Maine Bar Exam: Requirements, Dates, and Pass Rates

To be admitted to practice law in Maine, you must pass the Maine bar exam with a Uniform Bar Exam score of at least 270, pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination with a scaled score of 80, and clear a character and fitness review.¹² The exam is given twice a year, in February and July, and Maine does not accept late applications under any circumstances.

Who Can Sit for the Exam

Maine Bar Admission Rule 10 recognizes several educational paths. The standard route is a bachelor’s degree plus a JD or LLB from a law school that held ABA accreditation when you graduated.³ You can also qualify through:

A non-ABA U.S. law school accredited in its own jurisdiction, if you have been admitted by exam in a U.S. jurisdiction and actively practiced there for at least three years.³
A foreign law school the Board finds equivalent to an ABA program, if you have been admitted to practice (abroad or in a U.S. jurisdiction) and actively practiced for at least three years.³
Two-thirds of an ABA-accredited program plus a full year of pre-approved study in a Maine attorney’s office.³

Foreign-Educated Applicants

If you studied law outside the United States, the Board must find your education equivalent to an ABA program. That means completing at least 24 semester credit hours in U.S. law, with at least 16 of those hours in five or more of these subjects: constitutional law, evidence, taxation, procedure, the Uniform Commercial Code, decedents’ estates, real property, corporations or business organizations, and torts.⁴

You can ask for an advance determination of equivalency for a nonrefundable $250 fee, credited toward your application fee if the Board finds you eligible. The request must reach the Board by October 20 for the February exam or March 20 for the July exam. Certified transcripts, grade descriptions, and course descriptions must come directly from the school, with English translations for any non-English documents.⁴

2026 Exam Dates and Deadlines

Maine administers the bar exam on two consecutive days each cycle, with the written portion on Tuesday and the multiple-choice portion on Wednesday.

February 2026 exam: Tuesday, February 24 and Wednesday, February 25, 2026. Completed applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on December 20, 2025.⁵
July 2026 exam: Tuesday, July 28 and Wednesday, July 29, 2026. Applications open March 15, 2026 and must be received by 5:00 p.m. on May 20, 2026.⁶

There is no late filing in Maine. Many states let you pay a late fee to file after the deadline; Maine does not. An incomplete application at 5:00 p.m. on the deadline means waiting for the next cycle.⁵

How to Apply and What It Costs

Applications are filed online through the applicant portal on the Maine Board of Bar Examiners website.⁷ You will provide detailed personal history including residences, employers, education, and references. Every entry needs to match your supporting transcripts and certificates exactly.

Fees, effective March 15, 2025, depend on your admission status:

Never admitted anywhere, or admitted less than one year: $800.⁵
Admitted in another jurisdiction for one year or more: $900, plus a separate NCBE character and fitness application fee paid directly to the NCBE.⁵

Board staff verify signatures and required materials once your package arrives, and will ask for corrections before the file moves forward.

What the Exam Covers

Maine administers the Uniform Bar Exam, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The written portion runs Tuesday; the multiple-choice portion runs Wednesday.⁸ Three components make up the score:

Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), 30% of the score. Six essays over three hours on Tuesday morning, testing legal analysis and written reasoning.
Multistate Performance Test (MPT), 20% of the score. Two practical tasks on Tuesday afternoon, such as drafting a memo, brief, or client letter from a provided file and library.
Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), 50% of the score. Two hundred multiple-choice questions split across two three-hour sessions on Wednesday, covering contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, civil procedure, evidence, and real property.

The scaled total runs from 0 to 400, and Maine’s passing score is 270.⁹ That sits in the middle of UBE jurisdictions, where cutoffs range from 260 to 280.

The MPRE Requirement

Every Maine applicant needs a scaled MPRE score of at least 80.² You can take the MPRE any time after starting law school, at any NCBE test site. Your passing score must have been earned within 15 years before the date you are admitted to the Maine bar.³ Designate Maine as a score recipient through your NCBE account so the Board receives your result directly.

Character and Fitness Review

Under Maine Bar Admission Rule 9, every applicant must demonstrate good character and fitness. If nothing adverse appears in your application, you have met the initial burden. If adverse information appears, you need to explain or rebut it well enough to satisfy the Board.¹⁰ Issues that typically trigger further scrutiny include:

Criminal charges involving impaired driving, public intoxication, or drug possession.
Termination, suspension, or workplace discipline.
Prior discipline from any professional licensing board.
Failing to fully disclose information the application requests.
Being the respondent in a restraining order or protection-from-abuse order.
Prior instances of dishonesty or lack of trustworthiness.

When the Board has doubts, a three-member panel investigates and may interview you, contact references, or request further documentation. The Board only asks about mental health or substance use when the topic connects to specific adverse conduct, not as a general screen.¹⁰ Full disclosure matters more than a spotless record; the Board expects a real history and reacts poorly to learning things from anyone other than you.

Exam Day Logistics

Laptop Testing

Maine uses Examplify by ExamSoft for the written portions. To type your essays and MPT answers, pay the nonrefundable $90 license fee and install the software on your laptop before exam day.¹¹ A few things catch applicants off guard:

System requirements are strict. ARM-based processors found in some newer Windows laptops are not supported, so confirm compatibility early.
You need administrator access to install Examplify. If your work laptop is locked down by IT, use a personal device.
The mock exam is mandatory. If you skip the practice upload, you may have to handwrite.
Moving the software to a different device later costs an extra $50.

Even if you used Examplify in law school, you have to register and install fresh for the bar exam.¹¹

Testing Accommodations

ADA accommodation requests and supporting documentation must be submitted by the same application deadline: December 20 for February, May 20 for July. A three-member subcommittee reviews each request and may ask you or your doctors for more information. Requests not involving extra time or significant cost can be approved by the subcommittee; others go to the full Board.¹² If a qualifying condition develops after the deadline, notify the Board right away; otherwise you may need to sit without accommodations or withdraw.

Results and Pass Rates

Results arrive roughly seven to eight weeks after the exam. February 2025 results were released April 17; July 2025 results came out September 25.¹³ The Board notifies candidates individually through a secure portal, and a list of successful candidates goes up on the Maine judicial branch website shortly after.

Recent pass rates vary sharply by administration. July 2025: 72% overall, 78% for first-time takers, 38% for repeaters. February 2025: 43% overall, 47% for first-timers, 36% for repeaters.¹³ The February sitting typically draws a smaller, less predictable pool. Maine places no cap on retakes.

Alternatives to Taking the Exam in Maine

Transferring a UBE Score

Because Maine uses the UBE, you can transfer a 270 or higher earned in any UBE jurisdiction within the past three years, measured from the exam date to the date Maine receives your application. Transfer fees are $900 if you have not been admitted elsewhere for a year or more, or $1,000 plus the NCBE character and fitness fee if you have. Card payments carry a 3% convenience charge.¹⁴ A transferred score replaces only the exam itself; you still need the MPRE and character and fitness clearance.

Admission on Motion

Under Maine Bar Admission Rule 11A, experienced attorneys can skip the exam. You qualify if you are admitted and in good standing in another U.S. jurisdiction and have been primarily engaged in the active practice of law for at least three of the five years immediately before you apply.³ You also have to complete 15 CLE hours focused on Maine practice and procedure within the year before certification, including one hour of ethics and one hour of harassment and discrimination; no more than seven of the remaining 13 hours can be self-study or on-demand.¹⁵ The fee is $1,000 plus the NCBE character and fitness fee.

Getting Sworn In After You Pass

Passing the exam does not make you a lawyer. You contact the Maine Supreme Judicial Court to schedule a swearing-in ceremony. The Court notifies the Board, which generates your admission card and sends it to the Court one week before the ceremony. Your registration forms must reach the Board of Overseers of the Bar at least ten days before the ceremony.¹⁶ At the ceremony you take the attorney’s oath in open court, or make an affirmation to the same effect if an oath conflicts with your beliefs.¹⁷

1
National Conference of Bar Examiners. UBE Minimum Scores
2
National Conference of Bar Examiners. Maine
3
Maine Judicial Branch. Maine Bar Admission Rules
4
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Foreign Legal Education
5
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Exam Information
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Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Upcoming Exam – July 2026
7
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Exam Application Forms
8
National Conference of Bar Examiners. About the UBE
9
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. FAQ
10
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Maine Bar Examination Application Process
11
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Laptop Testing
12
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Testing Accommodations
13
National Conference of Bar Examiners. Bar Exam Results by Jurisdiction
14
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. UBE Score Transfer
15
Maine Board of Bar Examiners. Admission By Motion
16
Board of Overseers of the Bar. New Attorney Registration
17
Maine State Legislature. Maine Code Title 4 – Attorneys Oath