New York State Court of Appeals Regents' Certificates of Law Students' Qualifying Education

Chronological by date filed.

The series consists of original certificates issued by the Board of Regents endorsing the qualifying education of students who learned the practice of law through clerking rather than attendance at law school. Students were examined in accordance with regulations established by the Regents in subjects prescribed by rules of the Court of Appeals (arithmetic, grammar, geography, orthography, English and American history, and English composition). If the student was deemed qualified, certificates were issued by the University of the State of New York and filed with the Court of Appeals.

Certificates show name of the student; certificate number; date filed with the court; statement of qualification; date issued; and the signatures of the chancellor, secretary, and examiner. All bear the seal of the regents.

J0109Series J0109, New York State Court of Appeals Index to Regents' Certificates of Law Students' Qualifying Education, 1881-1921, indexes this series.

These records were transferred to the Archives from the Court of Appeals in the late 1980s. The accession resulted from a project by Archives staff in 1997 to accession or integrate estrayed or unidentified records.

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