Colorado Supreme Court

Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel

Promoting Professionalism. Protecting the Public.

ADMISSION ON HOLD INFORMATION AND PROCEDURES

If you passed the Colorado Bar Examination your name will be listed here on the Alphabetical Pass List for the most recent exam.

If you passed the Colorado LLP Examination your name will be listed here on the Alphabetical Pass List for the most recent exam.

Please read through the instructions below regarding next steps for taking the Oath of Admission so you may obtain your Colorado law license.

Office of Attorney Registration (includes LLP registration)

While the Office of Attorney/LLP Admissions handles processing of all bar and LLP exam applicants for admission in Colorado, it is the Office of Attorney Registration that handles the administration of the Oath of Admission and the issuing of attorney and LLP licensure. Once you have taken the Oath of Admission, the Office of Attorney Registration will create your official attorney or LLP record, your Colorado attorney or LLP registration ID, and issue your Colorado attorney or LLP ID card. Your admissions file is not linked to your attorney or LLP registration file. The Registration record is THE official record for the State of Colorado for all licensed attorneys and LLPs in the state — please keep that in mind when you register to take the Oath of Admission, as all information you enter into the new attorney or LLP registration form will be used to create your Official attorney or LLP registration file.

What is your Legal Name? If you have not used your Legal Name (e.g., as represented on a government-issued ID, court documented name change, or marriage certificate) for your admissions file, it may create an issue once you register to take the Oath of Admission if it is not the name listed on a Clearance List or Clearance Letter. Please note that nicknames and aliases are not acceptable for your attorney or LLP registration record. If the Office of Attorney Registration is unable to locate your name on a Clearance Letter or Clearance List from the Admissions office, you may need to contact your licensure analyst to make any corrections/changes.

Cleared for Admission

Once you have located your name on the Pass List, please review your exam Result Notice. If your status is “Cleared for Admission”, then you are cleared to register to take the Oath of Admission. On the day results are posted, the Admissions Office provides a “Cleared List” to the Office of Attorney Registration so they know that you have been authorized to take the Oath of Admission. To register to take the Oath of Admission, click here.

After an initial Cleared List is provided to the Office of Attorney Registration, subsequent clearances to take the Oath of Admission are by issuance of a “Clearance Letter.” Your name will not appear on the Cleared List that the Admissions Office sends to Attorney Registration if your Admission is “On Hold”. Please note that once the Cleared List is sent to Attorney Registration on the day the exam notices are sent to applicants, Clearance Letters cannot be issued until the following day.

Admission “On Hold”

If your Exam Result Notice indicates your status is “Admission On Hold” then DO NOT register to take the Oath of Admission. Your registration will not be processed by the Office of Attorney Registration if they do not have a Clearance Letter on file for you or if your name does not appear on a Clearance List. You must review your Exam Result Notice and complete the required conditions before the Admissions Office can issue a Clearance Letter for you to take the Oath of Admission.

Your application for admission may be On Hold for any of the following reasons:

  1. Your application is incomplete. You have not submitted all required or requested documentation in order to complete the processing of your application. Such documentation may be necessary for finalizing your character and fitness review for admission. Please note, however, that once the required or requested documentation is received, additional review and evaluation of your application may still be necessary. Do not assume that submission of such documentation results in an automatic clearance for admission.

  2. Your application is pending review by the Office of Attorney Admissions’ Character and Fitness Committee (“Committee”). The Committee may delay approval of your application while awaiting additional documentation, investigation or completion of an interview before an inquiry panel of the Character and Fitness Committee to discuss matters of concern. See C.R.C.P. 208 for information about character and fitness requirements. Additional information pertaining to Character and Fitness can be found here.

  3. You have not yet satisfied the Mandatory Professionalism Course requirement. The Office of Attorney Admissions may have no record of your completion of this mandatory course or your course may have expired. Please note that this is not your professional responsibility law school course or the required LLP ethics course, but a one-day, six-hour class held by the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel in conjunction with the Colorado Bar Association-CLE office. In accordance with C.R.C.P. 203.1(8)(attorneys) and 207.7(8)(LLPs) course attendance is valid for eighteen months following completion of this course.

  4. Please contact your licensure analyst if you have met this requirement but your record does not show compliance; please provide the course date you attended and our Office will be able to confirm attendance by checking the course roster for that date. If you do not recall when you attended the course, you should login to your CBA-CLE account here and click on the “CLE Dashboard” icon; your course history and the course materials are available in your Dashboard.

    If you have not yet met this requirement, you should register for the next available course. Course dates and registration are available online here. Do not register to take the Oath of Admission in anticipation of completing this course and prior to the issuance of a Clearance Letter; following course attendance, it can take 24 – 48 hours depending on volume to process all the course affidavits and issue clearance letters.

  5. BAR EXAM Applicants Only: You have not yet satisfied the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) requirement for admission. You may not have fulfilled this requirement because our Office does not have a record of your MPRE score, the score may be insufficient (scaled score of less than 85) and/or your score may be out-of-date. If you believe you have met this requirement but your record does not show compliance, please contact your licensure analyst. To register for the MPRE online, go to www.ncbex.org.

Issuance of Clearance Letters

Once your admission hold has been resolved, the Admissions Office will issue a Clearance Letter for you to take the Oath of Admissions and a copy forwarded to the Office of Attorney Registration. Bar exam applicants: you will receive an email in your admissions’ account that you have been cleared for admission. LLP applicants: you will receive an email from the Admissions office that you have been cleared for admission and a copy of your letter uploaded to your folder.

Please note that compliance with any outstanding issue does not result in an automatic clearance; your licensure analyst must still process all outstanding issues/documents and a clearance letter generated and signed by the appropriate authority. Do not register to take the Oath of Admission in anticipation of being cleared for admission; it causes extra work and frustration for the court clerks in the Attorney Registration Office trying to locate a clearance letter that does not yet exist. Please be patient and respectful. Our Office will work to have you cleared as quickly as possible once the Office has received what is required from you to resolve outstanding issues.