If you've decided to earn a law degree online, you should be considering practicing in California as it is currently the only state that allows graduates of some online law schools and correspondence law schools to sit for the bar exam.
What follows are the steps you need to follow in order to practice law in California with an online law degree, but for full information, see the California Bar Examiners site.
Here's How:
Register with the State Bar of California.
Before you take any law school exams, you should register with the bar examiners. Also, make sure you have completed the required "pre-legal education" requirements of the California State Bar before even enrolling.
Register for, take, and pass the First-Year Law Student's Examination.
When you complete your first year of law school, you must take and pass the First Year Law Students' Examination, affectionately called "Baby Bar." You can take it at various sites throughout California in either June or October, and you will be tested on three basic subjects: Torts, Criminal Law, and Contracts. It covers first year subjects Torts, Criminal Law, and Contracts.
Fulfill the educational requirements.
If you are attending an online law school, it must be one of those registered with the Committee of California Bar Examiners.
Receive a positive moral character determination from the Committee of Bar Examiners.
California requires that bar exam applicants show "good moral character" through an evaluation by the Committee. As part of your application, you must provide information about former employers and references as well as fingerprints and driving and criminal records.
Register for, take, and pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility exam with a scaled score of 86.00 or greater.
The MPRE is given by the National Conference of Bar Examiners gives this two-hour exam to test your knowledge of legal ethics.
Register, take, and pass the California Bar examination.
The California bar exam is a three-day exam given in February and July; there are two half days of essay questions and one full day of multiple choice for the Multistate Bar Examination.