How to Become a Lawyer in Pennsylvania: Bar Exam and Admission

To become a lawyer in Pennsylvania, you need a bachelor’s degree, a J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school, a passing score on the Pennsylvania bar examination, a passing score on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, and clearance through the Board of Law Examiners’ character and fitness review. Once all of that is in place, you file for admission with the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and take the oath. The Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners runs the process and recommends qualified candidates to the Supreme Court.¹

Education You Need

Pennsylvania Bar Admission Rule 203 sets two academic prerequisites. You need a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, or an education the Board considers equivalent, and a Juris Doctor or Bachelor of Laws from a law school that held ABA accreditation when you enrolled or graduated.² The LSAT is a law school admissions requirement, not a Board requirement.

If your law degree is from a school outside the ABA’s accreditation area, Rule 205 requires you to complete 24 credit hours on campus at an accredited American law school, covering subjects that include Constitutional Law, Civil Procedure, Professional Responsibility, Legal Research and Writing, Contracts, Criminal Law, Evidence, and Torts. No more than 4 credit hours in any single subject count, and online or distance-learning courses do not qualify.³

Applying for the Bar Exam

You file through the Board’s Online Filing System. The application asks for a complete residential history, detailed employment records with supervisor contact information, professional and personal references, transcripts from every institution you have attended, and full disclosure of any legal involvement, from traffic tickets to civil lawsuits. Gather this material before you start; omissions cause delays that can push you past a filing deadline.

The Board enforces its filing deadlines strictly and grants no exceptions. For the February exam, timely filing closes October 30 at a fee of $750. For the July exam, timely filing closes March 31 at the same fee. Late filing brings the fee to $1,075 (November 30 for February, April 30 for July), and the final filing deadline costs $1,400.⁴ Applications submitted without payment are not reviewed, and fees are not refunded or transferred.

If you plan to type your essay answers, add $115 for computer-based testing when you file with your application, or $165 if you add it later as an amendment. Late laptop requests must be paid by certified check, cashier’s check, corporate check, or money order. The final laptop registration deadline is January 6 for the February exam and June 6 for the July exam.⁵ The Board also charges a 2.75% convenience fee on online payments.⁴

Applicants with a disability covered by the ADA can request nonstandard testing accommodations. The deadlines and late fees mirror those for the application itself, so file both together.⁶

The Bar Exam

Pennsylvania adopted the Uniform Bar Examination in 2022, and the exam is in the middle of a format change.⁷ Which version you sit for depends entirely on your test date.⁸

Legacy UBE, February 2026

The February 2026 exam runs two days (February 24–25) in Pittsburgh and Lancaster.⁹ It has three parts: the Multistate Bar Examination (200 multiple-choice questions, 50% of the score), the Multistate Essay Examination (six 30-minute essays, 30%), and the Multistate Performance Test (two practical drafting tasks using a provided file and library, 20%). Pennsylvania’s minimum passing score on the Legacy UBE is 270.⁷ A qualifying score can be transferred to other UBE jurisdictions.

NextGen UBE, July 2026 Onward

The July 2026 administration (July 28–29) debuts the NextGen UBE. It runs a day and a half across three three-hour sections. Each section mixes standalone multiple-choice questions (49% of the total score across the exam), integrated question sets that combine drafting and counseling (21%), and performance tasks with writing and legal research components (30%). It covers nine foundational subjects: civil procedure, contract law, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, torts, business associations, real property, and family law. It also assesses seven lawyering skills, including legal research, legal writing, issue spotting, client counseling, and negotiation.⁸

NextGen scores run on a 500 to 750 scale, and each jurisdiction sets its own cut score.¹⁰ Pennsylvania has not yet announced its minimum for NextGen.⁸ Other jurisdictions that have set theirs are in the 610 to 620 range.

The MPRE

Separate from the bar exam, you must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination with a scaled score of at least 75. The MPRE tests legal ethics and the rules of professional conduct. Pennsylvania does not impose a time limit on when the score was earned, but the Board will not release your Certificate Recommending Admission until it has your MPRE result.¹¹ Many applicants take it during law school to clear it off the list.

Character and Fitness

The Board investigates every applicant to confirm the honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability expected of an attorney.² The review includes fingerprinting, a criminal history check, a credit report, and a look at academic and professional disciplinary records.

On finances, the Board looks at whether you have dealt honestly and responsibly with creditors. Defaulted student loans and unpaid child support raise particular concerns.¹² Debt itself is not disqualifying. What matters is whether you have stayed in contact with creditors, made payment arrangements, and followed through.

Any history of academic misconduct, criminal charges, or professional discipline must be disclosed. Concealment is generally treated as worse than the underlying issue. If the Board denies your application on character and fitness grounds, you can request a formal hearing.¹³

Getting Admitted After You Pass

Once you have a passing bar score and an MPRE score of at least 75, the Board issues a Certificate Recommending Admission. You then submit that certificate with an Application for Admission to the Prothonotary of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania within six months, or the certificate lapses. Wait more than three years from your exam results to file a motion for admission and you will have to reapply and pass a future bar exam.¹⁴

The oath of admission is completed by signing the Oath of Admission in your application in the presence of an authorized person. The Supreme Court holds ceremonial sessions, but the recitation of the oath at those events is ceremonial and not legally required for admission.¹⁴

Every newly admitted attorney also has to complete Bridge the Gap, a mandatory 4-credit-hour course sponsored by the Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board. It covers the practical side of practicing in Pennsylvania and the Rules of Professional Conduct, and you must finish it before your first CLE compliance deadline.¹⁵

When You Can Skip the Exam

Two rules let some attorneys avoid sitting for the Pennsylvania bar.

Under Rule 206, if you passed the UBE in another jurisdiction, you can transfer that score to Pennsylvania. The score has to meet or exceed Pennsylvania’s minimum at the time the exam was administered, and no more than 30 months can have passed since the exam date.¹⁶ The MPRE and character and fitness review still apply.

Under Rule 204, experienced attorneys licensed in a reciprocal state can be admitted without any exam. You need a J.D. or LL.B. from an ABA-accredited law school, active bar membership in a reciprocal state, good standing in every jurisdiction where you have been admitted, and proof that you devoted a major portion of your time to practicing law for five of the last seven years.¹⁷ Attorneys disbarred or suspended for disciplinary reasons in any jurisdiction are not eligible.

Keeping Your License

Every active Pennsylvania attorney must complete 12 credit hours of continuing legal education each year, at least 2 of them in ethics.¹⁸ You also pay a $275 annual registration fee to maintain active status. Letting either lapse can result in administrative suspension, which stops you from practicing until you catch up and get reinstated.

1
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Authority and Function
2
Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 204 r. 203 – Admission by Bar Examination
3
Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 204 r. 205 – Admission of Foreign Attorneys and Graduates of Foreign Institutions
4
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Bar Exam Fees and Deadlines
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Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Computer Based Testing (CBT) Fees
6
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Nonstandard Testing Accommodations Information
7
Pennsylvania Bar Examiners. Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) Information
8
Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners Announces Transition to New Testing Model
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Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. February 2026 Exam Administration Information
10
NCBE. Minimum Passing Scores – NextGen UBE
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Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination Information – Non Exam
12
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. C&F – Why Are Financial Problems, Such as Past-Due Debts or an Old Bankruptcy, Relevant to My Admission?
13
PA Board of Law Examiners. Board Meetings and Board Duties
14
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. PA Bar Admission Certification Licensure and Ceremonies
15
Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board. Rules & Regulations – Section: Rule 105 CLE Requirement
16
Legal Information Institute. Pennsylvania Code 204 r. 206 – Admission by Bar Examination Score Transfer
17
Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Rule 204 – Admission by Reciprocity
18
Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board. Frequently Asked Questions