Once you have successfully completed your bar admission requirements (the required articling term and the CPLED program), please complete the following steps in order to schedule your bar call and submit your application to enrol as a member of the Law Society.

1. Schedule Your Bar Call Directly with the Courts

Your ceremony date needs to be a minimum of 30 days after the completion of your articling term (to clarify, this means 30 days after the last day of your articles). The Law Society requires 30 calendar days to process your application. This means your ceremony date also needs to be at least 30 days after the submission of a complete enrolment application to the Law Society (see step 3 below).

PLEASE NOTE: An applicant for enrolment appearing before a judge must be properly gowned and attired and shall be presented to the presiding judge by an active member of the Society. Please review Rule 67 of the Law Society of Alberta, which outlines all requirements of the enrolment procedure.

You can schedule your bar call at one of the following locations:

2. Notify the Law Society of Your Bar Call Date

Once you have confirmation from the courthouse where you have scheduled your bar call, notify the Law Society immediately by completing the Call Ceremony Notification in the Lawyer Portal. You can then track and manage the required steps to complete the application online. For further instructions, view the Online Enrolment How-To Guide.

3. Submit Your Complete Application for Enrolment as a Member to the Law Society

The final step is to submit your complete application for enrolment as a member to the Law Society. The Law Society requires 30 days to process your complete application at which time the invoices for enrolment will be available in your Lawyer Portal. While there is no cost for enrolment in the Law Society, you are required to pay membership fees and/or indemnity levies depending on your status. Please note that your application is not considered complete until all requirements on the checklist in your Lawyer Portal have been submitted. Please only schedule your bar call date 30 days after you submit a complete application to the Law Society; failing to do so may result in having to reschedule your bar call. Once your enrolment invoices have been generated, online payment will be due 10 business days prior to your call date. Please note if you are looking for work and are not employed, you may skip the Business Location section of the checklist.

While a typical application takes approximately 30 days to review, if an enhanced consideration of good character is required, this will impact the time it takes to review your application. An enhanced review of good character may include an investigation and/or a good character hearing. Please note that students-at-law cannot apply for enrolment if they have open complaints (see Rule 66.3).

Below are the requirements to complete your application. Once the below requirements have been submitted, your application will be reviewed and membership staff will be in touch with you regarding the next steps.

Online Applicant Requirements

• Enrolment Application
• Lawyer status
• Business Location (note that this is not required if you will be non-practicing, unemployed or seeking employment. However, if you are looking to begin practice as a sole practitioner, please contact Membership for information on how to proceed.
• At the end of the agreed upon articling term, you must ensure your Principal(s) has/have certified that the requirements of your articling agreement have been met. The certification must be completed by the Principal(s) via their personal Lawyer Portal.
• Fees: The applicable invoices for membership and indemnity fees, based on the information you provided on your Call Ceremony Notification and the status you select for enrolment, will be available in the Lawyer Portal. Payment must be received prior to your application being approved. You will be notified once invoices are available on your Lawyer Portal.

For more details, view the Online Enrolment How-To Guide.

Please send required documents to the attention of Membership. Any required forms or supplemental documents such as proof of identification and Certificates of Standing from any jurisdiction outside Alberta and/or Canada can be scanned and emailed or sent by traditional mail.

Visit our Status Options & Contact Information Changes page for more information on which status options you have to choose from when you are called to the bar.

Rule 65 (4) Abridgement Requests – Enrolment

Between May and September, the Society receives hundreds of applications from students-at-law who have completed their articles and seek to be enrolled as members.

If you are seeking to abridge the 30-day requirement, you must submit a formal written application. This can be emailed to Membership. An abridgment application must be accompanied by a completed online enrolment application to be considered and submitted a reasonable time in advance of a scheduled Bar Call Ceremony. Applications are processed in the order received.

An abridgement request is rarely granted unless the applicant can demonstrate exceptional circumstances unique to them. The Executive Director determines whether the 30-day requirement should be waived. The decision of the Executive Director is final.

The following are not considered to be exceptional circumstances:

• Family and friends travelling from outside Alberta to attend the Bar Call;
• Principal’s availability;
• Availability of a particular judge or justice;
• Student or Principal did not submit the application requirements to the Society in time;
• Did not know of the need to apply for enrolment or the deadline; and,
• Need to earn more as an associate.