205 W. 14th St., #500
P.O. Box 13486
Austin, TX 78711-3486
(512) 463-1621
Subjects and Topic
The Texas essay questions can examine these subjects:
Bankruptcy (a cross-over topic that essay questions in other subjects may test);
Business Associations (including Agency, Corporations, Limited Liability Companies, Professional Associations, and Partnerships);
Consumer Law consisting of: Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act and Texas statutes that tie-in to it, Texas Debt Collection Practices Act and Federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and Insurance Law;
Family Law;
Real Property (including Oil and Gas Law);
Taxation (a cross-over topic that essay question in other subjects may test);
Trusts and Guardianship;
Uniform Commercial Code (including Commercial Paper and Secured Transactions); and
Wills and Administration.
The Texas Procedure and Evidence (“P&E”) questions test the subjects of (1) Federal and Texas Criminal Procedure and Evidence and (2) Texas Civil Procedure and Evidence (including jurisdiction).
Scoring and Grading
To pass the Texas bar exam, you have to score 675 of 1,000 points based on your combined scaled scores from the:
Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”),
Texas essay questions,
P&E questions,and
Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”).
The Texas law examiners weigh the combined scaled scores of the MBE at 40% and the written exam at 60%, which consists of the essay questions at 40%, the P&E questions at 10%, and the MPT at 10%.
Bar Exam Dates
Twice per year, the Texas Board of Law Examiners administers the Texas bar exam, which starts on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday of February and July, and includes the Wednesday and Thursday of that week.
2018
February 27-29, 2018
July 24-26, 2018
2019
February 26-28, 2019
July 30-31, and August 1, 2019
Exam Results
Typically, the Texas law examiners release the February Texas bar exam results in the first week of May, and the July exam results in the first week of November. The Texas law examiners will mail results letters providing grades, post online a list of who passed the exam, and release results over the telephone.
Pass Rates – Statistics
While each Texas bar exam pass rates can vary, some of those exams’ pass rates range:
for first-time takers, between 75% and 88%;
for repeat takers, between 39% and 64%; and
for total takers, between 65% and 83%.
Bar Exam Format
In addition to using the MPT and MBE, the Texas law examiners provide 12 Texas Essay Questions, 20 Criminal P&E questions, and 20 Civil P&E questions. The Texas law examiners’ written questions can examine Texas law, federal law, and general law, as applicable.
Half Day 1
The first, one-half day only has a three-hour morning session. The session consists of 1 MPT and 40 P&E questions.
Full Day 2
The second, full day has the MBE in 2, 3-hour sessions each comprised of 100 multiple choice questions.
Full Day 3
The second, full day has 12 Texas essay questions divided equally into each 3-hour morning and afternoon sessions.
