Each student is advised to check with the Board of Bar Examiners in the jurisdiction in which he or she intends to take the Bar Examination early in his or her law school career for detailed information relative to admission. The Registrar's Office maintains a complete listing of all State Bar Examiners. Notice of any changes in requirements or dates of Bar Examinations sent to the law school will be posted on this site.

Students taking out-of-state Bar examinations must request the application directly from the Board of Bar Examiners in that jurisdiction and are also advised to communicate with that office early in their law school careers. (In some states, such as Florida, early notification reduces the application costs).


American Bar Association Link

Links to State Board of Bar Examiners

FLORIDA

First Year Students - Plan to seek admission to The Florida Bar?

The application form for registration is available for completion on-line at www.floridabarexam.org. Admission requires successful completion of the Florida Bar Examination and completion of a background investigation. You can begin now and SAVE $$ by filing a student registration.

Registration fees increase from date you begin law school:

This notice was issued by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners in September 2006.

ILLINOIS

Beginning with the July 2007 bar examination, revised test specifications for the Illinois Essay Examination (IEE) and the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) will be implemented.

IEE
Beginning with the July 2007 examination, the Board will discontinue its practice of regularly including 2 Illinois civil procedure questions and one equity question on the IEE. Pursuant to ISCR 704(d), areas of law that may be tested on the IEE include administrative law, agency and partnership, business organizations, including corporations and limited liability companies, commercial paper, conflict of laws, contracts, criminal law and procedure, equity jurisprudence, evidence, family law, federal and state constitutional law, federal jurisdiction and procedure, federal taxation, Illinois civil procedure, personal property, including sales and bailments, real property, secured transactions, suretyship, torts, trusts and future interests, and wills and decedents' estates. Some questions may include issues from more than one area of law.

MEE
Beginning with the July 2007 examination, areas of law that may be tested on the MEE include business associations (agency and partnership, corporations and limited liability companies), conflict of laws, constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, family law, federal civil procedure, real property, torts, trusts and estates (decdents' estates, trusts and future interests) and Uniform Commercial Code (negotiable instruments and secured transactions). Some questions may include issues from more than one area of law.

The February 2007 bar examinations will not be affected by these changes.

 

NEW YORK

As of February 2006 administration, the New York State Board of Law Examiners eliminated federal estate taxation from the list of subjects tested on the New York State bar examination.

RHODE ISLAND

TEMPORARY RULE OF PRACTICE AND PROCEDURES OF RHODE ISLAND BOARD OF BAR EXAMINERS PROPOSED REVISIONS TO CONTENT AND GRADING

     The following Temporary Rule will govern the content and grading of bar examinations beginning with the July 2006 examination through the February 2008 examination. The Board of Bar Examiners invites written comments on this Temporary Rule and the use on a permanent basis of the six (6) Multi-State Essay Examination (MEE).

     As a result, the Rhode Island Bar Examination would consist of one day of the Multi-State Bar Exam, and a second day consisting of one Multi-State Practice Test problem, representing two essay questions; six MEE essay questions; and three essay questions originated and corrected by members of the Board of Bar Examiners.

     The Multi-State Essay Examination will consist of six questions drawn from a number of subject matters which include the following: Agency and Partnership; Commercial Paper (negotiable interests); Conflict of Laws; Corporations and Limited Liability Companies; Decedents' Estates; Family Law; Federal Civil Procedure; Sales; Secured Transactions; and Trusts and Future Interests. This portion of the examination is administered in one three-hour session, which is timed for the afternoon in the Central and Eastern Time Zones on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July.

     The number of locally generated essay questions will now be three. These three questions will be prepared and graded by members of the Board based upon subject matter questions which are not included in the MEE examination and which are within the standard statutory authorization for subject matter controlling the Board.

VERMONT BAR EXAM

The Rules of Admission to the Vermont Bar have been amended and became effective September 5. Included is a change in the date bar exam applications must be filed from January 15 to December 1 for the February, 2007 bar exam as well as a reduction in how long MBE scores may be retained from five years to two years. The complete listing of the rule changes are available at http://www.vermontjudiciary.org/LC/d-BBELibrary/BBErules8-18-08.pdf.

WASHINGTON STATE BAR (Issued September 2004)

The Washington State Supreme Court approved an application fee increase which became effective on September 9, 2004. Rule 3 (d) (2) of the Washington State Admission to Practice Rules provides that applicants who take the bar exam shall pay such fees that are set by the Board of Governors with the approval of the Supreme Court.

The new fee for Student Applicants (not admitted in any jurisdiction) is $460.00.