CHECKLIST – Complete Re-Examination Application

PLEASE NOTE: This Checklist is not a substitute for reading Rule 7, the Board Policies and Procedure and the related website information.

Before reviewing this list, verify that you have submitted the correct application. A Re-Examination Application is used by applicants seeking admission in Tennessee by examination who have taken the Uniform Bar Examination in Tennessee within the last three years.

DO NOT USE THE RE-EXAMINATION APPLICATION IF YOU:

• Are applying for admission by examination for the first time; or
• Previously applied to the Bar of Tennessee by examination less than 2 years ago but have not taken the examination in Tennessee; or
• Have previously taken the examination in Tennessee but the application has expired pursuant to Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 7, § 3.04(a)(8).

DEADLINES AND FILING REQUIREMENTS:

There are two deadlines for Application for Admission by Examination:

• The Application Deadline, which is December 1 for February exams and May 1 for July exams; and
• The Final Deadline, which is December 20 for February exams and May 20 for July exams.

Please see Rule 7, §§ 3.01 and 3.03 and Board Policies P-3.01 and P-3.03 for information regarding the Application and Final Deadlines.

REQUIREMENTS TO MEET THE APPLICATION DEADLINE:

 The following items that are uploaded by you to your Tennessee application are required to be completed on or before the Application Deadline:

1. The NCBE application, if last submitted for an examination more than 2 years ago, completed online before submitting your Tennessee Synergy application and saved as a .pdf file with attachments provided to the NCBE (uploaded to the Tennessee application in Synergy by Applicant after submitting the Synergy application);
2. The Tennessee Application for Admission by Re-Examination – completed online in Synergy – Please use the NCBE application number beneath the bar code for the Application Number in the Synergy application;
3. Full payment of fees, paid online by credit card after you have finalized and submitted your Tennessee application, or paid by money order or check mailed to the Board office (TBLE, 511 Union Street, Suite 525, Nashville, TN 37219). For more information on fees, click here.
4. Note that if you plan to request testing accommodations, you must complete Request for Non-Standard Testing Accommodations and upload Form 1 or the Request for Courtesy Accommodations and Form 1A by the Application Deadline so that the Board will have sufficient information to notify you of missing items. Again, you will have until the Final Deadline to complete the application process.

If you have not completed step 1, if required, and steps 2 & 3 above by the Application deadline, you will not be eligible to take the exam. If your online fee payment is unsuccessful as of the deadline, you will not be eligible to take the exam. Please note that applications close at 11:59:59 PM on the day of the Application Deadline. No new applications for examination or requests for accommodations will be accepted after the Application Deadline.

Applicants who have met the Application Deadline have until the Final Deadline to complete the application process. Applicants may upload any of the documents required for a complete application to their Synergy account once they have submitted the application; the list is below. Applicants do not have to wait until after the Application Deadline to complete the application process by filing or causing to be filed the documents for the completed application.

To meet the Final Deadline and complete the application process, you must have uploaded the following required items uploaded to your Synergy Application unless an item is required to be provided directly to the TBLE by a third party, in which case, the item must be mailed or uploaded by the third party so that it is received by the TBLE on or before the Final Deadline. If an applicant uploads a document that must be provided directly to the TBLE from a third party, the document will not be deemed filed.

For detailed information about these documents and forms, visit www.tnble.org and select Admission by Examination, How to Apply – Re-Examination. See also, Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7 and Board Policies P-3.01 and P-3.03 regarding deadlines and documentation requirements.

The Board will send at least one notice of deficiency if any of the following items are missing or have been filed in the incorrect format; however, you may still have a deficiency, such as submitting the incorrect application, for which you will not receive notice prior to the Final Deadline, or by failing to complete the NCBE application process, as described below.

REQUIREMENTS TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION PROCESS:

The following items are required to complete your application and must be either received from a third party, where required, by the TBLE, or uploaded by the applicant to the applicant’s Synergy application on or before the Final Deadline:

1. COMPLETION OF THE NCBE APPLICATION PROCESS (required every 2 years): You must finalize/submit the online NCBE application (a .pdf of the application would have been uploaded with the Tennessee Application on or before the Application Deadline), pay all NCBE fees, and provide in the format and by the process required by the NCBE all required documents; to see your application status and steps left to complete, you will need to check your NCBE Dashboard. Applicants are responsible for managing their NCBE dashboard as the Board does not have access to and will not provide notice regarding steps needed to complete the NCBE application process prior to the Final Deadline. If you are required to complete a new NCBE application and your name is not on the report sent by the NCBE after the Final Deadline (unless your Investigative Report has been completed and received by the Board), or the status of your NCBE application in your dashboard is “pending” or “hold,” you will NOT BE ELIGIBLE TO SIT FOR THE EXAMINATION;
2. Applicant’s CURRENT RESUME in .pdf format only (required each exam);
3. A CURRENT COLOR PHOTO, similar to a photo submitted with a passport application, looking straight into the camera (face forward) and that includes your head, full face, and shoulders against a light background (required each exam in .jpg format only; see Board Policy P-3.01(c) and FAQs on the Board website);
4. An unexpired GOVERNMENT-ISSUED “REAL” PHOTO ID, such as a driver’s license, military ID, or passport (copy the page with your picture), but not a school ID, in jpg or .pdf format (required each exam); and
5. ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF RECEIPT OF THE GENERAL INSTRUCTION MANUAL for the current exam, available on the Board’s website, here, signed after reading the Manual but before the Final Deadline and saved in .pdf format only.

OTHER DOCUMENTS THAT, IF REQUIRED, MUST BE SUBMITTED ON OR BEFORE THE FINAL DEADLINE:

6. APPLICANTS SEEKING NON-STANDARD TESTING ACCOMMODATIONS and who met the Application Deadline for the Request for Non-Standard Testing Accommodations or Courtesy Accommodations,  all required forms (in folder labeled, “AA Non-Standard Testing Accommodations Forms,”), which includes requirements for reports from Qualified Professionals, schools, and other testing agencies as noted on Forms 2, 3, and 4; the forms must be received by the TBLE on or before the Final Deadline. Qualified Professionals and schools or agencies completing Forms 3 and 4 may email BLE.Administrator@tncourts.gov to obtain the secure upload link.
7. APPLICANTS WHO GRADUATED FROM A NON-ABA-ACCREDITED LAW SCHOOL LOCATED IN THE UNITED STATES BUT NOT IN TENNESSEE: If you received your law degree from a school in the United States that is not accredited by the ABA but has been approved to issue a J.D. degree in a state other than Tennessee, you must provide additional documentation. Please see the requirements in Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, § 2.02(c), Policy P-3.01(11), and on our website at www.tnble.org. Some of this documentation, such as your Affidavit of Past Practice, must be submitted each time you apply;
8. APPLICANTS WHO RECEIVED THEIR LEGAL EDUCATION OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES and to not have a J.D. from an ABA-accredited or Tennessee-approved law school must provide the following:  
   • If you were previously approved to take the exam as provided in Rule 7, Section 7.01(a), based on substantially equivalent education, you do not have additional requirements.
   • If you were approved previously approved to take the examination under based on foreign legal education, an LL.M. in the U.S., and time in practice, please note that the requirements have changed. You must provide the following:
     • The completed“Foreign-Education Option Election” form;  
     • An equivalency evaluation, as provided in Rule 7, section 7.01(c) and Policy P-7.01;
     • If seeking admission under:
       • Rule 7, Section 7.01(b)(1), based on admission in another jurisdiction and time in practice,  a completed Affidavit of Practice in a Foreign Country if licensed outside the United states, or a completed Affidavit of Past Practice if licensed in the United States.
         • NOTE: If applicant is licensed in both a foreign jurisdiction and a U.S. jurisdiction, applicant must provide both forms detailing applicant’s practice in each jurisdiction; time in practice in the U.S. in a jurisdiction that permits such practice without a license or registration as a Foreign Legal Consultant should be documented on an Affidavit of Past Practice and include documentation that supports the claim that the practice in that jurisdiction was permitted. 
       • Rule 7, Section 7.01(b)(2), based on foreign legal education and a U.S. LL. M., the Foreign Education Legal Studies in the United States form, completed and signed by the Law School Dean or designee (required if any changes in documents previously submitted, such as additional education in the U.S.); and the documents listed in paragraph (9) and (10) below, if applicable.
     • Documents not in English: If the responses are not in English, a translation to English by a certified translator must be provided with the original document.
     • For more information, see Rule 7, Section 7.01, Policy P-3.03, and P-7.01, all found here.
     • NOTE – If you obtain additional foreign education, a J.D. Degree in the U.S., or an additional LL.M. in the U.S. that might change the path under which you have currently been approved, you will have to submit all documentation required to meet the requirements of the new path.  
9. APPLICANTS WHO ARE LICENSED IN ANOTHER U.S. JURISDICTION: You must provide the following:
   • Certification of admission to the highest court of each state in which you are licensed (required to be uploaded to Synergy every two years, unless a change in status prior to that time, in .pdf file format only); and
   • Certification from the disciplinary authority of each state in which you are licensed attesting to your current standing and disciplinary history (required to be uploaded to Synergy every two years, unless a change in status prior to that time, in .pdf file format only).
   • The certification may take the form of one certificate or two, but must show the date of admission to the highest court and certify your current standing (disciplinary and administrative, with disciplinary history) with the bar of the state(s) in which you are licensed.
   • See generally Rule 7, § 6.06.
10. APPLICANTS LICENSED IN A FOREIGN JURISDICTION: An applicant licensed in a non-U.S. jurisdiction must provide the following (required to be uploaded to Synergy with each exam in .pdf file format only; letters must be current, not from prior exams):
    • Three letters from attorneys or judges verifying applicant’s license in a foreign country:
      • The letters must attest to applicant’s practice in that country and must relate to applicant’s work with the recommender in the practice of law and, if from a relative, the relationship must be disclosed in the letter;
      • Letters from an Applicant’s parents, grandparents, siblings or spouse who are practicing attorneys are not permitted.
    • A certified copy of the record of license of the court or agency which admitted the applicant to the practice of law in such country.
    • Documents not in English: For documents that are not in English, a translation to English by a certified translator must be provided with the original document.
11. APPLICANTS WHO HAVE BEEN UNSUCCESSFUL FIVE (5) OR MORE TIME ON THE FORMER TENNESSEE BAR EXAMINATION OR THE UBE IN ANY JURISDICTION: Any applicant who has not achieved a score sufficient for admission in Tennessee after five or more attempts on the former Tennessee bar examination or on the UBE in any jurisdiction has additional requirements that must be included with the bar exam application. See Board Policy P-4.05 for the information on the petition and supporting documentation that must be provided as part of your application and prior to the Final Deadline.

For detailed information about these documents and forms, visit www.tnble.org  and select Admission by Examination, How to Apply – Re-Examination.

Click here to access FORMS for Admission by Examination and for Non-Standard Testing Accommodations.

REMINDERS AND NOTICES:

• Applicants are responsible for ensuring that all documents are submitted in the correct format on or before the Final Deadline.
• Applicants who are provided notice of a deficiency must correct the deficiency on or before the Final Deadline.
• The Board is not authorized to extend or modify deadlines for filing. See Tenn. Sup. Ct. R. 7, § 12.12.