What You Need to Know Before Taking the Bar Exam in 2023

Overview

• Admissions to take the bar exam
• A closer look at the different sections
• Tips to help you study
• How to pass the bar exam

If you dream of becoming a lawyer, you’ve probably spent years studying your tail off with your fellow law school graduates. There’s only one thing still standing in your way — you need to pass a state-specific bar exam.

Unfortunately, passing the bar examination is no easy task. This will likely be one of the most difficult exams you’ll ever take. The entire thing is designed to test your mettle and see if you have what it takes to be a lawyer.

If you want to succeed at passing the bar, you’ll need to know everything you can about it. This guide will give you an in-depth look at the different parts of a bar exam, what it entails, and how it can vary from state to state.

The bar exam exists mainly to evaluate your ability and see if you have what it takes to be a lawyer in a particular state. The secondary reason it exists is to sort out anyone who shouldn’t be a lawyer. That’s why the test is so hard.

To become a licensed attorney, you have to obtain a law degree from an accredited school, get approved by a state’s board of bar examiners (a character fitness test), and pass both the bar exam and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). The bar exam is a two- or three-day test.

The bar exam requires a large amount of varied or general understanding rather than specific knowledge on a particular topic. It’s administered as pass/fail. Some of the topics covered include:

• Business associations
• Conflict of laws
• Contracts
• Constitutional law
• Criminal law and procedure
• Civil procedure
• Evidence
• Family law
• Property
• Torts
• Trusts and estates
• Secured transactions

This list isn’t exhaustive. States can add different legal concepts to their specific tests as they see fit.

States and jurisdictions in the U.S. can decide on their own requirements that candidates need to meet before becoming a lawyer or gaining bar admission (to the institution of law). Below are some of the general requirements most states share:

• A graduate-level law degree or Juris Doctor
• A passing professional responsibility exam
• A character and fitness certification
• A formal application to a licensing authority in the jurisdiction in which they wish to practice, with fees included

In lieu of a law degree, some states — including California and Virginia — allow candidates to “read law.” Reading law consists of a mentorship with an experienced judge or lawyer. This practice allows people who have studied under law experts to become lawyers without attending law school.

The majority of states stipulate that you need to have a law degree from a school accredited by the American Bar Association (ABA). However, a few states will let you earn a degree from a school accredited by the state instead of the ABA. These states include:

• Alabama
• California
• Connecticut
• Massachusetts
• West Virginia
• Tennessee

A few states have provisions for special cases. New York allows candidates with a bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) from a foreign country to take the bar exam. This saves them the trouble of attaining a Juris Doctor degree.

California allows its Committee of Bar Examiners (CBE) of the State Bar of California to give Juris Doctor degrees to students who’ve gone to nonaccredited schools on a case-by-case basis. These students must take the “baby bar” — an exam testing the knowledge of a first-year law student — before taking their state bar exam.

The MPRE tests the professional rules that lawyers must follow. Law students take this test right after taking a professional responsibility course. In some states, you must pass the MPRE before taking the bar exam. Other states, like Connecticut and New Jersey, allow you to skip the MPRE if you have a C or above in a professional ethics class.

In most jurisdictions, the MPRE is conducted separately from the bar exam and has 60 multiple-choice questions designed to test your knowledge of the ethics of practicing law. Below are a few other facts about the MPRE that you should know:

• It’s graded on a scale from 50 to 150. Your grade will be compared to everyone else taking the test to decide your true grade.
• States choose their own passing scores. The scores range from 75 to 86.
• The test is given three times a year in March, August, and November.
• Only Wisconsin and Puerto Rico don’t require the MPRE.

In most states, you’ll have to show that you have an upstanding moral character. Before you can take the bar exam, you’ll have to submit a lengthy questionnaire to a character committee in your state. The committee will evaluate your criminal, academic, and even financial history regarding your character.

They’ll consider arrests, tickets, school violations, and debt to determine if you have the right temperament to practice law. When submitting your history, be honest. Include everything, no matter how you think it might look or how embarrassing it is. If you leave out facts or lie on your questionnaire, you risk not being certified for licensure by the supreme court.

To ensure you don’t forget anything, take the time to recollect everything from your history and gather proof. Below are some things you’ll need to include in your questionnaire:

• Every residence you’ve had since turning 18
• Every job you’ve had, with contacts to confirm you’ve worked there
• All legal charges with complete details, even speeding tickets
• Any disciplinary actions in school
• All financial records such as debts, loans, bankruptcies, etc.

Generally, the bar exam takes about 12 hours. It’s split into two days in most states and three in others. There are a total of 208 multiple-choice, essay, and skills test questions. Although the exam can differ from state to state, there’s a national push toward adopting a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE).

The UBE was created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE). Although many states use the UBE, each one sets its own passing score. The UBE is graded on a 400-point scale, and most states choose a passing score between 260 and 280. Unfortunately, if you move to a state that hasn’t adopted the UBE after completing it somewhere else, you’ll have to take your current home state’s bar exam.

The UBE consists of three parts:

1. Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)
2. Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
3. Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)

Over the next few sections, we’ll go over these parts.

You’re given six hours to complete the MBE. It has 200 multiple-choice questions (175 scored and 25 not scored) and is administered twice a year, on the last Wednesday in February and July. Note: Just because it’s multiple choice, doesn’t mean it’s easy.

Every question is designed to make you think, and there are no answer choices that you can easily discard. The MBE accounts for 50% of your total bar exam grade. Of the 175 scored questions on your MBE, there will be 25 from each of the following categories:

• Civil procedure
• Constitutional law
• Contracts
• Criminal law and procedure
• Evidence
• Real property
• Torts

The MPT will evaluate your legal skills in a situation you might encounter as a new lawyer. You’ll be given three hours to answer two practical skills questions (90 minutes each). The MPT is administered twice a year on the days before the MBE: the last Tuesday in February and July. The MPT accounts for 20% of your total bar exam grade.

For each question, you’ll be given a file with information about a case and a library of statutes, former cases, and regulations that you can use to frame your legal strategy. Both the file and library will have useful and non-useful information. It’s up to you to decide what you should use to win the case.

The MPT is different from the other portions of your bar exam in that it’s a performance-based test. Unfortunately, there’s nothing you can memorize to make sure you pass. You can, however, practice handling different types of cases on your own and time yourself to make sure you make the 90-minute mark.

In most states, the MEE is administered on the same day as the MPT. You’ll have three hours to answer six essay questions with a time limit of 30 minutes each. The MEE is designed to evaluate four capabilities you should have as a new lawyer. This portion of the exam will test your ability to:

• Determine legal issues in a theoretical yet accurate case.
• Separate relevant information from non-relevant information.
• Present a rational examination of key issues that is organized, to the point, and easy to understand.
• Show that you understand the legal principles related to solutions for each case.

The MEE accounts for 30% of your bar exam grade. There are several topics you might have to write essays about. Below are some things you’ll need to familiarize yourself with to pass your MEE:

• Business associations
• Civil procedure
• Conflict of laws
• Constitutional law
• Contracts
• Criminal law and procedure
• Evidence
• Family law
• Real property
• Torts
• Trusts and estates
• Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code (secured transactions)

It’s important to study for the MEE in your particular state. The essay portion can be very versatile, depending on which jurisdiction it’s being administered in.

If you’re planning to take the bar exam, it’s imperative that you prepare yourself for the test in your specific state. While the MBE and MPT portions of the bar exam are generally similar in most states, the essay portion can differ depending on the jurisdiction it’s being administered in.

For example, California is a community property state. When couples divorce, they split the assets they’ve attained during the marriage 50/50 but can often hang onto assets they gained before or after their marriage. You would likely get a community property essay question on a California MEE. However, you wouldn’t get one in a non-community property state like New York.

Keep in mind that many states change their exams in various ways every year. Check with the Board of Law Examiners in your particular state for any updates to your test. You should also remember that more states are accepting the UBE every year. The NCBE website has a helpful graph of states that currently use the UBE.

There are several things you should consider when deciding where to take your bar exam. The most important is where you want to practice law, especially if your state doesn’t use the UBE. For example, there’s no point in taking the (notoriously difficult) California bar exam if you’ll be doing law in South Dakota (considerably a much simpler exam). Below are a few factors to consider before signing up for the exam:

• Where you’d like to practice law
• The job market for lawyers in the area (if you haven’t already secured a job)
• Your professional network (what connections you have in an area)
• Bar exam reciprocity (transferring from one jurisdiction to another) to give yourself choices if you ever want to change your location
• Requirements in the state for things like continuing legal education (CLE)
• Eligibility rules (can you legally take the test in that state?)

The bar exam is tough. In fact, the average professional recommendation suggests that you study at least 400 hours for it. At minimum, you should spread these hours over nine weeks (if not longer). Below is a list of strategies that can help you make the most of your study time:

• Study wide and shallow. To pass the bar, you need to know a wide array of legal principles, but you don’t necessarily need in-depth knowledge. Try not to devote too much focus to any one concept. Aim for a shallow understanding of many concepts.
• Think of studying as your job. You’ll be studying for more than 40 hours a week if you take the shortest route. Think of studying for the bar exam as a full-time job.
• Limit distractions and outside activities. Passing the bar exam will require your absolute attention. Try not to overwhelm yourself with other responsibilities and activities. This might be difficult if you have a family or job, but try to communicate to the people in your life that you need to focus on studying.
• Use practice exams for bar review. In addition to testing your knowledge, these will help you become familiar with the format of the questions on the actual exam. This will decrease the likelihood that you’ll be tricked by confusing questions.

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