Admission by Bar Examination
Alaska Bar Exam Minimum Passing Score Lowered to 270
The Alaska Supreme Court signed SCO 2002 on Monday, February 27, 2023 which lowered the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) minimum passing score required for admission to practice law in Alaska from 280 to 270. The rule is effective immediately. In order to help answer questions from past, current, and prospective applicants, we have provided an announcement for guidance. The announcement is available here.
Applicant eligibility: see Alaska Bar Rule 2, section 1. Applicants must be graduates of an ABA accredited law school unless qualifying under Bar Rule 2, section 3.
All applicants are subject to a determination of character and fitness.
You must respond completely and provide all relevant details and documents for each and every question on the application. If the question asks you to provide names, dates, numbers, details, or documents, you must provide them. If no response is given or insufficient information is provided in response to any question, your application may be delayed or denied.
You must update your application if anything occurs after submission that would change or alter any of your answers to the questions on the application. Your application must be kept current to the date of admission.
You must submit all required items before exam permits are sent out, or your application to take the bar exam will be denied. Permits are sent out several weeks before the bar exam.
Notice: the Alaska Bar Association DOES NOT offer courtesy seating. All applicants applying to take the Alaska bar exam must certify that their purpose in applying for and taking the Alaska Bar Examination is for admission to the Alaska Bar Association.
Application Checklist
1. Application / or Reapplication for Admission by Bar Exam
2. Application fee of $850; or $550 reapplicant fee.
3. Authorization & Release form (must be notarized)
4. Photo Submission Form - must included TWO passport sized (2x2) photos; must be mailed to Bar
5. Fingerprint card (instructions) - One properly executed Standard Applicant Fingerprint Card; must be mailed to Bar
It is YOUR responsibility to arrange to have the following items sent directly to the Alaska Bar Association from each respective authority. You cannot have them sent to you and then submit them to our office.
Request the following to be sent directly to the Alaska Bar Association from the authority:
1. Certificate of graduation from law school: The Certificate of Graduation is an original letter, on school letterhead, verifying your degree and the date received. If the school uses a seal, it will also include the school seal. Most law schools are familiar with this document, but if they have questions, please have them contact our office and ask for admissions.
2. MPRE score of 80 or higher from NCBE at an exam taken not more than eight years prior to your application for admission. The score can be submitted anytime prior to admission.
3. Certificate of good standing from each State Bar to which you are admitted; must have been issued within the previous three months.
4. Discipline history from each State Bar to which you are admitted; must have been issued within the previous three months.
Supplemental Application Materials
1. Testing Accommodations Request form. Please note that Form 2 (Medical Declaration Verification Form) must be submitted directly to the Alaska Bar Association by the individual completing the form.
Deadline: December 1 or May 1
2. ExamSoft registration form to use laptop computer.
3. Applicants with a military history must submit a Standard Form 180.
4. Resident aliens must submit with their application an appropriate affidavit specifying sufficient facts to enable the Alaska Bar to verify his or her status with the Immigration & Naturalization Service.
The affidavit should contain the following:
- A statement that the individual is swearing under oath to the truthfulness of the information contained in the affidavit and any attachments.
- The information being sworn to
- Signature
- And an attestation of a notary public or other official authorized to administer oaths.
Scope of Exam
What are the Components of the Alaska Bar Exam?
Alaska administers the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). The UBE is a two day examination, consisting of a one-day written component and a one-day Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) component. The total time allotted to each component is six hours.
The Written Component - MEE & MPT
The written component is administered on the first day. It consists of six essay questions from the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) in the morning and two Multistate Performance Test (MPT) questions in the afternoon.
Essays
Applicants will have three hours to answer the six essay questions. The essay questions are taken from the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), which is prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The MEE questions are taken from the following twelve subject areas:
- Business Associations (Agency and Partnerships; Corporations and Limited Liability Companies)
- Civil Procedure
- Conflict of Laws
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts and Sales (including article 2 [Sales] of the Uniform Commercial Code)
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence
- Family Law
- Real Property
- Torts
- Trusts and Estates (Decedents' Estates; Trusts and Future Interests)
- Uniform Commercial Code (Secured Transactions – UCC Article 9)
Applicants are expected to answer all essay questions by applying fundamental legal principles.
The MEE is weighted at 30% of an applicant’s total score.
For the MEE's scope of coverage, see the MEE Subject Matter Outline.
For more information on the MEE, please visit the NCBE Website.
MPT
Applicants will have three hours to answer the two MPT questions.
The MPT examines fundamental lawyering skills that are required for the performance of many lawyering tasks. These skills are problem-solving, factual analysis, legal analysis, reasoning, written communication, organization and management of a legal task, and recognizing and resolving ethical dilemmas.
The MPT is weighted at 20% of an applicant’s total score.
For more information on the MPT, please visit the NCBE website.
The Multistate Bar Examination Component
The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a national test prepared by the NCBE and is given on the second day.
The test consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. The MBE is divided into a 3-hour morning session and a 3-hour afternoon session. The following subjects are tested: Contracts, Criminal Law, Evidence, Real Property, Torts, Constitutional Law and Civil Procedure.
Alaska does not accept MBE scores from previous examinations for the purpose of waiving the MBE portion of the examination.
The MBE is weighted at 50% of an applicant’s total score.
For more information on the MBE, please visit the NCBE website.
How is the Alaska Bar Exam Scored?
There are two components, the MBE and the written portion (which consists of the MEE and the MPT.) The raw scores from the written portion and the MBE portion of the exam are converted to a scaled score. The maximum possible scaled score on each component of the test is 200 points. The MBE scaled score and the essay scaled score are added together. An applicant must receive a total combined scaled score of 270 or above to pass the Alaska Bar Exam.
Anonymity - Throughout the grading process, examination books and answer sheets are designated only by code number and the identity of the applicant is unknown to the graders. Consequently, only the answers to the questions on the examination have any bearing upon an applicant's success or failure on the exam.
Announcement of Exam Results - Results of the examination are generally announced by the Board of Governors approximately 90 days after the examination. All applicants are notified of the results by e-mail the day the results are released, and by U.S. mail. After that, the list of passing applicants will be posted on the website.