North Dakota Bar Examination (UBE)

Bar Exam Information

NOTE: Bar exam information is subject to change without notice. Please verify with North Dakota bar examiner’s office.

BAR EXAM DATES AND FORMAT

2024: February 27-28, July 30-31

The North Dakota Bar Exam is a 2-day Uniform Bar Exam (UBE).

Day 1:
Six 30-minute Multistate Essay Exam questions (MEE in the AM) and two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test questions (MPT 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).

North Dakota State Board of Law Examiners

Judicial Wing, First Floor
600 E. Boulevard Ave.
Bismarck, ND 58505-0530

Phone: (701) 328-4201

Fax: (701) 328-4480

Email: BarExaminers@ndcourts.gov

Web: www.ndcourts.gov/supreme-court/committees/board-of-law-examiners/bar-exam-application

Subjects Tested

Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

Constitutional Law
Contracts/Sales
Criminal Law/Procedure
Evidence
Federal Civil Procedure
Real Property
Torts

Multistate Essay Exam (MEE)

Business Associations (Agency, Partnerships, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies)
Conflicts of Law
Family Law
Trusts and Estates (Decedents' Estates; Trusts and Future Interests)
Secured Transactions (Article 9 of Uniform Commercial Code)
Plus, all MBE Subjects

Multistate Performance Test (MPT)

Multistate Performance Test “Closed universe” practical questions using instructions, factual data, cases, statutes and other reference material supplied by examiners.

Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam

A scaled score of 85 is required for admission to the bar. Passing score must be achieved no more than five years prior to receipt of application for admission and must be earned within two years after receipt of application for admission.

Scoring

The MEE and MPT scores are scaled to the MBE with the MBE weighted 50%, the MEE weighted 30% and the MPT weighted 20%. A total scaled score of 260 is required to pass.

Reciprocity

Acceptance of MBE Score

Applicants may be eligible to apply for admission based on an MBE scaled score of at least 150 if taken as a part of and at the same time as the essay or other written bar examination given by another jurisdiction that did not use the UBE on the date of the applicant’s examination. Also, having been admitted to the bar of the jurisdiction in which the MBE examination was written. Scores are accepted for up to two years from the original administration. Additional requirements apply.

North Dakota does not accept transferred MBE scores from an exam taken in another jurisdiction in order to sit for only the essay portion of the exam.

Admission by UBE Score Transfer

Applicants who have obtained a scaled score of at least 260 on a Uniform Bar Exam taken in another jurisdiction within the preceding two years may apply for admission based on that score. Additional requirements apply.

Admission on Motion

A member in good standing of another U.S. state or territory may be admitted on motion in North Dakota if the applicant has engaged in the active practice of law for four of the five years preceding application. Additional requirements apply.

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More Helpful Bar Exam Topics

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