2023 Laws of Puerto Rico › TITLE FOUR Appendices - Rules of Court (§§ 1 — 1-54) › VII-B - Regulations of the Board of Bar Examiners (1983) (§§ 1 — 18) › Rule 2 - Applicants

(a) Requirements. — Any person who wishes to be admitted to the practice of law in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico shall:
(1) Be over 21 years of age. This requirement, however, does not apply in the case of a person who wishes to take the bar examination referred to in clause (5) below.
(2) Have studied law and obtained the corresponding law degree in law schools accredited by the Council on Higher Education and by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico if he has pursued his law studies in Puerto Rico, or by the American Bar Association and the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico if he has pursued his law studies outside Puerto Rico.
Applicants who have pursued law studies in foreign countries shall prove to said court’s satisfaction that the courses passed and the college degree obtained are equivalent to those required by a law school accredited in Puerto Rico by the Council on Higher Education and by the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico, without prejudice to the court’s power to give accreditation to said foreign educational institutions. When the person is unable to show that the courses he has passed are equivalent to those required by a previously accredited law school, the court may require the person to take and pass the course or courses he needs to complete the necessary legal education to practice law in Puerto Rico.
Every applicant who has pursued studies in a foreign university shall prove to the satisfaction of the court that he has taken and passed (in a law school accredited by this court and the American Bar Association or the Council on Higher Education) with a satisfactory grade (above 70% on a numerical scale or A, B or C on an alphabetical scale) the following courses: Constitutional Law, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure and Evidence.
The prospective effect of this rule shall apply also to applicants who have already taken, but failed, the bar examination.
In every case of an applicant who has pursued law studies at a foreign university, the Executive Director of the Board shall, in the first instance, request the Puerto Rico Council on Higher Education to evaluate the academic credits and records of such applicant, taking into consideration not only the equivalence of the courses but also the reputation of academic excellence enjoyed by the university in question.
(3) Prior to admission to the Law Faculty, applicant should have a Bachelor’s degree or any other equivalent program, that complies with the rules and regulations established by the Puerto Rico Council on Higher Education or approved by the Puerto Rico Supreme Court, in relation to the minimum standard requirements for admission to the Law Faculty of Puerto Rico.
(4) Be a person of good moral character.
(5) Pass a bar examination to be prepared and administered by the Board.
(b) Application to take the bar examination. —
(1) Any person seeking admission to the practice of law shall file before the Board, by certified mail with return receipt requested, an application to take the bar examination which shall be handwritten and signed by him; he shall state under oath that he meets all the requirements set forth in clauses (1) to (5) of subsection (a) of this rule. The Board shall hold a hearing only for those applicants whose applications present significant problems. Hearings shall be held in strict alphabetical order and shall be notified by letter. Applications should be mailed by certified mail, return receipt requested, at least 45 days prior to the date scheduled for the beginning of the bar examination which the applicant wishes to take. An applicant who, for good cause shown, is unable to file his application by certified mail may file it personally with the appropriate official of the Board. Except as waived by the Supreme Court for good cause shown, the application shall be accompanied by:
(A) One (1) double-spaced, typewritten copy of the application, on legal-sized paper.
(B) Internal revenue stamps for $50.00 and an extra $1.00 internal revenue stamp.
(C) Two 2″ x 2″ full-face photographs taken during the year immediately preceding the examination to be taken.
(D) Informative statement sworn and subscribed [to] by the applicant, detailing his personal history, and typewritten on a special form prepared by the Board.
(E) Individual sworn statements [by] two (2) attorneys admitted to practice in Puerto Rico, each in the original, stating that they know the applicant personally and for how long, and that in their opinion the applicant is a person of good moral character who should be admitted to the bar.
(F) A transcript of all university credit hours earned by the applicant, certified by the corresponding university authority, addressed by it directly to the Board.
(G) A copy of the diploma attesting the university degree received by the applicant before his law studies and official certification of the university from which the degree was obtained.
(H) A copy of the diploma of the academic degree received by the applicant at the end of his legal studies and official certification of the university from which the degree was obtained.
(I) Two (2) 9-¼″ x 4″ envelopes and one 9″ x 12″ envelope, all stamped and self-addressed (stamp machines [postage meters] shall not be used).
(J) A certificate of no criminal record issued by the Puerto Rico Police within 90 days of the date the application is filed.
(K) Any other document required by the Board.
(L) In the event the applicant has been admitted to the practice of law in other jurisdictions, he shall present official certification of said admission, of his reputation as such, and of any disciplinary proceedings brought against him in said jurisdictions.
(M) A detailed description of any handicap or other condition requiring special attention. If no such description is provided, no special attention or concession shall be made. Said conditions include, among others, physical impairments or conditions such as blindness, paralysis, pregnancy, illness, excessive weight.
(2) The Board shall keep all the documents mentioned above. The internal revenue stamps for $50.00 mentioned in subsection (b)(1)(B) of this rule shall be affixed to the application and cancelled as soon as it is filed and may not be returned to the applicant under any circumstances. The $1.00 internal revenue stamp shall be kept and affixed to the diploma issued to each applicant who takes the oath as an attorney before the Supreme Court. Applicants who do not pass the bar examination are entitled to recover the aforementioned $1.00 stamp if they so request. The mere filing of an application by an applicant and the acceptance of such application by the Board does not indicate or guarantee that the applicant has a right to take the bar examination.
(3) If after filing the application to take the bar examination the applicant is unable to take the examination on the date set for the same, he shall file a written petition for deferral of his admission. The petition must be addressed to the Executive Director and must be filed not later than the last Tuesday before examination week.
Only one deferral will be allowed without the applicant having to file a new application or having to pay a new filing fee. All subsequent deferrals shall entail payment of a new filing fee.
If an applicant fails to take the examination without obtaining a deferral as provided herein, his application for admission shall be dismissed and the applicant shall file a new application and pay an additional fee if he wishes to be admitted to the examination once more.
(c) Application to take the bar examination by applicants who have failed on four prior occasions. — When an applicant has failed the bar examination on four (4) prior occasions as of the examination held in September 1983, he shall be admitted to any new bar examination only upon condition that he has taken and passed a minimum of fourteen (14) credits in a regular curriculum or one especially designed for this purpose in a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or by the court.
The credits or courses shall be selected by the applicant after his particular situation has been evaluated by the appropriate educational authority. Neither the court nor the Board shall select the courses to be completed by the applicant.
After the applicant has taken and passed the courses required herein he may take the bar examination on two (2) additional occasions. Once the procedure has been completed no applicant may return to take the bar examination.
(d) Continuous obligation to notify. — Any applicant who has filed with the Board an application for admission to the bar examination must supplement, under oath, any fact, circumstance or information that he has already included in any of the documents filed with the Board pursuant to these regulations, and which may have ensued after the filing date of the application for admission, and that substantially alters or renders inexact the information, fact or circumstance originally given. This obligation continues until the applicant, if he passes the bar examination, is sworn into the legal profession.
History —Mar. 17, 1983; Feb. 23, 1984; Jan. 16, 1987.