NOTICE: West Virginia has adopted the Uniform Bar Examination with an effective date in July 2017. Additional information is available here.
The West Virginia Board of Law Examiners (WVBLE) consists of seven members of the West Virginia State Bar who are appointed by the Supreme Court of Appeals. The Board represents different geographical regions of West Virginia. Board members serve seven-year terms and may be reappointed by the Court for additional terms.
The Board evaluates educational background, credentials, character and fitness and competence of each applicant for admission to the practice of law in West Virginia under the Supreme Court Rules for Admission.
Applicants can seek admission by examination (Rule 3.0), admission without examination (Rule 4.0), as resident professors of law (Rule 4.6), conditional admission (Rule 7.0[c]) and limited permission for indigent legal services or public defender program attorneys (Rule 9.0).
Three full-time staff members serve as the Board's liaisons to applicants for admission, the general public and agencies requiring bar admissions assistance and information. The Bar Admissions Administrator and Deputy Administrators:
- Oversee the Board's daily operations and bi-annual meetings;
- Provide records maintenance and monitoring throughout the application process;
- Coordinate character and fitness investigations by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, the District Character Committees and the Board of Law Examiners;
- Administer the bar examination;
- Provide certification of the eligibility of individual applicants to the Supreme Court Clerk; and
- Coordinate swearing-in ceremonies before the Supreme Court of Appeals.