Everything You Need to Know About the Arizona Bar Exam
Application Procedure
Supreme Court of Arizona
1501 W. Washington
Phoenix, Arizona 85007-3231
(602) 364-0371
www.supreme.state.az.us/admin
In order to qualify to sit for the Arizona Bar Exam you will (1) need to have graduated from an ABA approved law school with a Juris Doctorate, (2) submit appropriate forms and documents including a fingerprint card, (3) pass a background check, and (4) pass the MPRE with a minimum score of 85.
Arizona doesn’t have a reciprocity agreement with any other state at the moment, so if you want to practice law in Arizona you will need to sit for their Bar exam.
For more information about taking the MPRE you can write to the address below for a testing application packet.
National Conference of Bar Examiners
C/O MPRE
P.O. Box 4001
Iowa City, Iowa 52243
To download or request a complete application packet with testing information, requirements, and general information you will need to visit the Arizona State Bar website at the address listed above. After you receive your packet you will need to fill out all of the forms and submit them by the stated deadlines, and you will need to enclose the appropriate application, examination, and late fees. These fees change annually, however, to give you an idea of the costs to expect the 2006 fees were $125 application fee, $235 examination fee, $100-$200 late fee depending on the date on your application, $20 for the application package, $20 for your Character Report, $25 for MBE handscoring, $25 NSF fee, $30 for a study guide that contains essay questions, and summaries of issues that will be covered, and $125 if you plan on using a laptop during the exam.
Testing Format
The Arizona Bar Exam lasts two days, and it is given twice a year. Once in late February, and once in late January.
On the fist day of the Arizona Bar Exam you will be given 12 essay questions pertaining to Arizona laws and legal procedures.
On the second and final day of the Arizona Bar Exam you will be given the Multistate Bar Exam, which consists of 200 multiple choice questions pertaining to general laws and legal procedures.
Each question on the MBE will be worth one point, and the essay section will be worth 400 possible points. This makes a total of 600 possible points that you will be able to earn if your test is perfect. However, to pass you will only need to attain a combined score of 410 points.
Study Tips
Studying for the Arizona Bar will be quite an undertaking. You will need to devote several months to studying procedures, laws, and information that you learned during your three years of law school. To help direct your studying it is highly recommended that you enroll in a Bar Exam Review course. Law schools and self-study institutes provide these courses. For a list of quality Bar Exam Review course please check out the Arizona Bar Association’s website at: http://www.supreme.state.az.us/admis/.
In addition to enrolling in a Bar Exam Review course, you should also learn what will be on the examination and where you can go for study guides.
Topics That Will Be Covered on the Arizona Bar Essay Exam
The following topics will be covered in the Arizona Essay Exam. You will need to know Arizona specific rules, regulations, general applications, and procedures that apply to these topics.
1. Contracts
2. Arizona Torts
3. Constitutional Criminal Procedures
4. Arizona Corporations
5. Arizona Trusts
6. Arizona Rules of Professional Responsibilities
7. Constitutional Law (Arizona and Federal)
8. Arizona Real Property
9. Universal Commercial Code (All articles except IV, V, VII, and VIII)
10. Arizona Criminal Law
11. Arizona Business Organizations
12. Arizona Wills
13. Civil Procedures (Arizona and Federal)
14. Evidence (Arizona and Federal)
15. Arizona Community Property Law
Study Resources
To help you study, the following websites provide official rules of legal procedures for the state of Arizona and for federal procedures.
For past Arizona Bar Exam questions, application forms and general information go to:
http://www.supreme.state.az.us/admis/
For Arizona Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://azrules.westgroup.com/toc/default.wl?oFindType=V&oDocName=AZ006335891&oDB=AZ%2DRULES%2DWEB%3BSTAAZ&DocName=AZ006321531&FindType=X&DB=AZ-TOC-WEB%3BSTAAZTOC&RS=AZR1.0&VR=1.0
For Federal Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp
For Arizona Rules of Professional Conduct go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/ethics/az/code/Crule_3.3.htm
For ABA Rules of Professional Conduct go to:
http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_home.html
For Arizona Rules of Evidence go to:
http://azrules.westgroup.com/toc/default.wl?ofindtype=V&odocname=AZ006315001&findtype=X&odb=AZ%2DRULES%2DWEB%3BSTAAZ&vr=1%2E0&docname=AZ006315001&db=AZ%2DTOC%2DWEB%3BSTAAZTOC&rs=AZR1%2E0
For Federal Rules of Evidence go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre
Other Rules and Procedures for Arizona go to:
http://azrules.westgroup.com/home/azrules/morerule.wl
