What Are the Requirements to Be a Criminal Attorney?

Criminal attorneys (or lawyers) represent clients charged with a crime. A licensed attorney may represent clients in civil and criminal cases. An attorney's claim of being a "criminal attorney" is an artificial distinction that signifies that the attorney does in fact practice criminal law.

Significance

An individual must be licensed to practice law in a state before representing clients before a court or tribunal in that state's courts. Similarly, to represent clients in a federal district court, an individual must be admitted to practice in that district court. An individual who renders legal services but is not licensed to practice law is subject to criminal prosecution for the unlicensed practice of law.

Law School

In most states, an individual must graduate from a law school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA) before being allowed to sit for the state's bar exam, a prerequisite to being admitted to practice law. Few states provide other provisions to meet the legal education requirement--for example, California allows an individual to study law in a law office or judge's chambers.

Course of Study

Most law school curricula require at least one course in criminal law, and an individual generally must learn additional criminal law to pass a state's bar exam. Generally, however, there is no formal requirement that a person who practices criminal law complete any specified number of criminal law courses.

Bar Exam

An individual must pass a state's bar exam before becoming licensed to practice law in that state. Each state has its own bar exam, and an individual licensed to practice law in one state may not practice law in another state unless he receives special permission or passes the second state's bar exam.

State Bar

An individual who passes a state's bar exam is not automatically allowed to practice law in that state: The individual must be admitted to practice law in the state. An individual may pass a state's bar exam but be denied admission to the state's bar for failing the state's character and fitness evaluation (for example, for past criminal conduct or unethical behavior). Additionally, a lawyer who is admitted to a state's bar may be disbarred for misconduct.

Board Certification

Many states offer board certification in criminal law, and many of these states require an attorney to practice criminal law for a specified number of years before becoming board-certified. However, an individual does not generally need to obtain board certification to practice criminal law in a state--admission to that state's bar is enough.