All Announcements
July 2024 Bar Exam Application is Now OPEN!!!
The July 2024 Bar Exam Application is now Open. The following are several highlights or features that have been updated for this application:
- Each registered applicant will have their own User Homepage, which will include:
- A saved copy of the latest version of their application prior to, and after submission of their application;
- The ability to supplement applications anytime through a document upload button and amend application button;
- Important notices and updates communicated directly into their user homepage;
- A list of requirements that applicant has yet to satisfy and has satisfied;
- Reminders and notices to help applicants complete all tasks for the exam on time
- Applicants will have direct communication access with Admissions staff through an internal message system;
- Applicants will have direct communications with IT support through an internal message system;
- OSB Staff will send reference forms directly to applicant's references instead of applicant needing to make such contact, but to ensure a complete file, applicants should contact references to verify they responded;
- OSB Staff will send and recover all employment reference forms, but to ensure a complete file, applicants should contact references to verify they responded;
- OSB staff will send graduation certificates to the law school registrar for each applicant; however, applicants will be responsible for ensuring that the registrar's office returns the completed graduation certificate to OSB Admissions;
- All application data will be stored in an electronic application that only the applicant has access to until submitted to the OSB;.
- Finally, applicants have the ability to easily fill out subsequent documents due to their unique User Homepage storing their data for future use.
There are two main components to the the July application: (1) An applicants qualification application that demonstrates that they qualify for to sit for the exam and meet necessary admission requirements; and (2) a character and fitness application that ensures the applicant is qualified for admission following passage of the bar exam.
If an examinee will seek ADA accommodations, at a minimum, Document 1 of the Accommodation Packet must be uploaded using the "Document Upload" button on the examinee's User Homepage. Without such submission, the application will be considered incomplete.
Exam applicants who have any issues with the new application, please use the Tech Support button in the lower right of the website.
We wish you the best in your exam studies and this new admission process.
Sincerely,
Oregon State Board of Bar Examiners
OSB Admissions Staff
July 2024 Application Deadlines & Fees for All Applicants
Exam Application Submission Deadlines: The timely filing deadline for the July 2024 Oregon Bar Exam (UBE) is 11:59PM (Pacific Time Zone) on April 15, 2024. If an applicant misses the timely filing deadline, they may still apply on or before the late filing deadline of 11:59 PM (Pacific Time Zone) May 15, 2024. This late filing deadline may be extended by the Chair of the Board under certain conditions. Potential applicants will be notified of such an extension through this Admission Portal in this Announcement Box.
Exam Application Fees: All applicants, who are not admitted in any other jurisdiction, and submit their application on or before April 15, 2024, must pay the standard application fee of $750, regardless of whether they are a repeat examinee. If an applicant previously applied for admission through the bar exam within the last 12 months, and the applicant paid a $600 investigation fee with their prior application, then the applicant will only owe a $300 investigation fee for a total application fee of $1,050. If an applicant is a current member of another jurisdiction, was previously admitted in another jurisdiction, or has a pending application to another jurisdiction, and has not previously paid an investigation of $600 within the prior 12 months, then the applicant must pay an investigation fee of $600, for a total application fee of $1,350.
Late Fees: Any applicant who files a July 2024 bar exam application after April 15, 2024, but files it on or before May 15, 2024 must pay a late of $375 in addition to their applicable application fee ($750, $1,050, or $1,350).
Accommodations: Applicants seeking ADA Accommodations must complete the Accommodation Request Form (Doc 1 in the accommodation form library at the bottom of the Applications & Information page) and must state in Document 1 that they have sought supporting documentation and will take all reasonable steps to submit the supporting documentation no later than April 15, 2024, or as soon thereafter as they receive the supporting documentation. Any repeat applicant who received accommodations in a prior exam, and wishes to receive those same accommodations, may submit Document 1 with their application, and state in Document 1 that they are relying on the documentation that the Board based their prior accommodation decision upon. Regardless of whether the applicant has previously sought accommodations, the Document 1 form must be uploaded using the "Upload Document" button on the User Homepage before they may submit their February 2024 Exam Application.
New Bar Exam Application System (General Instructions)
All applicants wishing to take the July 2024 Oregon Bar Exam must register as an applicant here. Registration is free. It will ask for information to help identify you, including your NCBE number. It will also ask about any prior applications for admission in Oregon or elsewhere, if applicable. Once registration is complete, you will be given access to your User Homepage.
From your User Homepage, you will be able to access the Bar Exam Application Portal. Applicants must fill out their bar exam application from this portal. The portal saves an applicant's progress anytime they leave the application, and the applicant can re-start where they left off. Applicants are required to answer every question in the application. If a question does not apply to you, you must type N/A or another suggested response into the relevant field.
Applicants are required to give a complete work history for the last 10-years, or up to the point where they turned 18, whichever is shorter. There can be no gaps in employment history. To avoid gaps input the month and year of your prior job's end date as the month and year your new job starts. If you were unemployed for a period of time, add a new employer and state the correct month and year that the unemployment began and the month and year the unemployment ended (same month and year as job that ended unemployment), and list the employer as “Unemployed.” Likewise, applicants must give a five year residential history, with no gaps in time between residences, so make sure that your prior residence ends the same month and year that your new residence begins.
For questions related to past conduct or behavior, if you answer affirmatively to any question, you must provide a narrative detail or explanation about the conduct, event or circumstances that caused you to answer affirmatively. After you have submitted your application, you will have the ability and the need to upload documentation to supplement your application, corroborate your explanation, or provide further insight into how you have changed from the person who engaged in the conduct that caused you to answer affirmatively, and describe the process that brought about said change, if any. Applicants with a history of conduct or behavior issues should not wait for the Admissions Department to contact them for more information. Instead, we strongly recommend that applicants be proactive and send relevant materials to the Admissions Department, which will expedite the review of any potential issues, and avoid delays in their ultimate admission in Oregon and elsewhere.
After answering all questions, you may submit your application after paying the correct fees, and agreeing to the terms of the Declaration, Release and Authorization Form allowing the OSB to contact third parties to verify information in the Application.
Once you have submitted your application, you can sign and upload other required forms. These include an acknowledgement of the Oregon Supreme Court’s Statement on Professionalism, and a Declaration for early exam takers (examinees taking the exam prior to graduation) that will be signed by their Dean of Students. These additional documents have the same deadline as the Graduation Certificates, which must be submitted no later than July 15, 2024.
One advantage of the new User Homepage is the messages system through which applicants can communicate directly with the admissions department processor responsible for their file. Additionally, they can contact IT support directly for any technical issues. If something is missing from an application, or if follow-up is required, applicants will be notified by OSB or IT staff through their User Homepage.
We hope your application experience is a positive one, and we look forward to working with you.
OSB Admissions Staff
Accommodation Request Instructions
Accommodation Request Instructions
The information that follows is intended to help applicants complete a request for accommodations for the July 2024 bar examination. In order to submit a request, applicants must first register as an applicant who will seek accommodations. Upon selecting this option in the registration process, Document 1 of the ADA Accommodation Packet will be prepopulated on the User Homepage for the applicant. There is no other location in which an applicant may receive document 1. However, you will need to use the the Browse Forms link (4th link under Bar Examination heading in the Applications & Information Page of the Admissions Web Portal) and print the relevant remaining Accommodation Forms related to your particular condition. These instructions include hyperlinks to all possible forms, and will help you identify which forms are needed for a complete submission. The deadline to submit a timely accommodations request that will be part of the Oregon Bar Exam plan is April 15, 2024.
IMPORTANT PRELIMINARY NOTES: Some of the required forms must be completed by third parties and returned to you for submission to the Board of Bar Examiners. Make certain to request completion of these forms by the third parties in a timely manner so that you are able to submit your request by the deadline. Accommodations are tested at a different site than standard testing examinees. The site is near Portland, Oregon; thus, if you are awarded accommodations, know that you will have to make arrangements for travel to Portland, and secure lodging for the days of your examination. The following structure applies to requests for additional testing time: (1) Applicants receiving 100% - 133% of standard time (an additional 0% - 33% time) will take a two-day exam that has the exam day start at approximately 7:00 AM with each exam day ending at approximately 5:30 PM; (2) Applicants receiving approximately 150% of standard time (an additional 50% of testing time) will take a three-day exam, with the first two exam days beginning at approximately 6:45 AM and ending at approximately 5:00 PM. The third day will start at the same time as the first two days, but the day will end at approximately 1:15 PM; and (3) Examinees receiving more than 150% time will have a four-day exam, where the exam days start at approximately 8:00 AM and end at approximately 4:30 PM. Finally, examinees with three and four day exams will have their MBE sessions split into four sessions of 50 questions each. At the end of sessions two and four, applicants will take approximately 15-minutes to transfer their bubbled answers from the current session to the answer sheets from the earlier applicable session so that the NBCE need only score on scantron sheet for the 100-questions applicable to their split sessions. Applicant's whose condition or disability makes such score transfers extremely difficult should request assistance with this process as part of their accommodation packet.
Step 1: Disability Verification Form. Locate the correct Disability Verification Form based on your applicable condition or disability. Complete the top portion yourself, and have a qualified medical professional complete the remainder of the form and return it to you for submission to the Board of Bar Examiners. Your qualified medical professional should attach to the completed verification form a comprehensive evaluation report and/or relevant records, as specified in the form. Here are the links to the 5 different types of verification forms:
Doc 4 - Learning Disability Verification Form
Doc 5 - Attention Deficit - Hyperactivity Disorder - Verification Form
Doc 6 - Psychological Disability Verification Form
Doc 7 - Visual Disability Verification Form
Doc 8 - Physical Disability Verification Form
Step 2: Accommodations History. Gather documentation of your history of accommodations requests, if any. This should include Doc 2 - Law School Verification Form, as well as documentation from each educational institution or testing agency from which you requested accommodations, and whether the requests were granted or denied. Complete the top portion of the form and request that the entity complete the rest of the form and return it to you for inclusion in your packet. Alternatively, you may provide other proof of your accommodations history, such as a copy of the letter(s) you received from the entity notifying you of the specific accommodations granted or denied or some record from the institution that establishes the accommodations you received. The proof should identify the time frame (e.g., third year of law school) and the nature of the disability (e.g., AD/HD) for which any accommodations were granted or denied. If you received accommodations as a result of an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) or a 504 Plan, please provide copies of all IEPs or 504 Plans. If one of the institutions you requested accommodations from was another State Bar, complete the top portion of Doc 3 - Statement of Jurisdiction Form, and send it to the relevant Jurisdiction for them to complete and send back to you.
Step 3: Education Transcripts/Testing Performance. If your disability affected your education, ability to learn or performance on tests, then provide transcripts and scores on all significant standardized tests. Attach copies of your undergraduate and law school transcripts and your LSAC Academic Summary Report. Photocopies of transcripts are acceptable for this purpose. You can obtain your LSAC Academic Summary Report by logging in to your LSAC account at www.lsac.org. Click on “Transcripts,” then click on “Academic Summary Report,” and print the report. If you have trouble obtaining the report, contact an LSAC representative at 215-968-1001. While not required, transcripts or report cards from elementary, middle school, and high school may be useful in providing evidence of symptoms and impairment present during childhood for developmental disorders, learning disorders and AD/HD.
Step 4: Documents Packet. In addition to the documents listed above, all applicants seeking accommodations must complete Doc 1 - Accommodation Request Form, which they can find at their User Homepage. This will identify their condition, how it affects their daily life and states the specific accommodations that the applicant is requesting for the bar exam.
Complete and sign all relevant documents, and save as separate PDFs on your computer. Use the following naming nomenclature when saving the PDFs:
Doc 1: Request for Accommodations
Doc 2 (if applicable) School Verification.
Doc 3 (if applicable) “Jurisdiction Verification.
Docs 4 – 8 (whichever one is applicable) “Medical Professional Verification.
Step 5: Upload to Homepage. Upload the full accommodation request packet through the “Upload Document” button on your user homepage and identify documents using the naming scheme above. . You must upload your accommodation request packet before you submit your Exam Application; otherwise, you will not be permitted to submit your exam application, because it will be considered incomplete. For our exam planning to be able accommodate all applicants with accommodations, we need to know at the early planning stages what accommodations will be sought and how many proctors we will need for the accommodated exams. If you are close to the filing deadline (April 15), you will need to submit at least Doc 1 as an initial submission, together with a written explanation of the actions you have taken in furtherance of Steps 1 – 3 above, and that you will provide the required documentation as soon as it is received from a third party.
We look forward to processing your accommodation requests in a fair and efficient manner.
OSB Admissions Staff
Midnight Filing Deadlines for July 2024 Bar Exam
For any applicant who did not take the February 2024 Oregon Bar Exam, the following deadlines apply:
Timely filing deadline = 11:59 p.m. on April 15, 2024
Late filing deadline = 11:59 p.m. on May 15, 2024
For any applicant who failed the February 2024 Oregon Bar Exam, the following deadline applies:
Timely filing deadline = 11:59 p.m. on May 15, 2024
Current Member Seating Applicants: No current member seating has been announced as of yet. If it is available, it will be announced after the BBX meeting on May 24, 2024. If member seating is allowed, the application will open on May 27, 2024, and the filing deadline will be May 31, 2024.