Michigan Bar Examination
Bar Exam Information
NOTE: Bar exam information is subject to change without notice.
Please verify with bar examiner’s office.
BAR EXAM DATES AND FORMAT
2021: February 23 – 24, July 27 – 28
The Michigan Bar Exam is a 2-day exam.
Day 1: Fifteen Michigan Essay Exam questions (nine in three hours in the AM and six in two hours in the PM).
Day 2: Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a 200-question, multiple-choice exam (100 questions in the AM, 100 questions in the PM).
Michigan Board of Law Examiners
Michigan Hall of Justice, 4th Floor
925 W. Ottawa Street
Lansing, MI 48913
Phone: (517) 373‒4453
Fax: (517) 373-5038
Email: BLE-Info@courts.mi.gov
Web: www.courts.mi.gov/courts/michigansupremecourt/ble/pages/default.aspx
Lansing Center
333 E. Michigan Ave.
Lansing, MI 48933
Subjects Tested
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts/Sales
- Criminal Law/Procedure
- Evidence
- Federal Civil Procedure
- Real Property
- Torts
- Agency
- Conflicts of Law
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Corporations
- Creditors' Rights (including Mortgages, Garnishments, and Attachments)
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Domestic Relations
- Equity
- Evidence
- MI Rules of Professional Conduct
- Partnerships
- Practice and Procedure (Trial and Appellate, State and Federal)
- Real and Personal Property
- Torts (including No-Fault)
- Trusts
- Uniform Commercial Code (Negotiable Instruments, Sales, Secured Transactions)
- Wills
- Workers' Compensation
Multistate Performance Test “Closed universe” practical questions using instructions, factual data, cases, statutes and other reference material supplied by examiners.
A scaled score of 85 is required for admission to the bar.
Filing Deadlines and Fees
Applications must be filed electronically by November 1 for the February exam and by March 1 for the July exam. Late application deadlines, with an additional fee, are December 15 for the February exam and May 15 for the July exam.
Bar Exam Application Fee: $400
On-Motion Application Fee: $800
Late fee: $100
Scoring
The essay score is scaled to the MBE with each weighted at 50% and a total score of 135 is required to pass.
Reciprocity
Acceptance of MBE Score
Applicants may transfer a MBE score provided that the applicant passed the entire bar exam of which that MBE was a part within the last three years and was administered in a jurisdiction that has reciprocity with Michigan. In states that accept transfers from concurrent exams only, a transfer only from a concurrent exam will be accepted. All applicants are required to sit for the essay portion of the Michigan exam and must achieve a passing score as determined by a combination of the scores of the two portions of the exam, regardless of the MBE transferred score.
Admission on Motion
May be admitted on motion if applicant has engaged in active practice of law for three of five years preceding application and is a graduate of an ABA accredited law school. For complete details contact the Michigan Board of Law Examiners.
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Need extra help passing the Uniform Bar Exam?
Individual private tutoring for the UBE
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Supreme Bar Review Director
Experienced Bar Exam Tutor
