What is a Declaration of Intent to Study Law?
What is a declaration of intent to study law? A declaration of intent to study law is a requirement for anyone wishing to enroll in a Texas law school. Early in the application process, applicants must file with the State Bar of Texas their plans to study law in Texas. This is done by filing a "Declaration of Intent to Study Law" form with the State Bar of Texas. The State Bar of Texas maintains a list of those individuals who have filed declarations. This ensures that those no longer coming to Texas to study law are removed from the list , and that potential students are not approached by law schools to come study in Texas after they have already made other decisions regarding their education or careers. It also ensures that students who have come to Texas to study law as part of a non-ABA approved program are included on the list for reporting purposes, as they count in the calculations of bar passage rates of ABA approved institutions.
Filing Requirements in Texas
The requirements for filing a declaration of intent to study law in Texas are set by the Texas Board of Law Examiners, and its Declaratory Ruling No. 932, December 21, 2006, as follows:
A. Filing Requirements
- Be a resident of Texas;
- Be at least 18 years of age;
- Submit either a U.S. birth certificate, Certificate of Citizenship, or Certificate of Naturalization, or a certified copy of a court order establishing your legal name change or, if born in a foreign country, a certified copy of both the foreign birth certificate and the birth certificate’s certified English translation.
- Postmark the Declaration of Intention to Study Law no later than the 180th day after the date of the applicant’s high school graduation.
- Complete and submit the Declaration of Intention to Study Law.
- Submit the $150 filing fee, as detailed below.
- Submit the Required Documents listed herein, including any additional documentation required in connection with certain exemptions.
- Submit the concurrence of your supervising attorney.
B. Filing of Declaration of Intention to Study Law. Six months prior to filing an application to take the examination for admission to the bar of Texas, an applicant must file with the Board a Declaration of Intention to Study Law. Forms for filing a Declaration of Intention to Study Law may be obtained from the Board at www.ble.texas.gov or by telephoning the Board’s office at 512-463-1621. The form must be completed in its entirety before it is filed with the Board. Among the information and documents to be submitted with the Declaration of Intention to Study Law are the following:
The Declaration of Intention to Study Law is not a confidential document.
Submission Process and Deadlines
The procedure for filing a declaration of intent to study law in Texas is set forth in Texas Government Code section 82.031. Subsection (c) of that provision contains specific time limits for submission: (c) To be eligible for admission to the bar, an applicant must file a declaration under Section 82.031 not later than: (1) 365 days after the date the applicant enrolls in an approved law school; or (2) 65 days before the applicant files an application for registration under the Texas Rules of Admission to the Bar, whichever day comes first. An applicant who may want to defer taking the Texas Bar Exam for a second or third time should coordinate with the jurisdiction to which that person has previously been admitted by the time limits set forth in subsection (c). Those time limits are: (a) An applicant must file an application for registration under the Texas Rules of Admission to the Bar not later than the 365th day after the issuance of the certificate of eligibility issued to the applicant under those rules or the third anniversary of the date on which an examination was administered to the applicant by a reciprocal licensing authority, whichever occurs first. (b) An applicant must register under this section and provide evidence of the applicant’s Texas practice under the Texas Rules of Admission to the Bar not later than the 400th day after the date of the issuance of the certificate of eligibility issued to the applicant under the Texas Rules of Admission to the Bar or the fourth anniversary of the date on which an examination was administered to the applicant by a reciprocal licensing authority, whichever occurs first. It is important to remember that the 365 day time limit in both cases is for filing and does not include the process of obtaining the Certificate of Eligibility to take the Texas Bar Exam (also commonly referred to as "Certificate of Good Standing"). However, the rules also indicate that an attorney who misses the time limits may not use the provisions of the statute to reapply unless at least one year has gone by since the date of the missed deadline. When a prospective bar applicant submits two bar applications (one to Texas and the reciprocal State), whether the certificates from both States will show up in the Character and Fitness screening process is necessarily not predictable. When an application for registration is submitted to a State Bar that has a significantly longer time in the admissions process than Texas Bar (e.g., six months to one year) the reciprocal application may not even be looked at until Texas decides whether it wants to admit the candidate (a matter of only 30 to 100 days from submission). Once a declaration of intent is filed it is treated as a pending application for bar admission and subject to the same rules regarding character and fitness as all other applications. If a candidate has already been admitted to the bar of another jurisdiction it is imperative that the declaration of intent be submitted well in advance of the first exam for the reciprocal jurisdiction as they may experience significant delays and may not be able to sit for the February Texas Bar Exam.
Common Filing Errors
Common mistakes applicants make on their Declaration of Intent to Study Law form
As with any form, there are common mistakes I see applicants make when completing their declaration of intent forms:
Confirm you have not taken the LSAT or enrolled in a law school after filing your declaration of intent. Many applicants believe they can file the declaration and apply to a Texas law school during the same admissions cycle. While you can apply to a Texas law school after filing the declaration, you cannot enroll in the law school until you receive a positive answer to the Character and Fitness questions on the declaration.
Print out the form after filing it online and read what you filed. In our office, we regularly receive emails from applicants confirming they made a mistake on their online declaration. If you take the time to review the form after filing it online, you will cut down on the number of corrections and amendments you have to file.
File a declaration of intent even if you do not plan on sitting for the bar exam in Texas. Applicants fail to file a declaration of intent simply because they are unaware they need to file one . It is important to remember the Texas Supreme Court has jurisdiction over all applicants to the Texas bar. Even if you attended law school in another state and are licensed in another state, the State Bar still requires you to file a declaration of intent.
Be sure to use your legal name on your online declaration of intent. This will match your name to the name on your law school transcript. Your legal name may be recorded as your first name and last name, but does not have to be. You may have been called "James" during law school, but your legal name is "Robert James." For the declaration, you should only use "Robert James" as your legal name when you file your declaration of intent online at the Texas Supreme Court. This means you will need to use "Robert James" when requesting your law school transcript if your law school transcript lists your legal name as "Robert James." If your transcript lists your legal name as "James Arliss Robert," you would use "James Arliss Robert" on the declaration of intent and "James Arliss Robert" when you request your transcript.
Penalties for Non-Filing
Failure to file a declaration of intent to study law subjects the candidate to a significant setback. If the candidate fails to file a declaration by the end of the 60-day period, he or she can no longer pursue a waiver of the 90 hours or an exception to the 87 percent requirement.
Such 90-hour and 87-percent rule waivers are only available to individuals who have filed a timely and complete declaration of intent to study law. A candidate also loses any credits that were earned in courses taken at the law school. In other words, the student must either reapply to the law school (and will lose any credit for courses already taken), or start at the bottom of the class with no credit for any courses (if the law school has no record of the candidate’s enrollment). In addition, a failure to file a declaration of intent to study law can impact a foreign lawyer’s eligibility to sit for the bar exam. The Texas Board of Law Examiners permits foreign lawyers with work experience, education or qualification in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, notwithstanding their non-academic activities, to take the Bar Exam upon filing an application. However, the candidates must have filed a Declaration of Intent to Study Law and have enrolled in an approved program of study without any lapse in time after they complete their foreign legal education. An applicant who does not have acceptable initiation, enrollment, and continuation plans for law school may be denied admission to the Bar Exam. Of course, applicants should check with their authorized school for any additional entry or reentry requirements. Many law schools will not allow an applicant to return without some submittals and/or fulfilling specific requirements. These will vary from school to school.
Texas Resources for Law Students
There are a number of resources available to students throughout the state, including those at the University of Texas School of Law. D’Ascoli emphasized the importance of beginning this process well ahead of time and said he is troubled to find students within months of graduation who have not submitted this document.
"Not necessarily because they may be in jeopardy of not being admitted, but simply because a lot of law schools are getting feedback from their graduates that they wish they had started the process earlier or got a delay or two," D’Ascoli said . "So it’s really important for them to get started on this as soon as possible."
The University of Houston Law Center has created a guide to the declaration of intent process, and Texas Tech School of Law also has a comprehensive information sheet. The State Bar of Texas also recently updated their Frequently Asked Questions for applicants.