7C (UBE Score Transfer) Submission Requirements
• Rule 8 (Temporary Legal Service License) Submission Requirements
• Rule 9 (Temporary House Counsel License) Submission Requirements
• Rule 10 (House Counsel License) Submission Requirements
• Rule 11 (Foreign Legal Consultant License) Submission Requirements

Yes, but applicants who have submitted an application to Minnesota within the last two years may be eligible to submit the abbreviated Repeat Application. You must be able to submit the Repeat Application within two years of the previous application submission date. If you are a repeat applicant who submitted your application more than two years ago, you do not qualify to complete the repeat application and must complete the full application.

As a repeat applicant, certain documentation does not need to be resubmitted, as specified below:

• You do not need to provide a new Certificate of Graduation from your law school if the Board received it during a previous application.
• You do not need to submit new character affidavits if the affidavits in a previous application were executed within the past two years.
• You do not need to submit a new credit report if you submitted one that is dated within the past 12 months.

Yes, your law school can send it before you apply.

For exam (Rule 6) applicants, you must have your law school provide proof of conferral of a J.D. degree to this office on or before 30 days prior to the bar examination. Rule 4C. Your law school must provide this document directly to the Board office. A transcript from a third-party is not acceptable even if the third-party has been authorized by the law school to send the transcript on their behalf. If your law school prefers to submit this document to the Board electronically and has not previously done so, their staff is welcome to contact the Board office to coordinate electronic submission.

For motion (Rule 7) applicants, the Board will send a degree verification inquiry to your law school during the processing of your application to verify compliance with Rule 4A(3). The Board will advise you if there are any issues receiving a response from the law school.

You may submit an unofficial transcript at the time you apply. If an updated or official transcript is required, additional information will be posted to your Applicant Portal after you apply.

Requests for testing accommodations are due at the same time as your application. Read through the Instructions for Requesting Test Accommodations portion of the website for details.

The affidavits must be uploaded to the Online Bar Application, except as specified in FAQ #11 below. As long as the below requirements are met, the affidavits do not need to be in a specific format and can be in letter form.

The affidavits must be from someone who meets these requirements:

• Not related to you by blood or marriage, or living at the same residence
• Has known you at least 1 year
• Not a fellow law student during your enrollment (if you know a law student from another school, it is okay to use them)
• Not listed as one of your references (we may be contacting your references, so we want the affidavits from two other individuals who support your admission)

The statement in the affidavit must meet these requirements:

• Describe how long and the circumstances under which the person signing the affidavit has known you
• Describe what the person signing the affidavit knows about your character and general reputation
• Provide any other information about your character and fitness to practice law

Electronic copies are accepted but typed signatures are not.  The affidavit must be dated, must have been signed by the affiant, and must be notarized or include the following language immediately above the signature block: “I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.”  See Rule 2A(1).

See Rule 4B(4) for complete language or see sample affidavits.

Affidavits may be notarized or may instead include the following language immediately above the signature block: “I declare under penalty of perjury that everything I have stated in this document is true and correct.”  See Rule 2A(1).  The affidavits or electronic copies still must contain an actual signature; typed signatures will not be accepted.

No.

Yes.

The affidavits should be submitted along with your application. If you are not able to submit the affidavits at the time of the application because you are waiting for the affidavit from your affiant, please note in the application’s Upload Comment field for the affidavit the name of the affiant and the date you requested the affidavit. When you receive the affidavit, please upload it to your Applicant Portal or mail it to the Board office.

Yes, you must disclose them. Provide as much information as you know about the incidents (estimated date, details of incident, disposition, etc.) in the Form 2 (under Question 4.02B) for each citation.  If you are unable to complete Form 2, write and upload an explanation in Section 13.01 (Miscellaneous Documents).

Yes. You must disclose the incident(s) and attach the expunged records, if available. Please note that many jurisdictions seal rather than destroy expunged records, and the subject of a sealed record is often permitted access to it–the record is simply non-public. If you no longer have copies of the records and cannot obtain them, please provide documentary evidence (e.g. copy of expungement order or policy) or request a letter from the court confirming their unavailability. If no records, documents, or confirmation can be provided, please include the efforts you made to obtain them and the individual(s) with whom you have communicated in doing so.

Yes. You must disclose if you were arrested, cited, or charged. You must disclose even if the charges were dismissed, or if you received a continuance for dismissal and the charges went away after a year. You must disclose all and attach relevant records.

States’ criminal statutes vary and may use different terms, such as “indictable offense” instead of felony, or label their most serious misdemeanors as Class 1 or Class A instead of as a gross misdemeanor.  When trying to evaluate the offense level to which an out-of-state offense would be considered the equivalent, please note that in Minnesota a felony is punishable by over one year in state prison, a gross misdemeanor is punishable by up to 364 days in county jail, and a misdemeanor is punishable by up to 90 days in jail.

Because there can be a delay in obtaining third-party records, the Board office recommends that you request those records as soon as possible. If those records are not received by the deadline for the application, you may submit the application without the documents in order to meet the deadline. You must complete all Supplemental Forms responsive to each and every question to which you answered “yes” and note in any applicable Upload Comment fields the specific documents you have requested, the authority you have requested those documents from, and the date the documents were requested. This will assist the Board office in determining whether you have attempted to provide the required documents and whether there will be a need to request additional documentation. After noting this information, you may provide police, court, and other third-party records to the Board office by mail or through your Applicant Portal after submitting your application. If the third-party requests are not tied to a Supplemental Form, you may include a cover letter with the additional information or complete Form 10.

No, the bar application questions concerning academic matters (4.17 and 4.18) ask about allegations and complaints filed against an applicant and about any discipline, probation, warnings, etc. issued to or imposed upon an applicant.  Having filed a Title IX complaint against someone else is not, on its own, responsive to any of those questions.

Yes, you should list any sort of work (paid or unpaid) in the employment section of the application.

Estimate as best you can. The month and year is enough.

Include as much information as you can and note if you are unable to give complete details and the reason. This may not be feasible to do within the Section 7 entry, but additional information can be provided in Section 13.01 (Miscellaneous Documents).  Please do your best to locate their email address and mailing address as this will prevent delays in the application process.

In addition to confirming basic details regarding the employment, the Board’s questionnaires request information relevant to an applicant’s character, conduct, and professionalism in the workplace to assist the Board in confirming that an applicant meets the essential eligibility requirements to practice law.  Helpful responses from supervisors typically include whether the applicant demonstrated integrity, avoided misconduct, and was professional, both in their interactions with others and in responsibly managing any important duties or obligations.  The questionnaires are intended as a convenient way to quickly elicit the most helpful information, but if a supervisor would prefer to write a letter regarding an applicant’s qualities and employment, that would be accepted as well.  The Board is, however, seeking more than mere verification of the applicant’s employment/dates.

The Board’s questionnaires request information about an applicant’s character, conduct, and professionalism that Human Resources is typically unable to provide.  In all feasible circumstances, it is better to list your supervisor as requested.  If a supervisor has since left the organization, listing both an HR contact—labeled as such—and providing or attempting to locate updated contact information for the supervisor is the best way to avoid potential delay.  The Board understands that there are times where it may not be possible to provide the latter information, such as when contact information cannot be found or the supervisor has passed away.  If there is another manager or partner at the organization for whom you performed some work, or who was at least in a position to become familiar with your professionalism and conduct in the workplace, providing contact information for that individual may also help avoid delay.

Verifying dates of employment is only one aspect of the character questionnaire.  While you can provide the HR contact and explain the situation, please be advised that most questionnaires received back from HR are incomplete and require follow-up.  When the Board receives incomplete questionnaires from employers, the Board’s practice is to follow up with the employer to provide the release, request additional information, and (if the supervisor is a lawyer) remind the supervisor of any applicable professional obligations.  In circumstances where the employer will not provide information due to blanket policies related to references, it is likely to delay your application as Board staff continue to follow up.  It is helpful if you provide your supervisor or recent former supervisor with notice that the Board may be sending a character questionnaire and request their cooperation in the process.    Board staff are always happy to provide a copy of your signed release to employers who need it, and those who complete the character questionnaire are also covered by the Board’s immunity rule.

Because the Board is seeking information beyond verification of dates of employment, it is important that the individual listed is familiar with your work. This type of placement scenario can complicate the process of receiving employment questionnaires, so to help avoid potential delay, it would be best to provide both sets of information and indicate which is which.  This may not be feasible to do in a single Section 7 entry, but additional information can be provided in Section 13.01 (Miscellaneous Documents).

If due to a job search or anticipated job change, an applicant is not yet comfortable disclosing to those individuals that they are applying to the Minnesota bar, the Board can postpone sending those references for a couple/few months.  This will delay the processing of the application, since the employment and reference questionnaires are a standard part of the Board’s investigation process for all applicants and will ultimately need to be sent.  Applicants who are requesting a limited postponement in this manner are encouraged to put “DO NOT CONTACT YET” in the address/email fields and submit a letter in Section 13.01 (Miscellaneous Documents) that explains the situation and provides contact information for when it is later needed.  Board staff will coordinate the timing of those questionnaires with the applicant after the application is processed.

Character references must have known you for at least 2 years.

Acceptable to list:

• Neighbors or family friends;
• Teammates or roommates;
• College or high school classmates;
• Law school professors; or
• Others not included in the do not list section.

Do NOT list:

• Supervisors listed in Section 7 (co-workers and other managers are okay);
• Your relatives (by blood or marriage);
• Anyone who executed an affidavit in support of your application;
• More than two law school classmates;
• More than three current law partners or associates; or
• Anyone you listed as an attorney reference in Section 9, if you were required to complete that section.

Including email addresses for your references allows for the Board to send reference questionnaires electronically and may expedite the receipt of responses.

Estimate as best you can. The month and year is enough.

Yes.

Complete Section 9.00 for each jurisdiction in which you have been admitted for more than 6 months. If you are admitted in another jurisdiction but have practiced for less than 6 months, you may request a waiver through the Online Bar Application by answering that you are unable to provide references and completing the waiver form.

Yes. The individuals listed in Section 9.00 should have knowledge of your practice during the time you practiced in that state. As long as you have current contact information for the individuals, you may include the lawyers in this section.

Yes. This situation sometimes arises with attorneys practicing federal law or at firms with cross-border or multi-state practices.  If the attorneys have first-hand knowledge of your practice in your state of licensure, they are fine to list.

You must provide copies of:

1. Each application for admission or for any bar exam that included character and fitness questions.
   1. For jurisdictions that use a single bar application, you must provide a copy.
   2. For jurisdictions that have separate applications for exam registration and character and fitness, provide a copy of the character and fitness application. If you only registered for the exam, a copy of the registration form is not required.
2. An authentic document from the proper authority in each jurisdiction where you have been licensed stating that you are in good standing.
3. An authentic document from the proper authority in each jurisdiction where you have been licensed indicating whether you are the subject of any pending complaint or charge of misconduct.
4. (If not listed on the certificate of good standing) An authentic document from the proper authority in each jurisdiction where you have been licensed showing your date of admission to the bar.

See Rule 4D.  You must contact the jurisdiction where you have applied or are admitted to request these documents, except bar applications that you have retained a copy of to provide. See the Board’s website for contact information in other jurisdictions.

The state supreme court is typically the proper authority to issue a certificate of good standing, unless the authority to do so or to maintain the state’s official registry of attorneys authorized to practice law in the state has been affirmatively delegated to a mandatory state bar association. The disciplinary office that investigates attorney complaints or grievances is typically the proper authority to issue the disciplinary document, since the document must contain information about matters that are pending.

Rule 4D(4) states that “[a]n applicant who has been admitted to practice in another jurisdiction shall also file or cause to be filed . . . [a] document from the proper authority in each other jurisdiction where admitted indicating whether the applicant is the subject of any pending complaint or charge of misconduct” (emphasis added).  Common reasons for deficient documentation include when it states: no discipline has been imposed, that there is no record of public discipline, or that a lawyer is currently in good standing without any reference to pending matters.  A document stating that no complaints have ever been filed against you would implicitly satisfy the requirement.  Please note that you may need to execute an authorization or waiver in order to facilitate the release of this information, since information concerning pending disciplinary matters is typically non‑public.  Please contact the disciplinary office in the other state(s) in which you are licensed to obtain a certificate, letter, or other document that indicates whether you are the subject of any pending complaint or charge of misconduct.

A certificate of good standing is generally sufficient, because the Board is not presently aware of a jurisdiction that does not include the lawyer’s admission date on its certificates of good standing, and that is the information required by Rule 4D(2). If that were to change, a certificate of admission would be required.

A document that is more than six months old is not considered current. Board staff may also request updated jurisdictional documents during the application process on a case-by-case basis.

Please see the Eligibility and General Requirements FAQs for additional information.

No, but you will need to provide updates covering the period since your last application. Once you have begun completing the repeat application, you will be provided a page of repeat application requirements after answering Yes to question 3.01. There, you will enter the date you submitted your last Minnesota bar application. Once entered, this date will be used to verify any missing time frames in your employment and residence histories since your last application date, rather than the last 10 years.

You will be required to correct any prior non-disclosures and provide information on any items that were previously posted to the To Do List on your Applicant Portal as deficiencies or requests and were not marked complete during your past application. In Section 13, there is a question called “Corrective Disclosures” where you are required to include any matters you did not disclose previously. There is also a question called “Outstanding Items” where you are required to provide responses to any previously requested items that you did not previously complete.