Admission To The Bar in The United States - Incidents of Admission

Incidents of Admission

A successful applicant is permitted to practice law after being sworn in as an officer of the Court; in most states, that means they may begin filing pleadings and appearing as counsel of record in any trial or appellate court in the state. Upon admission, a new lawyer is issued a certificate of admission, usually from the state's highest court, and a membership card attesting to admission.

Two states are exceptions to the general rule of admission by the state's highest court:

• In New York, admission is granted by one of the state's four intermediate appellate courts corresponding generally to the Department of residence of the applicant; once admitted, however, the applicant can practice in any court in the state.
• In Georgia, each new attorney is admitted to practice by the Superior Court of any county, typically the county in which he or she resides or desires to practice. The new attorney, although licensed to practice in any local trial court in the state, must separately seek admission to the Georgia Court of Appeals as well as the Georgia Supreme Court.

In most states, lawyers are also issued a unique bar identification number. In many states where unauthorized practice of law is a problem, the state bar number must appear on all documents submitted by a lawyer.