C.R.C.P. 207.8 sets forth the requirements for licensure. All applicants must pass a family law exam and a legal ethics exam administered by the Office of LLP Admissions of the Colorado Supreme Court after having taken a legal ethics class. The legal ethics class may be taken within a degree program or as a stand-alone class. Applicants also must satisfy character and fitness requirements and take the Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel professionalism course.
There is a set of educational options as well as an experience option for an interested person to become eligibility to sit for the exams. There are five different types of degrees set forth at C.R.C.P. 207.8(3) that can qualify. Regardless of the type of degree, all Colorado LLP applicants must also demonstrate completion of 1,500 hours of substantive law-related practical experience, including 500 hours of experience in Colorado family law, within the three years immediately preceding the date of submitting the LLP application.
If an applicant does not have a qualifying degree, the applicant must demonstrate that the applicant has worked the equivalent of three full-time years in employment constituting substantive law-related practical experience, which must include the
equivalent of one full-time year focused on Colorado family law, during the five years immediately preceding the date of filing the application. This period of time also must meet the timing standard of degree applicants: 1,500 hours of substantive law-related practical experience, including 500 hours of experience in Colorado family law, within the three years immediately preceding the date of submitting the LLP application.
The Office of LLP Admissions will issue guidance as to how applicants can demonstrate that their work experience qualifies. Applicants can expect that certification from a licensed attorney as to their completion of work experience will be necessary.