Lawyers who obtained their law degrees outside of Israel and who now aspire to become practicing Israeli attorneys, must become members of the Israel Bar Association - לשכת עורכי הדין ("Israel Bar"). (If you are an attorney who simply wants to practice foreign law in Israel, beware of a different set of rules that apply to you - hopefully, to be discussed in another post). 

 Thus, regardless of any prior work experience, even if it's over 20 years worth, be prepared to take a series of exams that the Israel Bar generally requires for foreign attorneys.  In particular, there are nine exams in the laws of Israel, otherwise known as "Dinei Yisrael," including a Hebrew language exam.  These exams cover almost all the law subjects from criminal law, civil procedure, property, tax, family law, to other fun stuff!  They are administered by the Israel Bar in Hebrew and are given twice a year - in January and August. The Hebrew language exam is also given in October. 

Basically, the exams are spread throughout the month. Many people tend to take all of the exams all at once, that is, all in the same month.  However, I took a different path that I highly recommend to others. I took  three exams at one point, and I took the remaining  six exams during a different period the exams were given.  I see no reason one needs to overwhelm oneself with all nine exams within three weeks (in the first week of the month there are review classes/lectures that are usually offered). Even during law school, I don't think I ever had to take that many exams in one short period.  Also, if you choose to take all nine exams during the same month, be ready to exclusively be studying and taking exams (not much room to breathe) ! Should you have specific questions about this method, please feel free to email me. 

More topics to tackle are that of registration for the exams and the review classes -- hopefully in the upcoming posts...

Based on my experiences (which will be noted throughout various blog posts), I decided to start a blog that will assist lawyers and/or law students outside of Israel who wish to become members of the Israel Bar Association for the purpose of ulitmately practicing law in Israel. Starting a legal career in Israel, among thousands of Israeli attorneys, can be very daunting and without being pointed in the right direction, you can easily falter or despair. I'd like to prevent that for you. And thus, here comes my blog.  

Note that some of the information I may relay can be found on other websites, such as that of Nefesh b'Nefesh and the Israel Bar, which both present important and noteworthy details, especially the Israel Bar with whom you will have a long standing relationship if you choose the route of becoming an Israeli attorney. However, nothing can replace the valuable information that you can get from someone undergoing the process herself. 

At the same time, I may use this forum, now and then, to express other thoughts or comments on legal matters and/or happenings in Israeli society. So, all in all, welcome to my new blog. I look forward to sharing some of my views, and I'm also ready to answer questions that come my way either in a blog comment or private email, whichever is most appropriate.