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The Smart Guide to the Pennsylvania Bar Exam

A guide to mastering the pennsylvania bar exam, pennsylvania bar exam format.

Pennsylvania is a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) jurisdiction. All UBE jurisdictions use the same 3 sections:

Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

Multistate essay exam (mee), multistate performance test (mpt).

2 writing assignments

Pennsylvania Bar Exam Dates

 July 2024 exam: July 30-31, 2024  Feb. 2025 exam: Feb. 25-26, 2025

*The Pennsylvania Bar Exam takes place on the last Tuesday & Wednesday of February and July.

How to Prepare for the Pennsylvania Bar Exam

(FREE Study Guides)

Part 1: Smart Guide to MBE

Part 2: Smart Guide to MEE

Part 3: Smart Guide to MPT

Click the links above for FREE study guides covering each section of the bar exam.

Contact Info

Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners 601 Commonwealth Ave., Ste. 3600 P.O. Box 62535 Harrisburg, PA 17106-2535

Website:        https://www.pabarexam.org/ Phone:        (717) 231-3350 Fax:             (717) 231-3351

Frequency Charts

(FREE Charts & Statistics)

MBE Frequency Analysis

MEE Frequency Analysis

MPT Frequency Analysis

Click the links above for FREE Frequency Charts covering each section of the bar exam.

Subjects Tested on Pennsylvania Bar Exam

Mee essay subjects.

• Business Associations (Agency, Partnerships, Corporations, LLC’s)
• Civil Procedure
• Conflict of Laws
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law & Procedure
• Real Property
• Secured Transactions
• Trusts & Future Interests
• Wills & Estates

MBE Subjects

• Criminal Law & Procedure
• Real property

Minimum Passing Score

For Pennsylvania , the UBE minimum passing score is 270.

Pennsylvania changed its passing score from 272 to 270 effective with the February 2024 exam administration and it applies to UBE score transfers as well. For administrations prior to February 2024, the minimum passing score remains 272.

Jurisdiction-Specific Component

Bar Exam & MPRE Resource Guide

• Introduction to the Bar Exam
• DE Law School Bar Review Resources
• Library Resources
• Delaware Bar Exam
• Pennsylvania Bar Exam
• New Jersey Bar Exam
• Commercial Bar Prep Courses
• Online Resources & Apps

Structure of the Pennsylvania Bar Exam

• The first day of the examination consists of one Performance Test (PT) question and six essay questions that are prepared by the examiners and approved by the Board.
• The second day of the examination is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).

 Additional Information

The bar examination is administered twice a year, the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and July. The examination is administered in two locations in February and July ( Eastern and Western areas of the state).

The February bar examination results are released in mid- April, and July bar examination results are released in mid- October.

http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/bebasics.htm

Old Exam Questions

The prior three year's bar exam questions with sample answers are available from the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners website at:

https://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/essay.htm

Subjects Tested

Essay Exam - six essay questions that consist of one or more of the following topics:

• Business Organizations (including corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies and professional corporations)
• Evidence (Pennsylvania and federal)
• Federal Income Taxes (personal only and limited to taxable and non-taxable income, deductions, proprietorships and capital transactions)
• Civil Procedure (Pennsylvania and federal)
• Criminal Law (including related Pennsylvania and federal constitutional issues and DUI)
• Professional Responsibility
• U.C.C., Art. II - Sales
• Conflict of Laws
• Employment Discrimination (limited to Title VII, ADA and ADEA)
• Federal Constitutional Law
• Real Property
• Wills, Trusts and Decedents' Estates (including related fiduciary responsibilities)

Multi-State Bar Exam

• Civil Procedure
• Constitutional Law
• Criminal Law and Procedure

Performance Test - "By Order of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania,one Performance Test (PT) question, developed by the Board, may be used in lieu of a Multistate Performance Test question as a component of the essay portion of the bar examination."

"Examples of tasks that might be required to be performed include preparing: letters to opposing counsel, opinion letters to clients, contract or will provisions, briefs, memorandum to a partner, legal memoranda, petitions, motions, and other tasks that a lawyer might be expected to perform."

Please see http://www.pabarexam.org/bar_exam_information/testsubjects.htm for further details.

Helpful Links

Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiniers

Pennsylvania Jurisdiction Information

NCBE Study Aids - this will help you find study aids for the MRRE, MBE, MEE, & MPT. It also has sample test questions and answers.

MPRE is required in the state of Pennsylvania and a minimum passing score is 75.

MPRE Score Services

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• Last Updated: Jun 7, 2024 12:44 PM
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