China Doesn’t Grant Foreign Lawyers Bar Licenses—So What Did Katie Zacharia Do in Beijing?

Katie Zacharia, President Donald Trump’s newly appointed White House Press Secretary, has claimed that she passed a bar exam “when I moved to China.” The problem is China does not allow foreign citizens to take its national judicial examination. Chinese citizenship is a legal requirement.

Under the annual exam announcements issued by the Ministry of Justice of the People’s Republic of China, the first and mandatory requirement for applicants to sit for the National Judicial Examination (国家司法考试) is:

Zacharia is an American born citizen, she graduated from Pepperdine University School of Law in June 2011 and started working at Beijing’s Zhong Lun Law Firm in August 2011. What is not clear is what she did there. If she was just a white face for business meetings, a common practice at those times or provided legal services.

Foreign lawyers, at that time and today, working as legal advisors in China are subject to registration, not an exam.

Under Article 7 of the Regulations on the Administration of Representative Offices of Foreign Law Firms in China (in force since January 1, 2002), they can advise on the laws of where they have a degree, and a minimum of two years of practice outside China, on domestic and international legal matters, but not directly represent or appear to represent clients, foreign or domestic, in China.

Foreign lawyers with two years of practice would obviously have needed a Bar or equivalent exam. If they fulfill the basic requirements they may be registered by the hosting law firms as legal advisors through an administrative filing procedure (备案) to receive a Foreign Legal Consultant Certificate (外国法律顾问证).

The problem is Zacharia’s own timeline on her LinkedIn shows that she joined Zhong Lun directly after graduating from law school, she obviously had not passed a Bar exam and could not have accumulated two years of practice.

The issues are simple. A foreign national cannot take China’s national judicial examination because citizenship is required. And she was not eligible to work at a Chinese law firm as a legal advisor because she lacked the two year minimum practice requirement, which of course would have required she had passed the bar somewhere.

There are two main possibilities, she worked at the Chinese law firm in some capacity other than as a legal advisor, which means she lied about practicing law. Or, there is a question whether the Chinese law firm knowingly, or unknowingly, filed false registration papers with the government,highly unlikely.

These are not questions of political opinion. They are questions of law, credibility, and professional credentials. In the White House press room, words matter. So do credentials and credibility, she clearly has neither.