Man holding exam paper and pencil in Florida." width="643" height="362" />Man holding exam paper and pencil in Florida." width="643" height="362" />
Passing the Florida bar exam is an essential part of being admitted into the state’s bar and beginning a successful career practicing law.
In this guide, we’ll break down everything you need to get started, including:
We’ll also briefly look at the process of getting admitted without going to law school.
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The bar examination in the state of Florida is regulated by the Florida Board of Bar Examiners. This is an administrative agency that was created by the Supreme Court of Florida in 1955 to handle the admission of applicants to the Bar.
In Florida, the bar exam takes place twice a year: once in February and again in July. Applications for the bar exam should be submitted by May 1 for the July examination, or November 15 for the February examination.
If you miss these dates, you’ll still be able to apply up until June 15 for the July exam or January 15 for the February exam, but will have to pay late fees of up to $625 — any applications received after these dates will not be accepted.
This late fee is reduced to $325 if your application is submitted on or before December 15 for the February exam or June 1 for the July exam.
Keep in mind that in order to be eligible for the Florida General Bar Examination, you will need to satisfy one the following educational qualifications under Rule 4-13.1:
Note: You can read about these requirements in greater detail under Rule 4 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to The Bar.
Unlike the majority of other states, Florida has opted to forgo the Universal Bar Exam (UBE) in favor of their own proprietary assessment called the General Bar Examination.
This exam adheres to the following structure:
Part A:
Part B:
In addition to the Florida bar examination, all candidates will also be required to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) in order to be eligible for the Florida bar.
Below, we’ve broken down the content and structure of each exam-related requirement in more detail.
Part A of the General Bar Examination is made up of two three-hour parts; one containing essay questions and the other containing 100 multiple-choice questions.
These questions are spread across six segments, one of which will assess your knowledge of the Florida Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. The remaining five segments will each involve no more than three of the following subjects:
The questions in Part A are designed to test your understanding of both general and Florida law. However, where these two sets of laws differ, you’ll be required to use Florida law in order to answer the question.
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Part B of the General Bar Exam is the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. This is made up of 200 multiple-choice questions, which are broken down into 175 scored questions and 25 unscored questions.
The exam is broken down into two three-hour sections, with one administered in the morning and one in the afternoon, both of which contain 100 questions each.
Keep in mind that there are no scheduled breaks during either one of the sections.
All 175 scored questions on the exam are distributed evenly, with 25 questions being attributed to each of the following seven topics:
Each question on the MBE exam will have four potential answers. You should choose what you believe is the best answer — keep in mind that scores are based on the number of questions answered correctly, and points are not subtracted for answering incorrectly.
If you want to have a look at the exact format, you can have a look at the NCBE’s official MBE Sample Test Questions document.
The MPRE is made up of 60 multiple-choice questions (50 scored questions and 10 unscored questions) and is administered via Pearson VUE.
Like the MBE exam, each question offers four possible answers, one of which is correct.
The exam’s content is based on law that relates to the conduct and discipline of attorneys and judges and includes the American Bar Association’s (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct and Model Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as important constitutional common law and generally accepted principles.
In relation to questions of professional responsibility in the context of evidentiary issues (e.g., litigation sanctions, attorney-client evidentiary privilege, etc.), the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence will apply unless otherwise stated.
Note: You will have two hours to complete the MPRE exam in its entirety.
For more information, we recommend having a look at the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ (NCBE) Official Sample Test Questions document. A holistic Subject Matter Outline is also offered.
In order to give yourself the best chance of passing the Florida bar exam on your first attempt, it’s important to take enough time to make sure that you are adequately prepared.
Despite the infamous difficulty of Florida’s bar exam, passing it on your first attempt is definitely possible with the right tools and preparation techniques.
Below, we’ve broken down a few key tips that should aid you in your licensing journey:
Most importantly, make sure you remain consistent so that you do not have to resort to last-minute cramming.
Research has shown that we are able to retain a higher degree of information – and more easily – when revisiting old content in comparison to when learning it for the first time. This is known as Ebbinghaus’s Forgetting Curve.
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Apart from qualifying for and passing the Florida bar exam, there are several other requirements you will need to meet for The State Bar of Florida to sign off on your application, including:
Under Rule 3 of the Rules of the Supreme Court Relating to Admissions to The Bar, you’ll be required to provide sufficient evidence of your good moral character and prove that you’re otherwise fit to meet the obligations of an attorney and take your oath.
After you submit your Bar Application with the Board and pay the appropriate fee, a background check on you will be initiated in order to determine your character and fitness for this profession. The Board is looking for a “record of conduct” that demonstrates the attributes required to act as an attorney.
If your record instead lacks trustworthiness, honesty, or reliability, this can be used as a basis for denying your admission to the bar. The board may need to investigate further before deciding you can practice law if any of the following is discovered on your record:
In order to ascertain the truth of any of this questionable past conduct, you may be requested to attend an investigative hearing, which will take place before a minimum of three board members. If you need to attend one of these hearings, you will also need to pay a $250 administrative fee.
If your application to the bar is successful, there are certain requirements you may need to meet in order to continue practicing law.
One of these is the Basic Skills Course Requirement (BSCR), which was established in Rule 6-12.3 of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar in order to ensure all attorneys start their career with a comprehensive understanding of the law.
Unless otherwise exempt, this requirement applies to all members of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), which includes any Florida Bar members under 36 years old that are in good standing and were admitted to practice law less than five years ago.
The BSCR is divided into two main phases:
We recommend getting started on the BSCR early in order to spread the cost of these required programs over the entire three-year reporting period and avoid the need to instead pay a large lump sum at the end.
Since its introduction by the Florida Supreme Court in 1988, all members of The Florida Bar are required to complete at least 30 credit hours of Continuing Legal Education (CLE) in order to stay in good standing with the state.
As part of CLE requirement, you’ll need to complete at least:
It’s important to adhere to this requirement, as failing to complete CLE hours can result in you being treated as a delinquent member of The Florida Bar — which prevents you from being able to practice law within this state.
Note: You can find a list of the official CLE programs approved by The Florida Bar on their website.
Many consider the Florida Bar Exam to be one of the more challenging state bar exams in the US as it doesn’t follow the UBE structure present in many other states. Ultimately, however, the biggest factor influencing this exam’s difficulty is how well you prepare. To make sure you’re thoroughly prepared for this exam, see our What is the Bar Exam article.
The Florida bar exam results are quite positive, with 71.6% of the first-time test takers from accredited schools within Florida achieving a passing grade. However, don’t let this fool you into thinking this exam is easy to pass — it’s monumentally difficult and requires hundreds of hours of preparation in order to succeed.
Yes, while many applicants will be graduates from an accredited law school, you can still take the Florida bar exam if you satisfy the alternative educational requirement found under Rule 4-13.1. This involves providing evidence of at least five years of legal practice in a US jurisdiction and that you’ve maintained good standing for the five years prior to your application.
In order to pass the Florida bar exam, you’ll need to obtain an average scaled score of 136 across Parts A and B of the General Bar Exam, as well as a scaled score of 80 or higher on the MPRE. To read more about the structure of this exam, we recommend checking out our Florida Bar Exam article.
Information on this page was researched and gathered from a multitude of sources and was most recently updated on May 23, 2024
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