Georgia Bar Exam Topics: MBE, Essays, MPRE, and Scoring

The Georgia bar exam topics fall into three groups: seven subjects on the Multistate Bar Examination, up to 14 Georgia-specific subjects that can appear on the essay portion, and practical lawyering skills tested through two Multistate Performance Test tasks. A separate ethics exam, the MPRE, covers professional responsibility. Everything is drawn from standards set by the Supreme Court of Georgia and administered by the Georgia Board of Bar Examiners.

The written portions run on day one (three hours of MPT in the morning, four Georgia essays in the afternoon), and the 200-question MBE fills day two. Georgia is not a Uniform Bar Examination state, so the essays are its own, and a Georgia score does not transfer to other jurisdictions the way a UBE score would.

MBE Subjects

The MBE is a nationally standardized multiple-choice test covering seven areas of law. Of the 200 questions, 175 are scored, with exactly 25 scored questions per subject, and the remaining 25 are unscored pretest items mixed in so you cannot tell which ones count.¹ Every subject carries equal weight.

Constitutional Law

About half of these questions test individual rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments: free speech, equal protection, due process, and religious liberty. The other half covers structural issues, including congressional power under the commerce clause, federalism limits on state authority, and separation of powers.²

Contracts

Formation questions (offer, acceptance, consideration, defenses) and performance questions (breach, conditions, remedies, discharge) split roughly evenly. About a quarter of the questions come from Articles 1 and 2 of the UCC, covering the sale of goods, warranties, and risk of loss. The rest use common law principles.²

Criminal Law and Procedure

The substantive side tests mental states, elements of specific crimes like homicide and theft, and defenses such as self-defense and insanity. The procedural side covers Fourth Amendment search and seizure, Fifth Amendment protections during interrogation, the right to counsel, and double jeopardy. The two sides get roughly equal treatment.

Evidence

Evidence questions are based on the Federal Rules. Expect heavy coverage of hearsay (its definition, exemptions, and exceptions), relevance and its limits, character evidence, privileges, and authentication of documents and physical items.

Civil Procedure

Roughly two-thirds of these questions focus on jurisdiction and venue, pretrial procedures like pleading and discovery, and post-trial motions. The remaining third covers joinder of parties and claims, class actions, and the law federal courts apply when sitting in diversity.²

Real Property

Property questions cover ownership and transfer of interests in land, landlord-tenant relationships, easements, covenants, mortgages and liens, and zoning. Present and future estates and concurrent ownership rules appear frequently.

Torts

Torts questions test negligence (duty, breach, causation, damages), intentional torts like assault and false imprisonment, strict liability, products liability, and defenses including comparative fault and assumption of risk.

Georgia Essay Subjects

The four essay questions are where Georgia departs from the national exam. Each essay draws from a pool of 14 possible subjects, and the Board expects you to apply Georgia statutes and case law rather than general common law.³ A single question can combine multiple subjects, so knowing where they overlap matters.

Business Organizations. Formation and management of corporations, partnerships, and LLCs under O.C.G.A. Title 14, including fiduciary duties of directors and officers and when a court will disregard the corporate form.⁴
Constitutional Law. The same principles tested on the MBE, applied to fact patterns that may implicate Georgia constitutional provisions.
Contracts. Common law formation, performance, breach, and remedies, with Georgia-specific rules on issues like liquidated damages and the statute of frauds.
Criminal Law and Procedure. Georgia penal code definitions and defenses, plus state procedural rules that go beyond the federal constitutional floor.
Evidence. Georgia’s rules, which diverge from the Federal Rules in important ways. Admissibility, privilege, and witness competency under Georgia law are common targets.
Family Law. No-fault divorce, equitable division of marital property, child custody standards, and support calculations under O.C.G.A. Title 19.⁵
Federal Practice and Procedure. Federal jurisdiction, removal, and the interplay between federal and state procedural rules.
Georgia Practice and Procedure. The Civil Practice Act under O.C.G.A. Title 9, Chapter 11, and the Uniform Rules of the Georgia courts, covering service of process through motions practice.⁶
Non-Monetary Remedies. Injunctions, specific performance, and other equitable relief.
Professional Ethics. Georgia’s Rules of Professional Conduct, including conflicts of interest, client confidentiality, and duties to the tribunal.
Property. Real and personal property under Georgia law, including recording statutes and landlord-tenant rules.
Torts. Georgia’s modified comparative negligence rule (which bars recovery when the plaintiff is 50 percent or more at fault), premises liability, and the state’s approach to sovereign immunity.
Trusts, Wills, and Estates. Formalities for executing a valid will, intestate succession, and trust administration under O.C.G.A. Title 53.⁷
Uniform Commercial Code (Articles 2 and 3). Sale of goods and negotiable instruments. Article 9 Secured Transactions was removed from the essay pool on a recommendation from the Georgia Lawyer Competency Task Force.³

Graders are looking for Georgia law, not abstract legal theory. A torts essay might ask you to analyze a slip-and-fall under Georgia’s comparative negligence statute rather than the Restatement approach, and citing or accurately applying the relevant O.C.G.A. provision is what separates a passing answer from a generic one.

What the Performance Test Actually Asks For

The MPT does not test any particular area of law. Instead, it gives you a client file and a small library of legal authorities, then asks you to produce a specific work product in 90 minutes per task.⁸ All the law you need is in the provided library.

The client file typically contains deposition excerpts, letters, medical records, contracts, or police reports. The library might include statutes, regulations, and excerpts from court opinions. Common assignments include drafting an objective memo analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of a client’s position, writing a persuasive brief, preparing a client letter that explains options in plain language, or assembling a settlement proposal that addresses specific factual disputes. The task memo specifies the format and tone, and following those instructions closely matters as much as the substance.

MPRE Topics

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination is separate from the bar exam itself. You must pass it with a scaled score of at least 75 before the Board will certify you as eligible for admission.⁹ The 60-question multiple-choice test is administered three times a year (March, August, and October) by the NCBE, and you can take it before or after the bar exam.

The MPRE covers the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the Model Code of Judicial Conduct. Core topics include the duty of confidentiality, conflicts of interest when representing multiple clients or switching firms, competence and diligence obligations, safekeeping client funds in trust accounts, and candor toward the tribunal.

Scoring and What It Takes to Pass

The MBE carries 50 percent of the total score, the essays account for roughly 28.6 percent, and the MPT makes up the remaining 21.4 percent.¹⁰ Your combined score must reach at least 270 to pass, and the MPRE must be at 75 or higher.⁹ Scores between 265 and 269 trigger an automatic regrade of the essay and MPT papers before results are released.

Passing the exam is not enough on its own. Every applicant must also clear a separate character and fitness investigation before the Board certifies them for admission, so the tested topics are only one piece of the licensing process.

1
National Conference of Bar Examiners. Preparing for the MBE
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National Conference of Bar Examiners. MBE Subject Matter Outline
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Georgia Office Of Bar Admissions. Frequently Asked Questions
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Justia. Georgia Code Title 14 – Corporations, Partnerships, and Associations
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Justia. Georgia Code Title 19 – Domestic Relations
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Justia. Georgia Code Title 9 Chapter 11 – Civil Practice Act
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Justia. Georgia Code Title 53 – Wills, Trusts, and Administration of Estates
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Georgia Office Of Bar Admissions. The Two-Day Bar Exam in Georgia
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Georgia Office Of Bar Admissions. Rules Governing Admission to the Practice of Law
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National Conference of Bar Examiners. Non-Uniform Bar Examination Jurisdictions – Grading and Scoring