Rule SCR 2.080 - Bar examinations(1) The Board of Bar Examiners shall examine such applicants as are certified to it as provided in SCR 2.040. The examination shall cover a period of two days and may cover the subjects and skills tested on the Uniform Bar Examination, as published on the website of the National Conference of Bar Examiners at www.ncbex.org. (a) Contracts, including sales and secured transactions(c) Business Entities (corporations, partnerships and/or others)(d) Criminal Law and Procedure(g) Property (real and/or personal)(i) Estates (wills and/or trusts)(k) Such other subjects as the Board may select from among questions proposed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Prior to or at the time of the examination, each applicant shall certify that he or she has successfully completed a course of study in law school in the subject of ethics, and that if admitted to practice, the applicant will adhere to the Code of Ethics prescribed by the Supreme Court. The Character and Fitness Committee of the Kentucky Office of Bar Admissions may, in exceptional cases, waive the requirement that an applicant have successfully completed a course of study in law school in the subject of ethics.
(2) Beginning with the February 2021 Bar Examination, the Board shall administer the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and consisting of a written portion composed of the Multi-state Essay Examinations (MEE) and the Multi-state Performance Test (MPT), and the Multi-state Bar Examination (MBE).(3) The Board of Bar Examiners shall, thirty (30) days before each examination, report to the Supreme Court information regarding the examination, including, but not limited to, its location, number of applicants, special accommodations, and any other relevant information as determined by the Board.(4) To pass the bar examination in Kentucky, an applicant must achieve a Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) total score equal to or greater than 266. In the calculating UBE total scores, the MEE is weighted 30%, the MPT is weighted 20%, and the MBE is weighted 50%. The National Conference of Bar Examiners will score the MBE, calculate scaled scores on the written portion by the methodology used for all UBE jurisdictions, and combine the scaled scores from the written portion and the MBE to produce UBE total scores. Applicants must sit for all portions of the bar examination in the same administration in order to qualify for admission in Kentucky and earn a portable UBE score that may be transferred to other UBE jurisdictions. Applicants who fail to earn the score required by the Board in five or fewer attempts on Kentucky Bar Examination, including attempts on the UBE taken in Kentucky or any other jurisdiction in February 2021 or after, shall not be permitted to sit for the Kentucky Bar Examination.(5) For any applicant who completes his/her examination in written form, the Board of Bar Examiners at the beginning of the first session shall give each applicant a numbered envelope. The applicant shall write his/her name upon a slip of paper, seal the name in the envelope and return the envelope to the Secretary of the Board. All papers will then be signed by the applicant only with the number upon his/her envelope. When the applicant has completed answering the questions on any given subject, he/she shall deposit his/her written answers thereto with the Secretary of the Board.(6) For any applicant who completes his/her examination in written form, the papers containing the questions and answers given by the applicants to the written portion of the examination will be preserved by the Secretary of the Board for a period of one year from the time that the application for admission has passed upon by the Supreme Court, and longer if so ordered by the Court.(7) Upon recommendation of the Board of Bar Examiners, the Supreme Court may appoint qualified members of the bar, to be known as Bar Examination Graders, to assist the Examiners in the grading of examination papers. Persons so appointed shall hold those positions for terms of one year and until the appointment of their successors.Ky. R. Sup. Ct. SCR 2.080
Amended by order 2020-60, eff. 9/1/2020; Amended by Order 2019-10, eff. 1/1/2021; amended by Order 2018-18, eff. 1/1/2020; Amended by order 2017-18, eff. 1/1/2019; amended by Order 2016-11, 12-29-16, eff. 7/1/2017; amended by Order 2009-12, eff. 1/1/2010; amended by Order 2001-2, eff. 1/1/2002; adopted by Order 88-2, eff. 1/1/1989.