In the context of the United States legal system, admission on motion refers to a type of reciprocal agreement between two U.S. states to allow members of the bar association from each state to practice in the other. Thus, lawyers who wish to practice in two states do not have to take the bar examination in both states in order to be admitted to practice. Rather, they may simply file a motion with the governing body of the bar association or other professional regulator of the state into which they are relocating. Often the motion requires a check of good moral character. Most states require the attorney to have been licensed and practicing law for a certain amount of time prior to admission, e.g., 5 of the preceding 7 years.
Not all U.S. states have such an agreement, and some states do not have reciprocity with any other states.
On the one hand, some states such as California, Florida and South Carolina, do not allow reciprocity or admission by motion for attorneys licensed in any other jurisdiction. On the other, some U.S. jurisdictions, such as Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin and the District of Columbia, will accept admission from any state in lieu of taking their own bar examination, without the need for reciprocity.[1]