Alabama Bar Exam

Alabama Bar Examiners

Board of Bar Examiners
Alabama State Bar
P.O. Box 671
Montgomery, AL 36101
(334) 269-1515

Bar Exam Format

Alabama adopted the Uniform Bar Exam (“UBE”), which has the written components on Tuesday and the multiple choice component on Wednesday.

Tuesday

In the three-hour morning session, two MPT questions are administered within three hours, allowing an average of one and one-half hours to answer each of them.  In the three-hour afternoon session, six MEE questions are administered, allowing an average of one-half hour to answer each essay question.

Wednesday

In each of the morning and afternoon three-hour sessions, 100 MBE questions are administered, allowing an average of 1.8 minutes to choose each answer.

Reciprocity

An applicant may apply for reciprocal admission to the Alabama State Bar if the applicant fulfills the applicable requirements and is from a reciprocal state. Alabama may accept the transfer of an applicant’s UBE score of at least 260 received in another jurisdiction within the past 25 months.

Subjects/Topics

The Alabama bar exam may test the following subjects:

  • Business Associations
    • Agency;
    • Corporations;
    • LLCs;
    • Partnerships;
  • Secured Transactions – UCC Article 9;
  • Conflict of Laws;
  • Constitutional Law;
  • Contracts (including UCC Article 2 – Sales);
  • Criminal Law (including Criminal Procedure);
  • Evidence Law;
  • Family Law;
  • Federal Civil Procedure;
  • Real Property;
  • Torts; and
  • Trusts and Decedent’s Estates
    • Trusts;
    • Wills and Estates;

Bar Exam Dates

The Alabama bar exam is held in February and July. The exam is usually on the last Wednesday and prior Tuesday of each month.

2024

  • February 27-28, 2024
  • July 30-31, 2024

Exam Results

Commonly, the bar examiners announce the Alabama bar exam results nine weeks after the exam. The bar examiners certify the February Alabama bar exam results by April 15. The bar examiners certify the July exam results by September 15. The Secretary of the Board of Commissioners of the Alabama State Bar will notify takers of whether they passed the exam. Basically, the notice from the Secretary of the Board to failers will include their scaled scores on the exam’s components and raw scores on its written components.

Scoring/Grading

A passing score on the Alabama bar exam is 260 on a 400-point scale, which equates to 130 on a 200-point scale. The MEE is weighted 30%, the MPT is weighted 20%, and the MBE is weighted 50%.

Pass Rate/Stats

The pass rate can vary per Alabama bar exam. The overall pass rate ranges from 43.5% to 74.6%. The pass rate for first-time examinees ranges from 59.9% to 85%. The pass rate for repeat takers ranges from 5% to 33%.