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Attorney Admissions

For questions concerning attorney admissions, please call (404) 335-6122.

The rules for Attorney Admission can be found at FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules and Internal Operating Procedures.
Click to view FRAP 46 and the accompanying circuit rules and IOPs.

Only attorneys admitted to the bar of this Court may practice before the Court, except as otherwise provided by the circuit rules.  All attorneys must apply for admission and submit attorney admission fees through PACERClick here for instructions on how to submit an Application for Admission to the Bar.

To request admission to the bar, you must complete an application form.  Click here for the Application for Admission to the Bar.  All questions on the application form must be answered and the form must be signed. If any question is answered “yes,” a statement giving details and relevant documentation must be uploaded with the application.  You must have a member of this Court’s bar move for your admission on the application form, unless you certify by checking the appropriate box that you do not know a current member of this Court’s bar.

In addition to the application, you must upload in PACER: (1) a Certificate of Good Standing issued within the previous six months establishing that you are admitted to practice before a court described in FRAP 46(a)(1); and (2) a list of all state and federal bars of which you are a member.

Once you are notified that your application has been approved, you must pay the non-refundable attorney admission fee of $228.00, which is composed of: (1) the national admission fee of $188.00 prescribed by the Judicial Conference of the United States in the Court of Appeals Miscellaneous Fee Schedule issued pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1913; and (2) the local admission fee of $40.00 prescribed pursuant to FRAP 46(a)(3).  Failure to pay the fee within 14 days of approval of your application will require that you submit a new application form.  After you pay the fee, the Clerk’s Office will notify you that you have been admitted to the bar and will mail you a Certificate of Admission within 2 weeks of your admission.  There is no formal swearing-in ceremony.

Each member of the bar has a continuing obligation to keep this Court informed of any changes to addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, and e-mail addresses.

The following attorneys shall be admitted for the particular proceeding in which they are appearing without the necessity of formal application or payment of the admission fee: an attorney appearing on behalf of the United States, a federal public defender, an attorney appointed by a federal court under the Criminal Justice Act, and any attorney appointed by this Court.  Attorneys in these categories who desire to receive an admission certificate from the Eleventh Circuit must apply for admission and pay the admission fee.