Tennessee Bar Exam Information
Tennessee Board of Law Examiners
401 Church Street, Suite 2200
Nashville, TN 37219
(615) 741-3234
Subjects and Topics Tested
The Tennessee bar exam may test the following MBE and Tennessee Essay subjects:
July 2017 Exam
Filing Deadline: May 20
February 2018 Exam
Filing Deadline: December 20
Application Fees
Non-attorneys: $575
Attorneys: $575
Repeaters: $375
Laptop Fee: $100
Scoring and Grading
Passing the Tennessee bar exam requires a minimum score of 135 out of 200 points. The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) portion counts for 50%, the Tennessee essay questions count for 37.5%, and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) counts for 12.5%.
Bar Exam Dates
The Tennessee bar exam is administered twice per year – once in February and once in July.
Upcoming Exams
2017: July 25-26
2018: February 27-28 and July 24-25
Bar Exam Results
Tennessee bar exam results are typically released 9 weeks after the July exam and 6 weeks after the February exam.
Bar Exam Format
The Tennessee bar exam is 2 days long and consists of the MBE, 9 Tennessee essay questions, and 1 Multistate Performance Test (MPT).
Tuesday
On the first day of the exam 9 Tennessee essay questions and 1 MPT are administered.
Wednesday
100 MBE questions are administered in the 3-hour morning session, and 100 MBE questions are administered in the 3-hour afternoon session.
Reciprocity
The Tennessee Bar allows admission on motion if the applicant meets all requirements for admission, including: (1) admitted to practice law in another jurisdiction; (2) practicing law in that jurisdiction for 5 of the last 7 years.
