You order a certificate of good standing from the issuer the requesting body names.
The U.S. Supreme Court, for one, requires it from the clerk or presiding judge of your state’s highest court and will not take a bar association certificate in its place.
A certificate of good standing that a federal district court issues costs $21.
Here is what the document is, when you need one, and how to order it.
What a certificate of good standing is
A certificate of good standing is a document about the current status of your law license — and who issues it matters as much as what it says.
Where the U.S. Supreme Court is the one asking, its bar application instructions require the certificate to come from the clerk or presiding judge of your state’s highest court, and tell applicants not to submit a bar association certificate in place of the clerk’s certificate.
It is also not the same document as a certificate of admission.
The Judicial Conference fee schedule for the federal district courts names both in a single $21 line item — “For a duplicate certificate of admission or certificate of good standing, $21” — so a certificate of good standing is its own document to request, not a copy of your admission paperwork.
When you need a certificate of good standing
One documented trigger is appearing in a court you are not admitted to.
In the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York (S.D.N.Y.), pro hac vice motions are filed electronically through CM/ECF with a notarized affidavit and a certificate of good standing, and each attorney applicant files a separate motion.
That is one court’s procedure — an example of the paperwork a motion can require, not a national rule — and our guide to pro hac vice covers how these appearances work.
Beyond out-of-state appearances, the other uses our research documented attach to specific requesters:
- A Supreme Court bar application. The certificate from your state’s highest court’s clerk or presiding judge is part of the application, and the application stays current for one year from the certificate’s date — which makes an old certificate the wrong paperwork.
- U.S. Tax Court admission. The Tax Court admits attorneys with a certificate of good standing issued within 90 days of applying.
Moving your license to another state is a separate topic: routes like admission on motion are a state-by-state question, and our guide covers how they operate.
Ask the requesting body what it wants
How to order a certificate of good standing
The request goes to the issuer the requesting body names, and the details — fee, form, turnaround — are that office’s to state.
The steps below stay at that level on purpose.
Identify the requester and the issuer it accepts
Start from who is asking. The U.S. Supreme Court’s instructions name the clerk or presiding judge of your state’s highest court and reject bar association substitutes, so a SCOTUS-bound certificate starts with the clerk or presiding judge of that court.Ask that office how it takes requests
Ask the issuing office, or check the court’s own website, for how to request the certificate, what it costs and how the document is delivered. Confirm before you pay anything.Check the freshness window before you order
Two documented ones run from the certificate’s date: a Supreme Court bar application stays current for one year from that date, and the U.S. Tax Court admits attorneys with a certificate issued within 90 days of applying. Order close to the date you will file.File one per lawyer where that is the rule
Per-attorney paperwork exists: S.D.N.Y. requires a separate pro hac vice motion for each attorney applicant, each with the affidavit and certificate of good standing that go with it. If the whole team is appearing, each lawyer’s set is their own.
What a certificate of good standing costs and how long it takes
The clean documented figure is federal.
A federal district court certificate of good standing costs $21 under the Judicial Conference fee schedule — the same line item that prices a duplicate certificate of admission: “For a duplicate certificate of admission or certificate of good standing, $21.”
Beyond the federal district courts, our research surfaced no fee schedule for state highest-court clerks, so the state-side cost is whatever your clerk’s office quotes — ask before you order rather than budgeting from a number we cannot source.
Timing splits the same way.
The two documented windows both run from the certificate’s date: the Supreme Court keeps an application current for one year from that date, and the U.S. Tax Court admits attorneys with a certificate issued within 90 days of applying.
How long a clerk’s office takes to produce the document is not something our research documented — that number lives with the office, so build in room before your filing date.
Career information for attorneys, not legal advice. Fees, forms and freshness windows change — confirm the current requirements with the office the certificate comes from, or with the court or agency asking for it.