Format, Content, & Grading of the Colorado Bar Exam

All data provided below are subject to change by a decision at any time by the Colorado Board of Law Examiners.  When any changes are made, they will be posted on this site.

The Colorado Bar Exam is a two-day exam -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- with the essays and performance questions on Tuesday and the multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam on Wednesday.

First Day (Tuesday):  
Nine Essay Questions
Two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test (MPT) questions
For details on the MPT, click here.

Second Day (Wednesday) morning session: 
3 hours 
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE)
100 Multiple-Choice questions.

Second Day (Wednesday) afternoon session: 
3 hours
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) 
100 Multiple-Choice questions.

Colorado requires that you sit for the MBE as part of the Colorado bar exam. Colorado does NOT accept your score from an MBE taken in another jurisdiction.

For further details on the MBE, click here.


Subjects Tested on the Colorado Essay Portion:
Administrative Law
Agency
Civil Procedure (Colorado and Federal)
Commercial Paper
Corporations
Family Law (may include issues specific to Colorado principles, statutory construct, and precedent)
Partnerships
Secured Transactions
Wills, Estates & Trusts

Plus the six MBE subjects:
Constitutional Law
Contracts/Sales
Criminal Law/Procedure
Evidence
Real Property
Torts


Grading of the Colorado Bar Exam:

Colorado grades your essays and the MPT and converts the total raw score to a scaled score on the same scaling as the MBE (i.e., low of 0, high of 200).

The essay/MPT combination is worth 50%.  The MBE is worth the other 50%.

The two scaled scores are added together.  If they equal or exceed 276 (for instance, a 138 on the MBE and a 138 on the combined essay/MPT day), you pass the Colorado Bar Exam.

Your Scaled MBE Score + Your Scaled (Essay Score + MPT Score)  = Your Colorado Bar Exam Score

[The MPT questions equal 40% of the local day.  The essays equal 60% of the local day.  In other words, one MPT question equals about three Colorado essays.]

Colorado generally releases the results of the Summer exam in late September and the results of the Winter exam in late April.

*MPRE -- Colorado requires a scaled score of 85 on the MPRE, taken within two years of your application to take the Colorado Bar Exam.

Taking

Passing

Failing

Pass Rate

U of Colorado

108

93

15

86%

U of Denver

306

211

95

69%

State Total

749

536

213

72%

Taking

Passing

Failing

Pass Rate

U of Colorado

105

92

13

88%

U of Denver

263

188

75

71%

State Total

652

490

162

75%

Taking

Passing

Failing

Pass Rate

U of Colorado

3

1

2

33%

U of Denver

43

23

20

53%

State Total

97

46

51

47%

Admission on Motion 
(i.e., without having to sit for the bar exam)

1. You must be a graduate of an ABA-accredited law school.

2. You must be admitted to the bar of another jurisdiction and must have actively practiced law for at least five of the seven years prior to applying to Colorado.

3. The other jurisdiction must have a similar policy by which Colorado attorneys can be admitted on motion, without taking that jurisdiction's bar exam.

Graduates of Non-U.S. Law Schools:

A graduate of a law school outside the United States may be eligible to sit for the Colorado Bar Exam if:

1. Applicant's law school is in an English-speaking common-law country.

2. Applicant is admitted to practice law in that country.

3. Applicant has practiced law for five of the preceding seven years.

For further bar exam and bar refresher information, contact:

Colorado Board of Law Examiners 
1560 Broadway Street
Suite 1820
Denver, CO 80202
Telephone: 303-866-6626

Exam Dates, Locations:

Winter 2007
Tuesday, Wednesday, 
February 27, 28, 2007

Summer 2007
Tuesday, Wednesday, 
July 24, 25, 2007