Format, Content, & Grading of the North Carolina Bar Exam

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

The North Carolina Bar Exam is a two-day exam -- Tuesday and Wednesday -- with the essay questions on Tuesday and the multiple-choice Multistate Bar Exam on Wednesday.

First Day (Tuesday):  
12 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.

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

For further details on the MBE, click here.

Subjects Tested on the North Carolina Essay Portion:
Agency
Civil Procedure
Commercial Paper
Corporations
Decedents' Estates & Wills
Equity
Family Law
Legal Ethics
Mortgages
Partnerships
Secured Transactions
Suretyship & Liens
Taxation
Trusts

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

Grading of the North Carolina Bar Exam:

Your score on the MBE counts for 40% of your total North Carolina score.  

Your performance on the essay questions counts for 60% of your total North Carolina score. 

The passing score is 346.

North Carolina generally releases the results of the Summer exam in late August and the results of the Winter exam in late March.

*MPRE -- You must pass the MPRE with a scaled score of 80 on an exam taken within 24 months before, or 12 months after, sitting for the full North Carolina Bar Exam.

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 have scored at least a scaled 80 on the MPRE.

3. You must be admitted to the bar of another jurisdiction and must have actively practiced law for at least four of the prior six years.

4. The other jurisdiction must have a similar policy by which North Carolina attorneys can be admitted without taking that jurisdiction's bar exam.

Note: Your application must be on file with the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners for at least six months before the application can be considered. 

For further information, contact:

N.C. Board of Law Examiners
One Exchange Plaza
Suite 700
PO Box 2946
Raleigh, NC 27602
Telephone: 919-828-4886

Exam Dates:

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

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

Filing Deadlines and Fees

Filing deadlines and fees are subject to change.  Contact the North Carolina examiners to learn the rules in effect at the time of your application.