The Board of Law Examiners of Tennessee is responsible for the bar exam. There is no local content on this bar examination.
The Tennessee Bar exam, a 2-day exam, consists of
- the six-hour Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), and
- twelve 30-minute Tennessee essay questions.
Successful applicants must pass 7 or more essay questions, depending on the MBE score. Applicants with an MBE score of 135 or more must pass 7 essays; those with an MBE score of 130-134 must pass 8 essays; and those with an MBE score of 125-129 must pass 9 essays. Applicants also must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scaled score of 75 within 2 years of taking the bar exam.
The following subjects may be tested on the Tennessee bar exam:
- business organizations (including agency, partnership, corporations)
- civil procedure (Tennessee and federal)
- commercial transactions, consisting of UCC Articles 1 (general provisions), 2 (sales), 3 (negotiable instruments), 6 (bulk transfers), 9 (secured transactions)
- conflicts of law
- constitutional law (Tennessee and federal)
- contracts, including UCC Article 2 sales
- criminal law and procedure
- domestic relations or personal status (family law)
- evidence
- professional responsibility
- property, real and personal
- remedies and restitution
- torts
- wills and estates.