Format, Content, & Grading of the Minnesota Bar Exam

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

Waiver of the Minnesota Bar Exam: If you have taken the MBE in another jurisdiction (during the 24 months preceding your application), and received a scaled score of at least 145, and passed that jurisdiction's bar exam and were admitted to that jurisdiction's bar, you may apply for admission to Minnesota without having to take the Minnesota bar exam.  You must still meet Minnesota's MPRE requirement.

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

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

First Day (Tuesday) afternoon session:  
Four Essay Questions

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.

For further details on the MBE, click here.


Subjects Tested on the Minnesota Essays:

• Business Associations (partnerships, proprietorships, and corporatations, including limited liability companies)
• Civil Procedure
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Ethics and Professional Responsibility
• Evidence
• Family law
• Federal Individual Income Taxation
• Real Property
• Torts
• Uniform Commercial Code, Art. 1,2
• Wills, Estates and Trusts

Grading of the Minnesota Bar Exam:

The MPT is 12.5% of the total exam score. 

Your MPT score is combined with your scores from the essay questions.  The combined score is then scaled to the MBE.

The two scaled scores (the local day and the MBE) are combined to determine who passes.

Minnesota generally releases the results of the Summer exam in early October and the results of the Winter exam in mid-April.

Bar Exam

Candidates

Pass Rate

Summer 2003

679

87.78%

Summer 2002

652

88.19%

Summer 2001

660

90.61%

Summer 2000

628

83.76%

Summer 1999

663

86.58%

Summer 1998

678

84.22%

Winter 2003

206

75.24%

Winter 2002

195

59.49%

Winter 2001

220

72.73%

Winter 2000

222

75.23%

Winter 1999

217

65.90%

Winter 1998

205

65.85%

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 practiced law for at least five of the prior seven years.

Also, if you have taken the MBE in another jurisdiction (during the 24 months preceding your application), and received a scaled score of at least 145, and passed that jurisdiction's bar exam and were admitted to that jurisdiction's bar, you may apply for admission to Minnesota without having to take the Minnesota bar exam.  You must still meet Minnesota's MPRE requirement.

For further information, contact:

Minnesota Board of Law Examiners
180 East 5th Street
Suite 950
St. Paul, MN 55101
Telephone: (651) 297-1800
Fax: 651-296-5866

Exam Dates:

Winter 2008
Tuesday & Wednesday, 
February 26 & 27, 2008

Summer 2008
Tuesday & Wednesday, 
July 29 & 30, 2008


Filing Deadlines and Fees

Filing deadlines and fees are subject to change.  Contact the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners to learn the rules in effect at the time of your application.