ARIZONA EXAMINATION INFORMATION

804

The Supreme Court’s Committee on Examinations oversees the two-day bar examination, which is administered in February and July of each year.  This Committee is comprised of experienced attorneys who are appointed by the Court for a period of seven years.  The Committee makes recommendations to the Court for the administration of examinations and the standards to be applied in grading them.  Final decision of those matters rests with the Court, so you should be familiar with the current version of the rules of the Court. 

The Bar Examination and sample answers are protected by copyright and may not be copied or distributed without express written consent of the Committee of Examinations.

EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS

Applicants must write and pass all portions of the bar examination in February or July, which includes the Essay Examination and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE).  Previously earned MBE scores are not accepted.  The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is also an examination requirement and is offered in March, August and November via the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

The Arizona Bar Examination is administered on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of the months of February and July.  The examination consists of the following:

1.  Essay Examination - Tuesday.

The Essay Examination is presented on the first day of the bar examination to test knowledge of Arizona law.  It consists of twelve questions prepared with the help of out-of-state law professors.  There are six questions in the morning and six in the afternoon, all of which are suggested to be answered in thirty minutes, and based on Arizona law.

2.  Multistate Bar (MBE) - Wednesday.

Prepared by the NCBE and administered nationally, the MBE is a six hour examination containing two hundred multiple-choice questions.  It is presented on the second day of the Arizona bar examination, divided into 100 questions in the morning and 100 questions in the afternoon.  The questions are designed to be answered by applying fundamental legal principles rather than state-specific laws.

3.  Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE).

The MPRE is administered nationally in March, August and November of each year.  The examination is two hours and five minutes in length and consists of 60 multiple-choice questions.  The purpose of the MPRE is to measure an examinee’s knowledge and understanding of professional ethics, standards and conduct.  Registration for the MPRE is made directly with the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

EXAMINATION SUBJECTS

Subjects which may be included on the Essay Examination are:  contracts (including the Uniform Commercial Code except Articles 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8), torts, criminal law, constitutional aspects of criminal procedure, corporations, partnerships, and other business organizations, trusts, wills, professional responsibilities, civil procedure (Arizona and federal), constitutional law (Arizona and federal), evidence, real property, and community property.  Arizona law is to be applied on all questions.

The Multistate Bar Examination presents questions in the following areas:  Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts.  There are 34 questions each in Contracts and Torts, and 33 questions each in the other subject areas.

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination questions cover aspects of the American Bar Association Code of Judicial Conduct (CJC), Code of Professional Responsibility (CPR) and the Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC), including the preamble to and the comments accompanying the MRPC.  Topic coverage may change so applicants are cautioned to use the most current materials from the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

GRADING OF THE EXAMINATIONS

The Committee members (Examiners) are responsible for the grading of the essay questions.   After the bar examination, the examiners and their graders conduct calibration sessions using a random sampling of the total answers.  After the calibrations and review against the issues, the answers are distributed among the graders for each question.  The only identification on the answer books is your applicant number which will be given to you at the start of the examination.

Each essay examination answer is awarded a numerical grade from 0 (lowest) and 6 (highest).  The numerical grade for each essay examination answer will be multiplied by 1.5 to yield a point value between 0 and 9.

Grading of the Multistate Bar Examination is performed by a national testing service retained by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.  The service conducts the scoring, including the scaling process, and provides the Committee with the results.  All answer sheets are centrally scored by machine regardless of the jurisdiction in which the applicant writes the MBE.  Raw to scaled score conversions are identical for every jurisdiction.

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination is also graded by a national testing service retained by the NCBE.  Score reports are provided to the Committee and in turn, relayed to Arizona applicants.  The testing service additionally advises the examinees directly.  The minimum score requirement for Arizona is 85 scaled.  Raw to scaled score conversions are identical for every jurisdiction.

COMPUTATION OF GRADES

After the essay answers have been graded, the points received are totaled for each applicant and scaled to the MBE portion of the examination pursuant to the standard deviation method.  MBE scaled scores and essay scaled scores are then added together, with the essay portion receiving twice as much weight as the MBE portion.  The scaling, standard deviation and combination of scores is computed for Arizona by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

The highest possible score on the MBE scale is 200.  As the scaled essay score is doubled, the highest possible essay score is 400, for a combined possible total of 600 points.  In order to be deemed successful on the Arizona bar examination, you must achieve a minimum combined score of 410 points.

RELEASING RESULTS

Bar examination scores are released by mail only.  Results for February examinees are released in May, while July examinees are advised in October.  Names of successful examinees (no scores) are posted on our website the same day scores are mailed. 

NON-STANDARD TESTING ACCOMMODATION

This includes all deviation in time, place or manner of testing.

The Committee on Examinations will provide for reasonable non-standard testing as necessary.  If you require non-standard testing, contact the Committee on Examinations for necessary documentation.  The Committee on Examinations must receive all documentation by the specified deadlines.  No request for special accommodations will be accepted after close of filing.  The Committee on Examinations will issue non-standard testing accommodation decisions approximately two weeks before the examination. 

USE OF COMPUTERS

Applicants will be permitted to use their personal laptop for the essay portion if all requirements are met, and they have downloaded the required software.  This option is available only at the main examination site, at the discretion of the Committee, and dependent upon site and software availability.  The fee is $125.  Use of typewriters, other laptops or electronic aid(s) is not permitted for standard testing.

SofTest may only be used on a personal laptop.  It is compatible with Macintosh operating systems, please review system requirements on the ExamSoft website:  www.examsoft.com/barfaq.

If you have filed a laptop registration form you will be provided information, via email, on the required procedures to download and register the SofTest software onto your laptop. Even if you have previously registered SofTest on your laptop for the Arizona bar exam, other jurisdictions, or law school, you must complete these registration requirements.  Do not attempt to pre-register on a previously used ExamSoft website. 

No laptop positions will be held in advance, nor does previous use of a laptop automatically carry to a subsequent examination. 

After the bar examination, you will upload your essay answers to the ExamSoft server. The Committee on Examinations will retrieve your morning and afternoon essay files for printing and distribution for grading.  Your computer must be available for at least fourteen  days after the exam in the event the Committee or ExamSoft require access to your hard drive.

PRIOR PASS RATES

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS

You are responsible for obtaining hotel accommodations.

Phoenix and Valley Area

Phoenix and the Valley of the Sun                                  602-254-6500
Convention and Visitors Bureau
400 E. Van Buren, #600
Phoenix, Arizona  85004-2290

Tucson

Metropolitan Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau 520-624-1817           
130 S. Scott Avenue
Tucson, AZ  85701