Tennessee Bar Exam

Tennessee Bar Examiners

Tennessee Board of Law Examiners
401 Church Street, Suite 2200
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 741-3234

Bar Exam Format

The Tennessee bar exam has its written components on Tuesday and the multiple choice component on Wednesday.

Day 1

The first day’s written components include the 1 MPT answerable in 90 minutes and the 9 Tennessee essay questions answerable in 4.5 hours.  On average, you have 30 minutes to answer each essay question.

Day 2

The second day has the MBE’s 100 questions to answer in the 3 hours before the lunch break and 100 more of them to answer in the 3 hours afterward.  On average, you have 1.8 minutes to choose each answer.

Reciprocity

An attorney may obtain admission to the Tennessee Bar without examination, if the attorney fulfills several requirements.  Some of the requirements include: 1) admission to practice law in another state or the District of Columbia; and 2) practicing law in such other jurisdiction for five of the past seven years.

Subjects/Topics

The Tennessee bar exam may test these subjects:

  • Business Organizations (including Agency, Corporations, and Partnerships);
  • Civil Procedure (United States and Tennessee);
  • Commercial Transactions (U.C.C. Arts. 1-2, and 9);
  • Conflicts of Law;
  • Constitutional Law (United States and Tennessee);
  • Contracts;
  • Criminal Law;
  • Evidence;
  • Family Law;
  • Professional Responsibility;
  • Property (real and personal);
  • Restitution and Remedies;
  • Torts; and
  • Wills and Estates.

Bar Exam Dates

The Tennessee 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

Typically, the Tennessee Board of Law Examiners reports the February Tennessee bar exam results six weeks after administering the exam.  Usually, the Board reports the July bar exam results nine weeks after administering the exam.  The Board notifies successful takers that they passed the exam.  The Board reports to unsuccessful takers their total exam score, their MBE scaled score, and their scaled essays score. On its website, the Board posts a list of the applicants who passed its most recent bar exam.

Scoring/Grading

To pass the Tennessee bar exam, a taker has to score at least 135 on a 200-point scale.  The Tennessee essay questions count for 37.5%, the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”) counts for 12.5%, and the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) counts for 50%.

Pass Rate/Stats

Normally, the Tennessee bar exam pass rates range between 51% and 80% for total takers, 58% and 90% for the first-time takers, and 23% and 70% for the repeat takers.