State-by-State Bar Exam Information: Vermont
Bar Information
Key Dates
The last Tue and Wed of February and July
At any time
May 1st
Exam Details
Written: Four Vermont essays and two performance tests from the Multistate Performance Test
Multiple-choice: The Multistate Bar Examination
Day one: 2 MPTS from 9:00 - 12:15 with break between. One 4-hour session from 1:30 - 5:30 for 4 Vermont essays. Day 2: 9 - 12 & 1:30 - 4:30 MBE.
The MBE tests Contracts, Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts.
Drawn directly from the Vermont Board of Bar Examiners' website: The Vermont essay questions can cover:
• administrative law
• bankruptcy
• business organizations
• civil procedure
• commercial law (including the Uniform Commercial Code)
• Vermont and federal constitutional law
• contracts
• criminal law and procedure
• equity
• ethics
• evidence
• family law (including juvenile law)
• general practice skills
• personal and real property (including foreclosure)
• torts
• taxation
• trusts and estates
• wills and probate
Applicants should be familiar with principles commonly embodied in legislative enactments throughout the United States, such as the Statute of Frauds and statutes of limitations, although applicants are not required to recite the specific terms of any statute. Familiarity with codifications such as the Uniform Commercial Code, the United States or Vermont Constitutions, Vermont and federal tax law, Vermont probate law and the Vermont Rules of Civil, Criminal, Family and Appellate Procedure, is helpful in answering questions on those subjects
Yes, for an additonal fee
Yes--on the Board of Bar Examiners' website
There is a separate minimum passing standard of 135 for the written component (essays and performance tests) and for the MBE. An applicant who achieves a score of 130-134 on either component can still pass if the other component score exceeds 135 by 2 points for each point by which the lower score was below 135.
Statistics
2011: 67%
2011:: 68%
Reciprocity
Yes, from any of the last four prior administrations
Yes, but they must have practiced law for at least five of the previous ten years. New Hampshire and Maine attorneys may be admitted after three years of practice.
The information for Vermont comes from the Vermont Board of Bar Examiners' website and response to our survey, as well as the National Conference of Bar Examiners' Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements.
