Law Student Registration with the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners

To access the Oklahoma Board of Bar Examiners Law Student Registration instructions and application forms, please click here.

• Please note that two applications are required; the Oklahoma Law Student Registration and the National Conference of Bar Examiners Character & Fitness Report.

Words to the Wise!

• While you can print out a blank report from the NCBE website and fill it in by hand, it is not recommended that you file a hand-written report because…

a) It typically takes much longer for the NCBE to process and approve hand-written reports.
b) When the NCBE receives hand-written reports, someone has to manually enter all your data into the system (hopefully error-free and having correctly deciphered your handwriting!).
c) The NCBE software is designed to auto-check for errors and omissions before you finalize your report.
d) The NCBE software is also designed to determine which additional state-specific forms may be required (they will print out with your finalized report). *These documents usually require your notarized signature for authorized release of information.

Notary Do’s and Don’ts!

• When printing your application, instruments to be notarized must be single-sided.
• Duplexed affidavits/authorization & release forms will be returned by the NCBE with instructions to properly prepare and resubmit – this will delay the processing of your application.
• A Notary Public attests to witnessing a signature and verifying the identity of the signatory – do not sign/date your documents ahead of time.

Timely registration is strongly urged!

• Candidates for Limited Licensure may not be sworn in without a sufficient vetting of their backgrounds via an approved Character & Fitness Report.
• The combined OKBBE and NCBE registration fees are only $375 on or before October 15 of the 2L year (this means the second year of law school regardless of full-time or part-time status).
• Late registration fees soar to $855.
• Note: these amounts reflect the new NCBE fee structure as of July 1, 2018.

Save some serious money – apply early!

• The best time to prepare and file your law student registration is during the summer after your 1L year – do not wait until the filing deadline to register.
• Character investigations can take 6 months or longer to complete (candidates otherwise eligible for licensure in their 2L spring semester will miss out if they wait until October to file).

Students that are targeting another state after graduation may be eligible for completion of a law student registration/character & moral fitness investigation in that jurisdiction (if available).

Refer to Rule 2.1(d)
Students that do not plan to take the Oklahoma Bar may still obtain a limited license to practice law in Oklahoma by successfully completing a law student registration/character & fitness investigation in a state whose standards for admission are at least as high as those for Oklahoma. Contact the Legal Internship Program Administrator for assistance. The burden rests on the law student to investigate the preferred jurisdiction’s standards and procedures as follows:

a) The jurisdiction must require law student registration.
b) The jurisdiction must accept registrations from out-of-state law students.
c) The registration must include a character & fitness investigation.
d) If the jurisdiction does not use the National Conference of Bar Examiners Character & Fitness Report, its in-house investigation must be substantively comparable to the NCBE.