After law school, a person must become a member of a state bar in order to practice law in that state. States are not required to admit unqualified individuals, which may be determined based upon a person's mastery of the law or a person's character and fitness to practice law.

Most states generally require that a person take an exam-known as a bar exam-prior to obtaining a license to practice law. Each state administers its own bar exam and licenses its own attorneys. Almost all bar exams include a national multiple-choice exam known as the Multistate Bar Examination. Most state bar exams also include an essay section that is state law specific.

In addition to passing a bar exam, many states require candidates to apply to be admitted to the state bar. As part of this process, applicants are often screened in some manner to determine whether or not the applicant has a good moral character and is fit to practice law. Factors that may be looked at are whether or not a person has a criminal history, such as for theft, or a dependency on illegal narcotics. Therefore, it is very important to make good personal decisions in high school and college to ensure that you can become an attorney.

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