Bill Details

SB1159 State Bar; allows full-time law professor to be admitted as active member without examination. (Marsh III)
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Summary as Introduced:			PDF
Virginia State Bar admission for full-time law school professors. Allows a full-time law professor to be admitted as an active member of the Virginia State Bar without examination provided that (i) he has been engaged in the full-time practice of law for five of the seven years immediately preceding application for membership to the Virginia State Bar; (ii) he is employed as a full-time professor at an American Bar Association accredited Virginia law school; and (iii) he meets all other requirements for admission to the Virginia State Bar. The bill provides that membership is limited to the period of employment as a full-time professor.

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	Signed by Governor
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Full Text of Bill: 13103593D SENATE BILL NO. 1159 Offered January 9, 2013 Prefiled January 9, 2013 A BILL to amend and reenact § 54.1-3931 of the Code of Virginia, relating to granting a certificate of admission to the Virginia State Bar; law professors. ---------- Patron-- Marsh ---------- Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice ---------- Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Virginia: 1. That § 54.1-3931 of the Code of Virginia is amended and reenacted as follows: § 54.1-3931. Granting certificates without examination; law professors. The Supreme Court shall have discretion to grant a certificate without examination to any attorney who has been admitted to practice law before the court of last resort of any state or territory of the United States or the District of Columbia for at least five years. The certificate shall entitle the holder, after paying his license tax, to practice in the courts of this Commonwealth. The Supreme Court shall also have discretion to grant a certificate without examination to any person connected with any foreign embassy or legation to appear in the courts of this Commonwealth in all matters connected with his official duties, provided that the person has been admitted to practice in the court of last resort of the jurisdiction of the embassy or legation to which he is attached or he has received a degree from a law school approved by the American Bar Association. The Supreme Court shall have the authority to promulgate rules and regulations allowing professors in law schools located in the Commonwealth~~, which~~ that are accredited by the American Bar Association, to become members of the Virginia State Bar, limited to associate membership; however, a professor who has been engaged in the full-time practice of law for five of the seven years immediately preceding his application for membership to the Virginia State Bar, who, at the time of his application, is employed as a full-time professor at an American Bar Association accredited Virginia law school, and who meets all other requirements for admission to the Virginia State Bar may be admitted as an active member, limited to the period of his employment as a full-time professor at such law school. The Supreme Court may authorize the Board or any committee thereof to administer the provisions of this section. All other persons shall take the examinations and comply with the applicable provisions of this chapter.
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