BarPlus New York Bar Review -- Bar Exam Prep

Format, Content, & Grading of the New York Bar Exam

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

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

First Day (Tuesday) morning session:
3 hours, 15 minutes
Three Essay Questions
50 New York Multiple-Choice (NYMC) questions
Recommended time allocation:
40 minutes per essay question, 1 minute 30 seconds per NY Multiple-Choice question.

First Day (Tuesday) afternoon session:
3 hours
One Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
For details on the MPT, click here.
Two Essay Questions
Recommended time allocation:
90 minutes for the MPT and 45 minutes for each essay.

For information on taking the local portion of the NY Bar Exam by laptop computer, 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.

For details on the MBE, click here.
For details on transferring an MBE score, click here.

If you take two bar exams at the same time (local in New York on Tuesday, local in the other jurisdiction on Thursday, MBE in either state on Wednesday), New York will accept the score of the MBE taken in either state.

The most popular combinations are NY-NJ, NY-CT, and NY-MA. The requirements keep changing, so check first with BOTH states.

Subjects Tested on the New York Local Portion:

Agency
Commercial Paper
Conflict of Laws
Corporations
Domestic Relations
Equitable Remedies (Equity)
Estate Taxation
Federal Jurisdiction
Future Interests
Mortgages
No-Fault Insurance
New York Practice & Procedure
New York Professional Responsibility
Partnership
Personal Property
Secured Transactions
Trusts
Wills
Workers' Compensation.

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

Grading of the NY Bar Exam:

The New York essays, the New York multiple-choice, the performance test, and the MBE are each graded separately.

The raw score for each of the four parts is then scaled, by converting each raw score to a 0-1,000 grid (thus equating the scoring of each part).

But each part has a different weight.

So the scaled score for each part is weighted, by multiplying it by its percentage weighing factor.

Five Essay Questions -- 40%
NY Multiple-Choice (NYMC) -- 10%
Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) -- 40%
Multistate Performance Test (MPT) -- 10%

See: Sample New York Grading Sheet

The New York results are generally released in mid-November for the Summer exam, and in early May for the Winter exam.

New York Bar Exam Pass Rates
For First-Time Takers
From New York State Law Schools*
(Pass rates are generally lower, and sometimes much lower, for all candidates)

Law School	July 2004	July 2003	July 2002	July 2001	July 2000	July 1999	July 1998
Albany	78	66	77	77	75	76	81
Brooklyn	84	84	80	82	74	78	85
Buffalo	80	73	73	71	73	73	75
Cardozo	80	88	83	86	75	74	80
Columbia	94	96	94	94	92	92	92
Cornell	92	94	97	96	94	91	94
CUNY	67	55	50	69	74	64	65
Fordham	88	86	89	93	85	86	89
Hofstra	69	66	79	77	63	74	80
NYLS	68	72	72	72	72	58	70
NYU	97	97	96	96	94	94	97
Pace	74	74	71	69	67	67	73
St. John's	87	85	83	82	78	78	81
Syracuse	76	84	70	72	58	65	75
Touro	69	63	58	62	69	62	63
NY State Average	77	78	76	79	75	75	78

*These pass rates are NOT official.
They were supplied by the law schools themselves and were published in the New York Law Journal.

Overall New York Bar Exam Pass Rates

Bar Exam	Bar Candidates	Number Passing	Number Failing	Overall Pass Rate	First-Timer Pass Rate
Summer 2004	9,555	6,448	3,107	67.5	76.6
Summer 2003	9,407	6,532	2,875	69.4	77.6
Summer 2002	9,693	6,546	3,147	67.5	76.5
Summer 2001	9,194	6,664	2,530	72.5	79.6
Summer 2000	8,896	6,006	2,890	67.5	75.0
Summer 1999	8,541	5,846	2,695	68.4	75.3
Summer 1998	8,788	6,160	2628	70.1	77.9
Summer 1997	8,520	6,029	2,491	70.8	78.1
Summer 1996	8,070	5,743	2,327	71.2	78.0
Summer 1995	8,064	5,776	2,288	71.6	78.5
Summer 1994	7,737	6,091	1,646	78.7	85.6
Summer 1993	7,375	5,506	1,869	74.7	82.0
Summer 1992	7,436	5,493	1,943	73.9	82.0

Bar Exam	Bar Candidates	Number Passing	Number Failing	Overall Pass Rate	First-Timer Pass Rate
Winter 2005	3,215	1,528	1,687	47.5	62.6
Winter 2004	3,251	1,479	1,772	45.5	58.1
Winter 2003	3,293	1,531	1,762	46.5	61.9
Winter 2002	3,167	1,338	1,829	42.2	57.6
Winter 2001	3,515	1,548	1,967	44.0	58.2
Winter 2000	3,025	1,359	1,666	44.9	60.1
Winter 1999	3,073	1,556	1,517	50.6	64.4
Winter 1998	2,979	1,427	1,552	47.9	64.5
Winter 1997	2,685	1,380	1,305	51.4	66.7
Winter 1996	2,569	1,433	1,136	55.8	69.4
Winter 1995	2,148	1,109	1,039	51.6	70.8
Winter 1994	2,249	1,187	1,062	52.8	70.0
Winter 1993	2,200	1,105	1,095	50.2	67.0
Winter 1992	2,232	1,152	1,080	51.6	68.0

Relative Importance of Subjects Tested
On the Essay Portion of the New York Bar Exam
Since New York Incorporated the MBE in 1979*

Subject	Number of Questions	Number of NY Bar Exams
1 New York Practice & Procedure	97 of 289	48 of 49
2 Contracts/Sales	49 of 289	48 of 49
3 Wills	48 of 289	44 of 49
4 Criminal Law / Criminal Procedure	47 of 289	43 of 49
5 Torts	45 of 289	42 of 49
6 Domestic Relations	42 of 289	41 of 49
7 Corporations	41 of 289	38 of 49
8 Real Property	31 of 289	29 of 49
9 Evidence	29 of 289	26 of 49
10 Trusts	23 of 289	24 of 49
11 Partnership	19 of 289	19 of 49
12 Federal Jurisdiction & Procedure	16 of 289	17 of 49
13 Conflict of Laws	13 of 289	12 of 49
14 Agency	11 of 289	12 of 49
15 Commercial Paper	11 of 289	11 of 49
16 Mortgages	10 of 289	10 of 49
17 Estate Tax	8 of 289	8 of 49
18 Equitable Remedies (Equity)	7 of 289	7 of 49
19 Future Interests	7 of 289	7 of 49
20 Professional Responsibility**	9 of 289	9 of 49
21 No-Fault Insurance	6 of 289	5 of 49
22 Workers' Compensation	6 of 289	5 of 49
23 Constitutional Law	4 of 289	4 of 49
24 Secured Transactions	3 of 289	3 of 49

*Through the Winter of 2001, there were six essays on the New York Bar Exam.
Beginning with Summer 2001, the New York Bar Exam has had five essays on the local day.
Before the Summer 1979 New York Bar Exam, there were 12 essays on the exam.

**Professional Responsibility has been on each exam since Summer 2001.

MPT Themes Tested on the New York Bar Exam

Admission to the New York Bar 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 at least one other jurisdiction.

3. You must have practiced law for at least five of the prior seven years.

4. At least one of the other jurisdictions to which you are admitted must have a similar policy by which New York attorneys can be admitted without taking that jurisdiction's bar exam.

You must obtain a Certificate of Legal Education, and pay a filing fee.

NY Court of Appeals Rules for Admission on Motion

New York currently has reciprocity with:

Alaska / Colorado / District of Columbia / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kentucky / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Missouri / Nebraska / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Pennsylvania / Tennessee / Texas / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Colorado / District of Columbia / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa / Kentucky / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Missouri / Nebraska / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio / Oklahoma / Pennsylvania / Tennessee / Texas / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming

Graduates of non-U.S. Law Schools, click here.

Mandatory CLE (Continuing Legal Education)
For each of the first two years after your admission to the New York Bar, you must complete 16 hours of Continuing Legal Education. Six of these hours must be in "skills," three in "ethics," and seven in "practice management."
After your first two years, you must complete 24 hours of CLE every two years.
LawTV will be providing CLE credits, in cooperation with BarPlus.

For further information, contact:

NY State Board of Law Examiners
Building 3 - Corporate Plaza
254 Washington Avenue Extension
Albany, NY 12203-5195
518-452-8700 / 800-342-3335 (in NYS)
Calls are accepted 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM M-F.
Voice messages are broadcast 24 hrs. a day.
Fax: 518-452-5729 (24 hours a day)

Exam Dates:
Test Sites / NYBE Security Policy

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

Summer 2008
Tuesday & Wednesday,
July 29 & 30, 2008
Manhattan, Albany, Buffalo

Candidates from New York's Fourth Department (roughly, Syracuse and west) generally take the exam in Buffalo. Candidates from New York's Third Department (roughly, Ithaca and east) generally take the exam in Albany. Candidates from the First and Second Departments (NYC, LI, and Downstate) generally take the exam in Manhattan. Candidates who do not have a New York State residence generally take the exam in Albany.

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

Winter 2006	Prepare a Brief for the State's Attorney's Office
Summer 2005	Prepare a Memo on a Proposed Zoning Change

Winter 2007
Summer 2006	Prepare a Memo on a Proposed Real-Estate Transaction

Winter 2005	Draft a Memo on Attorney Fee-Splitting
Summer 2004	Draft a "Case-Planning Memo"

Winter 2004	Evidentiary Brief for the State of New York
Summer 2003	Memo About an Employer's Liability for Allegedly Tortious Acts by Its Employee
Winter 2003	Letter to Opposing Counsel About Enforcing a Lease
Summer 2002	Memo From an Assistant District Attorney
Winter 2002	Opinion Letter for Joint Venture
Summer 2001	Brief Supporting a Motion to Quash a Subpoena