Arkansas Bar Examination
- Website: https://courts.arkansas.gov/administration/professional-programs/bar-exam
- Exam Requirements and Information: https://courts.arkansas.gov/administration/professional-programs/bar-exam/requirements-and-information
- Fees: $500 payable to the clerk of the supreme court
Summary:
The Arkansas Bar Exam takes place over over 2 days and covers 14 topics. On average, over 365 people each year take the Arkansas Bar Exam, with just over 244 passing. The Bar Exam is made up of the following exam segments:
- 2 90-minute Multistate Performance Tests during the morning session of day 1 (MPT)
- 6 Multistate Essay Questions (MEE)
- 200 multiple choice questions (the MBE), taking place the Wednesday of the exam. Click here for a complete study guide.
Studying for the Bar Exam:
Study guides for the multistate portions of the exam are available for purchase through the National Conference of Bar Exam’s website. Older tests (pre-2010) are available for free at the following locations, along with subject matter outlines:
- Multistate Essay Exam: https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mee/preparing/
- Multistate Performance Test: https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/preparing/
Arkansas also makes past exams available on their website:
- https://courts.arkansas.gov/administration/professional-programs/bar-exam (Found at the bottom of the page)
Bar Review Companies for Arkansas:
- Kaplan Bar Review - $2,895, does not publish pass rate results
- BarBri Bar Review - $2,495, does not publish pass rate results
- Themis Bar Review - $1,795, UBE Pass rate, with individuals completing 75% or more of course was 93%
- Ameribar - Starts at $995, National pass rate was 93%
Recent Bar Pass Rates
On average over 365 people take the Arkansas bar exam each year with a 69% average pass rate. The majority of people take the bar exam in July, having just graduated from law school. Those that do not pass the July bar will often retake in February.
The following charts show pass rates by year, and the number of students taking in both February and July.
February Bar Exam Pass Rates:
On average, the February bar has a lower number of students taking (as it is made up of primarily of people who graduated during December, or people who are retaking the bar.
July Bar Exam Rates:
Topics Covered by the Arkansas Bar Exam
The Arkansas Bar Exam currently covers 19 topics. These topics are tested on the essays, performance test, and multiple choice portions of the exam.
Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)
1. Civil Procedure; 2. Constitutional Law; 3. Contracts; 4. Criminal Law and Procedure; 5. Evidence; 6. Real Property; 7. and Torts
Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
1. Business Associations (Agency and Partnership; Corporations and Limited Liability Companies); 2. Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws; 3. Constitutional Law; 4. Contracts; 5. Criminal Law and Procedure; 6. Evidence; 7. Family Law; 8. Real Property; 9. Torts, Trusts and Estates (Decedents’ Estates; Trusts and Future Interests); 10. and Uniform Commercial Code (Secured Transactions)
This information and more is published by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, which provides study aids, summaries and additional information:
- Multistate Essay Exam: https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mee/preparing/
- Multistate Performance Test: https://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/preparing/
How have Schools performed on the Arkansas bar?
Like most states, Arkansas does not provide a breakdown by in-state schools taking the exam. You can check out the pass rates of ABA accredited schools here: https://www.barexamstats.com/tools-to-analyze-law-schools/aba-bar-pass-rate-tool/
Bar Study Materials to Help With Preparing for the Bar Exam
- The Bookstore is a curated collection of books to assist with your bar study progress from Amazon
- The Bar Study Tracker is a free excel tool to input your practice test results and see how you improve over time
