The Louisiana bar exam takes three days and consists only of a nine-part Louisiana exam. Louisiana law is tested on the Louisiana bar exam.
Louisiana Written Exam
Newly-enacted legislation, including amendments and deletions to existing Louisiana and federal statutes, will not be tested until six months after the effective date of the legislation and not the date of enactment.
The Code subjects include:
(1) Civil Code I (Family Law, Community Property, Property)
(2) Civil Code II (Wills, Trusts and Estates)
(3) Civil Code III (Contracts/Sales, Agency, Secured Transactions, Conflict of Laws)
(4) Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure
(5) Torts (Worker’s Compensation, Conflict of Laws)
The Non-Code subjects include:
(6) Business Entities and Negotiable Instruments (Corporations, Partnerships, LLCs, Commercial Paper)
(8) Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Evidence (Louisiana and Federal)
(9) Federal Jurisdiction and Procedure (Federal Civil and Appellate Procedure)
Day 1
Civil Code I (8:00 a.m – 10:00 a.m.)
Civil Code II (10:30 a.m – 12:30 p.m.)
Civil Code III (2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Day 2
Louisiana Code of Civil Procedure (8:00 a.m – 10:00 a.m.)
Torts (10:30 a.m – 12:30 p.m.)
Business Entities and Negotiable Instruments (2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
Day 3
Constitutional Law (8:00 a.m – 10:00 a.m.)
Criminal Law, Procedure, & Evidence (10:30 a.m – 1:00 p.m.)
Federal Jurisdiction & Procedure (2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.)
The Louisiana bar exam is held twice each year on the last Monday, Wednesday, and Friday of February and July. Applications can be found on the Louisiana Supreme Court Website.
Exam Date | Application Deadline | Late Deadline | Reapplication Deadline |
Feb 20, 22, and 24, 2017 | Nov. 1 | Dec. 15 | Dec. 15 |
July 24, 26, and 28, 2016 | Feb. 1 | May 15 | May 15 |
Louisiana Bar Exam Weight
The bar exam weight depends on the subjects passed.
Grading Procedure
Each subject is graded on a scale from 0 to 100. Code subjects are weighted twice as much as the non-code subjects.
(1.20 x sum of 5 Code Scores) + (.75 x sum of 4 Non-Code scores) = Total Score
Passing Score
The passing score is 650 out of 900 possible points.
Pass Rates
The Louisiana Bar Exam pass rates can be found here.
Review and Appeal for Applicants Failing the Louisiana Bar Exam
Applicants failing the bar exam may review their exam answers and representative answers. There is no further review. The Board’s pass/fail determination is final
Beginning with the February 2012 bar exam, applicants may only take the written Louisiana bar exam up to five times.