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Step 5: Bar Exam & Beyond

Exam Test Subjects

    The Michigan bar examination is administered by the Board of Law Examiners on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of the months of February and July. The examinations are held in East Lansing, Michigan, at various locations. The Board of Law Examiners has implemented a policy regarding which items may be brought into the examination room and/or testing area. See the Board’s website for specific guidelines.

    The first day of the examination consists of 15 essay questions. The morning session lasts three hours and the afternoon session lasts two hours. Applicants receive information a few weeks before the exam regarding making arrangements to type the essay answers, if that is desired. Applicants seeking accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act should contact the Board of Law Examiners. Questions may cover one or more of the following subjects:

    • Real and Personal Property
    • Wills and Trusts
    • Contracts
    • Constitutional Law
    • Criminal Law and Procedure
    • Corporations, Partnerships and Agency
    • Evidence
    • Creditor’s Rights, including mortgages, garnishments and attachments
    • Practice and Procedure, trial and appellate, state and federal
    • Equity
    • Torts (including no-fault)
    • The sales, negotiable instruments and secured transactions articles of the Uniform Commercial Code
    • Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct
    • Domestic Relations
    • Conflicts of Laws
    • Worker’s Compensation

    The second day of the examination is the Multistate Bar Examination consisting of 200 multiple choice questions prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Both morning and afternoon sessions last three hours. In some circumstances, an applicant may arrange to transfer a Multistate Bar Examination score from another jurisdiction taken during the immediate preceding three years.

    There are 150 possible points on the essay portion of the exam, and 200 possible points on the Multistate portion. A combined score of 135 or above is necessary to pass the exam.

    In order to assure consistency in the level of difficulty of Michigan bar examination essay questions from one examination to another, and thereby to more accurately assess whether applicants have attained the level of competence in the law necessary for the protection of the public, the Board of Law Examiners has determined to scale the essay examination scores to the scoring of the Multistate Bar Examination. To do this, the Board has determined that it is necessary to eliminate the practice of not grading the essay answers of applicants obtaining a threshold score on the MBE. This change will conform Michigan’s practices to those of 43 of the other 52 jurisdictions currently administering the MBE. Moreover, it is the view of the Board that this change will also more accurately gauge whether applicants have attained the level of specific competence in Michigan law necessary for the protection of the public.

    Therefore, effective with the administration of the February 2009 Michigan bar examination, all essay answers will be graded and no applicant will pass the examination solely on the basis of the applicant’s MBE score. The combined passing score will remain at 135.

    An unsuccessful applicant may request reconsideration of the applicant’s essay grades under procedures set forth in the Rules for the Board of Law Examiners PDF.

Re-Examinee and Transfer Information

    Re-Exams: for duplicate re-exam forms, contact the State Board of Law Examiners. P.O. Box 30104, Lansing, MI 48909; phone (517) 373-4453.

    Exam Transfer: to transfer to another exam date, send written request and $100 transfer fee, certified check or money order payable to the State of Michigan, to the State Board of Law Examiners, P.O. Box 30104, Lansing, MI 48909.