Iowa Bar Exam Information

2010 exam dates and location(s)

The February 2010 Iowa bar exam will take place on Monday, February 22, Tuesday, February 23, and Wednesday, February 24. The July 2010 Iowa bar exam will take place on Monday, July 26, Tuesday, July 27, and Wednesday, July 28. Exams are given at the Polk County Convention Complex in Des Moines.

MEE subjects (MBE subjects are in bold)

Business Associations (Agency and Partnerships, and Corporations and Limited Liability Companies); Conflict of Laws; Constitutional Law; Contracts; Criminal Law and Procedure; Evidence; Family Law; Federal Civil Procedure; Real Property; Torts; Trusts and Estates (Decedents’ Estates, and Trusts and Future Interests); and Uniform Commercial Code (Negotiable Instruments and Secured Transactions).

Structure

The Monday exam day consists of an orientation and mandatory applicant registration session. This session runs from 1:00 – 3:30 PM. The Tuesday exam day consists of the written portion of the exam – two MPTs and six MEE questions. The Wednesday exam day consists of the MBE. The MBE is a 200 question multiple choice exam. 100 questions are asked in the morning over a three hour period, and 100 questions are asked in the afternoon over a three hour period. The MBE has 33 questions each for Contracts and Torts, and 31 questions each for Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, and Real Property. 190 of the 200 questions are graded, the other 10 are experimental. 200 questions over six hours averages out to 1.8 minutes per question.

Scoring

The Board does not release its scoring formula.

MPRE

Applicants for the Iowa bar exam must score an 80 on the MPRE. This score must be on file with the Office of Professional Regulation before an applicant can sit for the exam. If an applicant has not achieved this score prior to the application deadline, he or she must submit with his or her application a petition or letter to the Iowa Supreme Court requesting leave to submit a later MPRE score. MPRE scores are good for three years.

Pass rate

Iowa’s pass rate for the July 2008 exam was 87% for first time takers, and 78% for all takers.

Other exam information

A laptop program is available to all interested applicants. Applicants must provide their intent to use a laptop on their application (on Question 26, to be exact). The Board will provide specific information to interested applicants after it receives all applications.

Bar examiner contact information

Application deadlines/fees

Candidates must register a law students and pay the applicable fee before their bar applications will be processed.

The fee for law student registration increases as the exam approaches. If a candidate files by November 1 of his or her first year of law school, he or she must pay a $25 registration fee. If a candidate files by July 1 immediately preceding the February exam, or by December 1 immediately preceding the July exam, he or she must pay a $75 late registration fee. If a candidate files by November 1 immediately preceding the February exam, or by April 1 immediately preceding the July exam, he or she must pay a $150 late registration fee.

The application deadline for the February bar exam is November 1. The application deadline for the July bar exam is April 1. The fee for the bar exam is $325.

Note that all of the above deadlines are “received” dates.

Checks should be made payable to the “Board of Law Examiners.”

Forms

An applicant for the Iowa bar exam must take the following steps: 1) register as a law student, 2) graduate from an ABA-accredited law school, 3) pass the MPRE with a score of 80 or above, 4) intend to practice law in Iowa, 5) have the requisite character and fitness to practice law, and 6) submit a Fingerprint Card.

The Board does not confirm receipt of an application. Instead it recommends that the applicant utilize a delivery system that offers tracking and requires a signature upon delivery. Applicants may also file their application in person.

The Board will mail applicants a letter advising them of their eligibility approximately one month prior to the exam.

Results

The Board does not make public the date it intends to release exam results. However, when the Board does release exam results, it does so by posting the pass list to its website.

*All state bar exam information is subject to change without notice; please verify this information with the bar examiner’s office.*