纽约是世界经济中心，需要很多的国际律师。它鼓励外国律师报考，但也有条件限制：外国大学四年法律教育，并且在美国修满至少20个学分的LL.M课程。你需要通过资格审核，然后交250美圆的报名费。如果读J.D.，你可以随便报考，毫无限制。LL.M则只能在部分的州考试。花9个月的时间和三分之一的J.D.价钱，就可以获得考BAR的资格,这对于发展中国家的律师很有吸引力。这种短平快的学位，立竿见影，值得投资。我个人认为，如果你在中国已经有了很过硬的法律背景，有了律师执照，毕业后想回中国发展。LL.M学位在未来十年是够硬的了。如果你希望在美国发展，有J.D.会更加marketable和 competitive一些。考虑到J.D.投进的时间和金钱是LL.M.的三倍，如果竞争力强一些，后劲足一些，也不足为奇。这里，我要强调的一点是，在美国法学院，成绩意味着一切。美国律师事务所非常迷信成绩单。很多有名望的律所只招收顶尖10%的学生或者法律期刊编辑(Law Review Editor)。达到前10%或者当上法学编辑对中国J.D.学生很不现实。比较而言，下相同的工夫，LL.M学生的成绩单可能会漂亮一些。况且， LL.M提供了一个很好的平台让你能尽早地证明自己，比J.D. 多了两年的工作经验和收入，也挺不错。这年头，经济低迷，失业率高涨，律师满地跑，想找到一份美差，委实不易。不过，“沧海缚龙”要靠真本领。你硬要崛起，谁也没办法阻挡你。
加州的律考我不是很清楚。我知道90%的LL.M.考生投奔了纽约，只有少数外国律师考加州。
纽约只允许ABA认证(American Bar Association approved)的法学院的毕业生参加考试(全美大约只有180所学校)，而加州则允许众多杂牌的加州法学院学生报考。加州对外国律师报考条件要求较严格(据说，外国执业律师通过审核后也可报考determination of educational equivalency，但过程很烦琐，报名费很高)。它对本州学生报考条件放得很宽松，加州通过率低的部分原因在这里。纽约集中了美国最多的超大型律师事务所，是国际金融、贸易和法律业务最发达的地方。如果你希望搞金融证券、资本运作、跨国投资等业务，我认为纽约资格会好些。加州地大物博，气候温暖，发展空间广阔。如果你想供车养楼，住好玩好，眺望太平洋，一解乡愁，还是加州“律”卡好。加州和纽约是最受欢迎的两个州，也是公认最难考的两个州。如果你通过了任何一个，职场前景应该是一片光明。不过，话说回来，机会多的地方，竞争也激烈，在美国发展，说到底要英语好。如果你在小州读法律，考了该州的执照，由于外来竞争较少，说不定你更有机会找到好工作。据我所知，德克萨斯、佛罗里达、内华达和伊利诺斯州的执照正变得越来越热。我想，如果你考下关岛、波多黎各，Paulau或者处女岛等美国海外飞地的律师执照，到那里去执业的话，你是老大，赚的钱应该不会少(因为这些地方是资本外流和洗钱逃税的天堂)。美国还有一个专利律师考试(Patent Bar Exam)，一百道选择题而已。只要理工本科毕业都可以报考，和通常说的美国律考没有内在关系，许多法学院学生第二学年就考过了，应该不会太难。
以上是我这次纽约律考的简单回顾。这仅仅是个人观感，算不上权威说法。如果你希望得到全面可靠的信息，最好的方法是直接到各州相应的官方网站去查找。我希望更多的中国律师能够到美国来观察、学习和工作。只有加快和国际接轨，不断地向国际同行学习，我们的跨国法律业务才会真正地发展起来。也只有把市场的蛋糕做大了，我们每个人的口袋才会饱满起来。
下面是就一些大家感兴趣的问题，做简单的提示。
全国统考科目：
Multi-state subjects: Constitutional law, contract, sales, criminal law, criminal procedure, evidence, real property and torts.
纽约州自考科目：
New York subjects: Agency, commercial paper, conflict of laws, corporations, domestic relations, equity, federal jurisdiction and procedure, leases, mortgages, New York practice, no-fault insurance, partnership, personal property, secured transactions, trusts, wills, worker‘s compensation, fine points, New York distinctions supplement.
允许LL.M.报考的11个州：
Arizona, California, Connecticut, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Paula.另外Texas, Kentucky也有可能。
每一个州都有单独规定，报考前一定要亲自核实。
California: Foreign law school graduates must request inspanidual evaluation to determine pre-legal and legal education equivalency. Graduates from common law foreign law schools may qualify to take additional year of law study at an ABA-approved or graduates generally are required to complete more practice law in foreign or U.S. jurisdiction will qualify to take the bar examination without further education.
New York: Applicant must complete period of law study equivalent in duration to that specified in New York rules in law school recognized by competent accrediting agency of the government of such foreign country. All applicants must have their transcripts evaluated by the Board of Law Examiners to determine if further study, in the form of 20 credits at an approved law school in the U.S., including basic courses in American law, is required.
各州报考人数和通过率,请参考:
http://www.ncbex.org/stats.htm
纽约和加州每年都超过一万考生，加州通过率大约50%，纽约大约60%，通过率最高的州超过90%，如蒙大拿州、犹他州。
纽约报考条件：
Qualifying: Applicants may qualify to take the New York bar examination four ways: 1) Graduation from an American Bar Association approved law school (see Section 520.3 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (2) Combination of law school and law office study (see Section 520.4 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (3) Graduation from an unapproved law school and practice in a jurisdiction where admitted for five years (see Section 520.5 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals); (4) Foreign law study (see Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals).
纽约州报考资格评估：
Obtaining an Evaluation of Credentials: To determine if an applicant educated outside the United States is eligible to take the New York State bar examination the Board must evaluate his or her legal education. You may download a Request for Evaluation of Foreign Academic Credentials from the "Application Materials" section of this website. You should complete it in its entirety and mail it, together with all required supporting documents, to: NYS Board OF LAW EXAMINERS, 1 EXECUTIVE CENTRE DRIVE, SUITE 202, ALBANY, NY 12203. If the supporting documentation is to be sent directly by your law school, you should indicate that on the form.
An official transcript is one that contains an original seal or certification While originals will be accepted and are considered the best proof of your legal education, please keep in mind that they will not be returned. Transcripts which do not contain the original law school stamp or certification will not be evaluated. Photocopies and fax copies will not be evaluated. While an evaluation from an independent evaluation service, such as World Education Services, may be submitted to supplement your documents, it will not be considered as proof of your legal education, and the Board will conduct its own evaluation in any event.
All requests for evaluation should be sent to the Board at least six months prior to the examination for which the applicant plans to apply. Due to the large volume of correspondence which the Board receives, you should allow several months from the date of the Board s receipt of your request for a response.
Under no circumstances will an evaluation be given by phone, nor will an evaluation be expedited simply because the applicant needs to register for a bar review course therefore, we kindly ask that you do not tie up the Board s phone lines with such requests. Once the application filing period begins, no evaluations for that examination will be conducted. If a determination of eligibility is not completed before the application period begins, the applicant should file their application together with their official transcripts and assume the risk of being found ineligible to take the examination during the weeks prior to the date of the exam. Under no circumstances should an application be filed and a separate request for an evaluation be sent to the Board at the same time, as this merely delays and confuses the process.
外国法律学生报考条件：
Eligibility of Foreign Educated Applicants: Section 520.6 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals contains the provisions covering the eligibility of foreign-educated applicants for admission to the New York State bar examination. In order to be considered eligible to take the bar examination under Section 520.6, the applicant shall show fulfillment of the educational requirements for admission to the practice of law in a country other than the United States by successful completion of a period of study which is (1) the durational equivalent and (2) the substantial equivalent of the legal education required by Section 520.3. We strongly suggest that all interested applicants review Rule 520.6 prior to requesting an evaluation. A copy of the Court Rules are available on this website.
Generally, a minimum of three years full-time or four years part-time law study in a law school is required to satisfy (1) the durational requirement. External study, correspondence study, and distance learning are not recognized by the Board, notwithstanding the fact that such study may be recognized by the admitting authority of the country where you were educated. In order to satisfy (2) the substantive requirement, the Board must determine, at a minimum that: (a) the foreign country where the degree was obtained is one whose jurisprudence is based upon the principles of the English Common Law and, (b) that the program and course of study successfully completed by the applicant was the substantial equivalent of the legal education provided by an approved law school in the United States. The Board must establish that the applicant meets both the durational and substantive requirements in order to qualify to take the bar examination. Additionally, the foreign law school which the applicant attended must be recognized by the competent accrediting agency of the government of such other country, or of a political subspanision thereof, as qualified and approved. For further information, go to see:http://www.nybarexam.org/foreign.htm.
关于职业责任考试：
Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE): No applicant can be admitted to the Bar in New York without successfully completing both the New York State bar examination and the MPRE. The MPRE can be taken before or after the bar examination. The MPRE passing score is set by the inspanidual jurisdictions requiring that examination. In New York, any applicant who took the MPRE prior to 2002 and attained a scaled score of 72 will be considered as having met the requirement. Commencing with the March 2002 MPRE, the passing score in New York is a scaled score of 85. Any applicant who did not designate New York as the jurisdiction to which the applicant s score should be reported at the time of taking the MPRE must have an official score report sent to the Board by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), MPRE Records Dept., P.O. Box 451, Iowa City, IA 52243, telephone (319) 337-1304.
Since October 1994, Section 520.12 of the Rules of the Court of Appeals has required applicants to file the materials required for admission to the Bar within three years from the date of the initial letter sent by the Board of Law Examiners notifying the applicant of having passed the bar examination. Thus, any applicant who has not taken and passed the MPRE at the time of receipt of notification of having passed the bar examination must pass the MPRE and be certified by the Board to the Supreme Court, Appellate spanision within three years.
The MPRE is administered three times each year, in March, August and November. Applications and explanatory handbooks may be obtained from the NCBE, MPRE Application Dept., P.O. Box 4001, Iowa City, IA 52243, telephone (319) 341-2500.
The Board receives MPRE scores electronically, and matches them to our applicant files by Social Security Number and date of birth. Therefore, if there is an error in your Social Security Number on your MPRE score report, or if you do not have a Social Security Number and were assigned an identification number by the administrators of the MPRE, you should include that information when you make application to take the New York bar examination. This will enable us to match up your scores manually, and avoid any delay in certification if you are successful on the bar examination. Do not notify us prior to making application for the bar examination, since we do not have any means of storing such information until an application is received.
纽约律考电话、地址和考试日期：
Telephone and Fax Lines: The Board of New York Bar telephone number is (518) 452-8700. New York State toll free line is (800) 342-3335. The voice system operates 24 hours a day. The Board switchboard is staffed Monday through Friday from 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM Eastern Time.
The Board receives faxes 24 hours a day on (518) 452-5729 using a Canon Laser Class 7000.
Correspondence:
New York State Board of Law Examiners
1 Executive Centre Drive - Suite 202 Albany, NY 12203-5195
The Board responds to all correspondence by first class mail, but do not reply by fax or e-mail.
Dates of Bar Examinations/Application Deadlines: The bar examination is held twice a year, generally on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of July and February.
Dates of the next scheduled bar examinations:
FEBRUARY EXAM DATES JULY EXAM DATES
February 25 - 26, 2003 July 29 - 30, 2003
February 24 - 25, 2004 July 27 - 28, 2004
February 22 - 23, 2005 July 26 - 27, 2005
BARBRI复习资料有十本书。每本都特大特厚，几百页到千来页不等。既有习题、模考题，也有内容精要和作文范例。其中最重要的一本叫“The Conviser Mini Review”，这本书里面全是重要法条(Black Letter Law)，内容简明扼要，务必逐字逐句看，弄明白，记牢固。BARBRI有大量的习题、详细答案和解题指导。对于外国考生，大量做题是致胜的唯一法宝。每做完一套题，都应该认真核对答案，找出做错的原因。出错的部分要多做几遍。不理解的地方要回头弄清楚。解题时，宜提纲挈领，分清主次;顺藤摸瓜，找出考点。由于题量很大，所以阅读要快，判断要准，要敢于取舍(有些难懂的地方，如“Rules Against Perpetuity”理解个七七八八就行了，不要太钻牛角尖)。MBE的选择题，有许多是干扰性答案，容易迷惑人，大量解题，有利于你适应命题风格，避免掉进诱导性的陷阱。问答题部分(Essay question)，要简洁地归纳事实，适用法例，注意结构严谨，条理清晰。文书写作部分要严格按照legal memorandum格式、步骤来完成。评卷人是按考点(testing point)和步骤给分的，所以只要你想到了什么都应该分步写下来。BARBRI的磁带很好，应该多听。做一些图表和卡片(Flashing Cards)，会有助于你巩固记忆。除了BARBRI的资料，另外一套书“PMBR multi-state specialist”也非常好，一红一蓝共两本，各一千页。全是联考的选择题，共两千题。如果你能把这两千题做两遍，好好理解、消化，联考部分应该不会太难。
纽约州律考，一半是客观选择题，一半是主观写作题。对于外国学生，由于语言功底相对较弱，要通过考试就必须在选择题部分拿高分。今年的纽约州律考，总分按 1000分算的话， 660分通过，(有消息说，一年后达标分数要提高至675)。外国考生能在写作部分拿五成的分数已经相当不易，这样的话，选择题部分至少应该有75%的准确率。多做多练，准确率自然就上来了。备考的最后阶段应多模拟测试几次，严格按照考试时间来，把握好解题的节奏，找出临场应对的感觉。外国考生通常要到纽约州的州府阿巴尼(Albany)，而非纽约市考试。考试当天，会有几千外地考生云集阿巴尼。考试地点一般设在酒店，阿巴尼公共交通不算便利，如果你能够尽早订到考点附近的酒店，可省心多了。
我这次律考，既省钱，也省时间。我没有参加考试培训，只是从www.ebay.com网站上花七百美圆买了BARBRI和PMBR两套旧书，自己在家复习。我前后花了三个半月来备考。一星期六天，每天八个小时。我的大部分时间都花在解题上了，而且主要是集中全国联考部分。我的选择题做得很好，在考试的时候，好多题我都觉得似曾相识。这次考试，我心情很轻松，考试时间也充裕，每次都剩15到20分钟的时间。备考要注意运用“二八原理”，用80%的时间去复习20%最重要的法律。联考的六大法，一定要花80%的精力。纽约州部分考18门法律，你可以侧重其中的四五门，例如：trusts and wills, corporation, lease and mortgage, conflict of laws, civil procedure等等。有一种备考方式可借鉴。几个中国学生凑钱，以一个人的名义报读BARBRI的课程。大家分享资料，共同准备。这种联合作战的方式可以提高效率、降低费用，但它也违反BARBRI协议，所以不宜张扬。“穷则思变，变则通。”“我就是穷，我怕谁?”海外的中国学生应该加强团结，互通有无。律师队伍壮大了，律师的地位才能提高起来。
