Bar Exam Application
STATE BOARD OF LAW EXAMINERS
Judicial Wing, First Floor
600 E Boulevard Avenue
Bismarck, ND 58505-0530
(701) 328-4201 (voice) (701) 328-4480 (fax)
February 2021 North Dakota Bar Examination to be Administered Remotely
The North Dakota State Board of Law Examiners has decided to administer a remote-only Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) on February 23-24, 2021. The National Conference of Bar Examiners will make a full set of bar examination materials (two MPTs, six MEEs, and 200 MBEs) available to administer the February 2021 UBE as a remote examination.
The Board has continued to monitor the COVID-19 pandemic, public health information, and government requirements and recommendations related to large gatherings. The future trajectory of the pandemic is uncertain. It is possible that then-existing public health conditions would permit an in-person UBE in February 2021. However, the Board believes there is a risk that an in-person administration may have to be canceled. The Board’s decision both ensures that applicants are afforded an opportunity to sit for the bar examination in North Dakota in February 2021 and protects the health and safety of applicants and bar admissions staff.
North Dakota will accept transfer scores from UBE jurisdictions that administer the examination in-person or remotely in February 2021.
Further details regarding the examination will be emailed directly to registered applicants in the coming weeks. For applicants who do not wish to test in February 2021, their applications and fees can be transferred to the July 2021 bar examination. Applicants who wish to transfer their application to the July 2021 must notify the Board of that decision no later than December 31, 2020, by email at barexaminers@ndcourts.gov.
An applicant for admission to the North Dakota Bar must be 18 years of age and have received a Juris Doctor or equivalent degree from a law school approved, or provisionally approved, for accreditation by the American Bar Association.
North Dakota administers the Uniform Bar Examination. For more information about the UBE and portability of scores, please visit: http://www.ncbex.org/about-ncbe-exams/ube/.
Administration of the February exam is dependent on ten or more applicants. Applications for the February exam must be postmarked by November 1 prior to the February exam for which application is made. Applications postmarked later than November 1, but by December 1 prior to the February exam for which application is made, shall be permitted upon payment of a late filing fee. Fees paid, excluding the investigative fee, will be refunded only in the event of less than ten applicants. The investigative fee is not refundable.
Applications to write the July exam must be postmarked by March 15 prior to the July exam for which application is made, and applications postmarked later than March 15, but by May 15 prior to the July exam for which application is made, shall be permitted upon payment of a late filing fee. Fees paid for the July exam are not refundable.
The Board of Law Examiners uses the services of the National Conference of Bar Examiners to assist in conducting an applicant's character and fitness investigation. The Application form is completed online at the NCBE website; however, all materials are required to be mailed to the State Board of Law Examiners. Please carefully follow the instructions and checklists below.
- February Bar Examination Instructions/Fees/Checklist
- July Bar Examination Instructions/Fees/Checklist
- Third Year Law Students-Instructions/Fees/Checklist
- Retakes-Instructions/Fees/Checklist
- Application
- Affidavit Updating Previous Application
- Exam Petition
- State Board of Law Examiners' Release Form
- Admission to Practice Rules
Mail to:
State Board of Law Examiners
Judicial Wing, 1st Floor
600 E. Boulevard Ave.
Bismarck, ND 58505-0530