Louisiana bar exam: Jurisdiction-specific examination. Current state-drafted essay and performance specifications, not a uniform-exam format. Louisiana is one of only two U.S. jurisdictions that has not adopted the MBE at all. Its bar exam runs three days, covers Louisiana's own Civil Code rather than common-law doctrine on its Code subjects, and the state does not offer reciprocity. Admission requires passing the Louisiana exam itself.
| July exam | Feb. 1, late filing May 15 |
| February exam | Nov. 1, late filing Dec. 15 |
| Fees | First-time $850 / $975; attorney $975; repeater $975; laptop $136 |
| MPRE minimum | 80 |
Dates can change. Check the board’s site before you pay.
Before filing in Louisiana, check the current NCBE profile ↗.
Louisiana is one of only two U.S. jurisdictions that has not adopted the MBE at all. Its bar exam runs three days, covers Louisiana's own Civil Code rather than common-law doctrine on its Code subjects, and the state does not offer reciprocity. Admission requires passing the Louisiana exam itself.
| Rule | Louisiana Supreme Court Rule XVII, §15: Temporary Admission of Military Spouse Attorneys |
| Accommodation | Limited license without exam for attorney spouses residing with an active-duty service member in Louisiana |
| Duration | Tied to spouse's Louisiana station (limited license); specific expiration mechanics not published in the sources located |
| Supervision | Not stated in the sources located |
| Adopted | 2022 |
Confirm current status directly with Louisiana's bar admission authority ↗: this area of law shifted federally in December 2024 and states are still catching up.
Louisiana does not give the UBE. Its written exam has two parts: a nine-part exam (Part I) that is primarily essay and may include multiple-choice questions, and the MPRE (Part II). The nine subjects are Civil Code I, Civil Code II, Civil Code III, the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Torts, Business Entities, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Procedure and Evidence, and Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure.
Each subject is worth 100 raw points, and the five Code subjects (Civil Code I, II, III, Code of Civil Procedure and Torts) carry twice the weight of the four non-Code subjects. An applicant passes with a total weighted score of at least 650 out of a possible 900. Graders are members of the Louisiana Bar appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court, and examinee anonymity is maintained. The Committee tests newly enacted legislation only after at least six months from its effective date, not its enactment date.
Source: The Bar Exam ↗
Part I is always given over three days with three tests a day and check-in from 7:00 to 7:45 a.m. Day one has Civil Code I (8:00 to 10:00), Civil Code II (10:30 to 12:30) and Civil Code III (2:00 to 5:00). Day two has the Code of Civil Procedure, Torts and Business Entities in the same slots, and day three has Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Procedure and Evidence, and Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure.
Applicants may bring only a personal laptop and a clear one-gallon bag holding items such as ID, wallet, keys, earplugs, pens, medication, a non-digital watch and one clear bottle of a drink per session. Cell phones are not allowed in the testing facility and the Committee will not hold them.
An applicant must be at least 18, a U.S. citizen (or a lawfully admitted permanent resident or otherwise authorized to work lawfully in the U.S.), of good moral character and fitness, and a graduate of an ABA-accredited school, or have had a foreign law degree found equivalent by the Committee. The applicant submits a dean or chancellor certificate of graduation and fitness, passes the exam, requests an NCBE character report, files the application and pays the fees.
Louisiana law students must register in the second-year fall on the Committee's site, from August 1 to October 1, for $150, and complete the NCBE character report application in the same period. Missing it means a $350 fee and processing as a first-time applicant. A registered student then files a supplemental application for $850. A first-time applicant, which includes members of another state's bar, pays $975. Filing late adds $850. ADA accommodation requests are due November 1 for February and February 1 for July, and the Dean's Certificate is due 45 days before the exam.
Source: Application Requirements ↗
Louisiana requires a scaled MPRE score of 80 or higher, valid for five years from the exam date. An applicant already admitted in another state who passed the MPRE for that admission and has kept up with that state's CLE is treated as having met the requirement, and must send a letter from the CLE office showing all requirements are met along with a certified NCBE copy of the score.
Source: The Bar Exam ↗
LSU Law publishes July pass rates for all four Louisiana law schools, taken from the Committee on Bar Admissions' results, for 2018, 2019 and 2021 through 2025. Two tables follow: everyone who sat, and first-time takers only. Louisiana's exam tests the state's civil-law codes, so these numbers are not comparable to UBE states.
Among first-time takers LSU Law was highest in 2025 at 88.98%, followed by Loyola at 83.64%, Southern at 75.28% and Tulane at 72.73%. Southern's first-time rate has risen from 55.8% in 2018 to 75.28% in 2025, a gain of 19.5 points, and 2025 is the year it passed Tulane. Tulane's first-time rate fell from 81.7% in 2018 to 72.73% in 2025.
Southern's all-takers rate is lower than its first-time rate every year, from 43.66% (2024) to 62.99% (2025), which shows how many of its July examinees are repeaters. LSU Law's all-takers and first-time rates stay within about 1 to 5 points of each other every year, for example 86.76% and 88.98% in 2025 and 87.83% and 92.23% in 2023.
For all takers, including repeaters, LSU Law's July rate was 86.76% in 2025 against 75.78% for Loyola, 68.63% for Tulane and 62.99% for Southern. Tulane's all-takers rate of 68.63% in 2025 is the lowest it reports in the table, down from 78.9% in 2018.
LSU's October 2025 news release, citing the Committee on Bar Admissions, gives the statewide July 2025 averages as 74.6% for all takers and 82.2% for first-time takers. That puts LSU Law's 86.76% about 12 points above the state figure, and its 88.98% first-timer rate nearly seven points above. LSU says statewide results include graduates of Louisiana's public and private schools and of out-of-state law schools. Note that LSU is reporting its own results, and the Committee's list is the official source.
Source: LSU Law: graduates achieve highest pass rate on July 2025 Louisiana Bar Exam (October 3, 2025) ↗
A total weighted score of at least 650 out of 900. Each of the nine subjects is worth 100 raw points, and the five Code subjects count double.
No. Louisiana gives its own nine-part exam over three days, mostly essay, plus the MPRE. It does not test the MBE.
Civil Code I, II and III, the Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure, Torts, Business Entities, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Procedure and Evidence, and Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure.
80 or higher, valid five years from the exam date. A lawyer admitted elsewhere who passed the MPRE and is current on that state's CLE is treated as having satisfied it.
$975 for a first-time applicant, $850 as a supplemental for a law student who registered on time, and $150 for the second-year law student registration. Late filing adds $850.
In the fall of the second year, August 1 through October 1. Missing the period costs $350 and moves you to first-time applicant processing.
November 1 for the February exam and February 1 for the July exam.
No. Phones may not be brought into the testing facility and the Committee will not hold them. You may bring a personal laptop and a clear one-gallon bag with ID and a few permitted items.
LSU Law, at 89% (88.98% in its published table), ahead of Loyola at 83.64%, Southern at 75.28% and Tulane at 72.73%. The statewide first-time average was 82.2%.
74.6% for all takers and 82.2% for first-time takers, according to LSU Law's release of the Committee on Bar Admissions' results.
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Source: NCBE Comprehensive Guide: Louisiana ↗ · reviewed August 21, 2026.