New Jersey Bar Exam Information

2010 exam dates and location(s)

The February 2010 New Jersey bar exam will take place on Wednesday, February 24 and Thursday, February 25. The July 2010 New Jersey bar exam will take place on Wednesday, July 28 and Thursday, July 29. Specific examination locations are announced approximately two weeks prior to the exam.

MEE subjects (MBE subjects are in bold)

New Jersey Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts/Sales, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts.

Structure

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. The Thursday exam day consists of seven essay questions.

Scoring

The written exam is worth 50% of the total score. The MBE is worth 50%.

Professional Responsibility requirement

Applicants for the New Jersey bar have two options for fulfilling the Board’s Professional Responsibility requirement. Applicants must either a) receive a “C” or better in a professional ethics course, or b) achieve a minimum score of 75 on the MPRE. If an applicant chooses to take the MPRE, he or she must submit an official MPRE score report.

Pass rate

New Jersey’s pass rate for the July 2008 exam was 87% for first time takers, and 82% for all takers.

Other Exam Information

Applicants for the New Jersey bar may enter into a lottery to use a laptop on the essay portion of the exam. The Board recommends that interested candidates check its website approximately two months prior to the exam for more information.

The Board accepts concurrent MBE scores. Interested applicants must request an MBE score transfer if they do not plan to sit for the MBE in New Jersey. The transfer must be arranged by February 1 for the February 2010 exam.

Bar examiner contact information

The New Jersey Board of Bar Examiners has two separate addresses – one for overnight delivery and one for USPS delivery.

Application deadlines

The timely deadline for the February 2010 exam is November 1. The late deadline is December 15. These deadlines are postmark/hand delivery dates. The Board strongly recommends that applicants request proof of delivery.

Application fees

Application fees for the February 2010 exam are as follows:

The Board accepts cashier’s checks or money orders only, payable to “Secretary, Board of Bar Examiners.”

Applicants must pay an additional fee of $49 for fingerprinting.

Forms

The Board prefers – but does not require – that applicants type their applications.

Applicants must submit the following items: 1) the signed and notarized application, 2) two original signed and notarized Authorization and Release forms, and 3) one signed original and one copy of the Certified Statement of the Candidate.

The address an applicant provides on his or her application is the address the Board uses for exam site assignment and is part of the criteria for where the applicant must be fingerprinted.

Applicants must submit a complete second set of materials.

Once an application is received, the Board mails the applicant an acknowledgement packet containing information on completing it.

The Board mails each applicant an admission ticket and his or her site assignment approximately two to three weeks prior to the exam. The Board also posts site assignments on its website by Candidate Identification Number.

Attachments

Applicants must submit a driver’s abstract (one’s driving history) for each state where they held or currently hold a license within the past seven years.

Applicants must be fingerprinted so that the Board can perform a criminal history search. A criminal history search is required every two years. Fingerprints expire two years from the exam date when they are first used.

Applicants must submit proof of satisfaction of the Professional Responsibility requirement.

Applicants must submit a Law School Certificate (contained in the acknowledgement packet).

If an applicant has the Certified Statement but not the other required items, he or she should send the Certified Statement to the Board along with a letter stating that the missing items will follow.

Applicants must amend their Certified Statement within 30 days of any change in information provided until admission.

The following items must be submitted by February 1 for the February 2010 exam: driver’s abstracts, fingerprints, proof of satisfaction of professional responsibility requirement, and Law School Certificate.

Results

The Board releases results approximately May 15 for the February exam, and November 15 for the July exam. The Board first mails results, then posts them by Candidate Identification Number, then finally posts them online within 72 hours.

The Board releases MBE scores only to candidates who sat for the MBE in New Jersey.

The Board does not release essay scores to successful candidates. However, it releases both MBE and essay scores to unsuccessful candidates regardless of whether they sat for the MBE in New Jersey or in another jurisdiction.

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