Alaska Bar Exam

Alaska Bar Examiners

Law Examiners Committee
Alaska Bar Association
P.O. Box 100279
Anchorage, AK 99510-0279
(907) 272-7469

Bar Exam Format

Alaska adopted the Uniform Bar Exam (“UBE”).  The two day Alaska bar exam consists of the essay portion on the first day and the multiple choice portion on the second day.

Day 1

The first day consists of the three-hour morning session for the six MEE questions, and the three-hour afternoon session for the two MPT questions.

Day 2

The second day consists of the 100 MBE multiple choice questions in the 3-hour morning session, and another 100 of them in the 3-hour afternoon session.

Reciprocity

Upon motion, the State of Alaska allows for admission to the Alaska Bar without sitting for the bar exam, upon fulfillment of several conditions that include:

  • having obtained an initial law degree from an approved law school;
  • having passed a written bar exam required by another reciprocal jurisdiction; and
  • having practiced law in one or more United States jurisdictions for five of the past seven years.

If an applicant fulfills all of the other requirements and has attained a scaled UBE score of at least 280 in another jurisdiction within 5 years before the date of their application to the Alaska Bar Association, then the applicant may be admitted to the Alaska Bar Association.

Subjects/Topics

The Alaska 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 Alaska 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

Generally, the Board of Governors of the Alaska Bar Association announces the Alaska bar exam results approximately 90 days after the exam. By regular mail, each taker receives written notice of the Board’s determination. Also, the Alaska Bar Association’s website has Alaska bar exam results

Scoring/Grading

To pass the Alaska bar exam, you must score at least 140 on a 200-point scale. The reported score scale is 280 on a 400-point scale. The Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”) score and the MPT score are scaled to the MBE, which is weighted 50%, with the MEE weighted 30% and the MPT weighted 20%. The MEE, MPT, and MBE combined, scaled score is used to determine whether an examinee has passed or failed the exam.

Pass Rate/Stats

Alaska bar exam pass rates vary.  Traditionally, as measured for some of those exams,

  • from 48% to 74% of the total takers passed;
  • from 62% to 90% of the first-time takers passed; and
  • from 10% to 53% of the repeat takers passed.

Some statistics suggest that the more times that repeat takers sit for the Alaska bar exam, the higher their failure rate.