Wisconsin Bar Exam

Wisconsin Bar Examiners

Wisconsin Board of Bar Examiners
Tenney Building, Suite 715
110 East Main Street
Madison, WI 53703-3328
(608) 266-9760

Bar Exam Format

The Wisconsin bar exam has the essay portion on Tuesday and the MBE on Wednesday.

Day 1

The first day has two, three-hour testing sessions: one in the morning and one in the afternoon.  The board of bar examiners may administer any combination of up to eight essay questions and/or up to two Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”) items.  The essay questions may be drafted by the board of bar examiners and/or by the National Conference of Bar Examiners for the Multistate Essay Exam.  On average, an essay question is answerable in 45 minutes.  On average, an MPT item is answerable in 90 minutes.

Day 2

On the second day, the board of bar examiners administers 100 MBE questions in the 3-hour morning session, and 100 more in the 3-hour afternoon session.  On average, each MBE question is answerable in 1.8 minutes.

Reciprocity

If all other requirements are fulfilled, then Wisconsin permits admission on proof of practice by a lawyer in more than one United States jurisdiction for three of the past five years.

Subjects/Topics

Essay questions on the Wisconsin bar exam may cover these subjects:

  • Agency and Partnership;
  • Business Organizations (Corporations, LLCs, Associations, and Sole Proprietorships);
  • Civil Procedure (Pleading and Practice, and Jurisdiction);
  • Commercial Law (Sales, Secured Transactions, and Negotiable Instruments);
  • Conflict of Laws;
  • Constitutional Law;
  • Contracts;
  • Criminal Law and Procedure;
  • Evidence;
  • Family Law (Domestic Relations);
  • Professional Responsibility (Ethics and Legal Responsibilities of the Profession);
  • Property (including Real Estate);
  • Taxation (Federal);
  • Torts; and
  • Trusts and Estates.

Bar Exam Dates

The Wisconsin 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

Usually, the board of bar examiners release the Wisconsin bar exam results approximately six weeks after the exam.

Scoring/Grading

The Wisconsin bar exam passing score is 258, 129 on a 200-point scale.  Of that total combined score, the exam’s essay portion has 50% weight and the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) has 50% weight.

Pass Rate/Stats

Typically, the Wisconsin bar exam pass rates range between 72% and 92% for total takers, 78% and 94% for the first-time takers, and 20% and 65% for the repeat takers.