The Iowa Judicial Branch is responsible for the Iowa bar exam. This bar exam has no original local content.
Beginning in February 2009, the Iowa bar exam will consist of
- the six-hour Multistate Bar Examination (MBE),
- six 30-minute Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) questions, weighted 30%, and
- two 90-minute Multistate Performance Test (MPT) problems, weighted 20%.
Successful applicants will achieve a combined scaled score of 266 or above. Applicants also must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scaled score of 80.
The following subjects may be tested on the Iowa bar exam:
- business associations (agency, partnership, corporations, LLCs)
- civil procedure (federal)
- conflicts of law
- constitutional law
- contracts, including UCC Article 2 sales
- criminal law and procedure
- evidence
- family law
- real property, including real estate finance
- torts
- trusts and estates (wills, decendents’ estates, trusts, and future interests)
- UCC Articles 1 (general provisions), 2 (sales), 3 (negotiable instruments), and 9 (secured transactions). Note: Articles 3 and 9 will not be tested on the February 2009 exam; however, they may be tested on subsequent exams.