Texas

Verified

Imported 2026-09-27 — not yet reviewed; confirm with the admitting authority.

How to apply

Admitting agencyTexas Board of Law Examiners

Application portalApply online

Character & fitnessThis jurisdiction does not use NCBE's character and fitness services; please contact Texas for filing instructions. MPRE/character timing: character & fitness application should be filed with the bar exam application by the jurisdiction's filing deadline; most jurisdictions require the NCBE Character and Fitness Application to be submitted online via ncbex.org regardless of whether NCBE conducts the investigation.

Exam & score rules

Exam typeUBE (legacy); NextGen UBE first administration July 2028

UBE min scoreLegacy UBE: 270; NextGen UBE: 620

MPRE requiredRequired, minimum score 85

Education requirementABA-approved JD required: No; Alternatives accepted: Court-approved law school; certain unapproved law school (additional: None for Court-approved schools; for unapproved schools, admission in another state, specified number of years in practice.); Foreign-educated graduates eligible: Yes (Additional education at a Court-approved law school, practice of law in foreign jurisdiction or a US jurisdiction)

Other required components

Local law componentYes - Texas Law Course, required within 5 years of passing the bar exam (Rule 5), in addition to MPRE (min 85) and other Rule 2/13 requirements.

Other pathsAdmission on motion (5 of past 7 years, non-reciprocity, ABA JD NOT required) available; diploma-privilege admittees eligible for admission on motion.

Transfer options

Accepts transferred UBEYes (accepts legacy UBE: Yes; NextGen UBE: Yes); max score age: 5 years

UBE transfer acceptedyes

Score age limit5 years

Admission on motion

Allows AOMyes

Reciprocal onlyno

Years of practice5 of past 7

AOM fee$1,040

Other requirementsMPRE (85) required; ABA-approved JD NOT required (Rule 13 exemptions exist); must complete Texas Law Component (since Dec. 2019); diploma-privilege admittees ARE eligible. Formal name: Admission Without Examination (AWOX).

Official AOM source

Essays & sample answers

Publishes past essaysyes (strong example, both pre- and post-UBE)

Years availablePre-UBE Texas essay questions confirmed back to at least February 2009 (individual AM/PM session PDFs, e.g., Q_2009_Feb_AM, Q_2010_July_AM, Q_2011_July_AM, 2019_July_AM); post-UBE 'Selected Answers' and MEE questions confirmed through at least July 2024 (2024_july_mee_quest)

Sample answersyes ('Questions and Selected Answers' page)

Exam typeUBE (adopted July 2021; prior to that, Texas-specific essay exam + Procedure & Evidence questions)

Terms of useExplicit restrictive copyright notice on question PDFs: '© [year] Texas Board of Law Examiners. This material, or any portion hereof, may not be reprinted without the advance written permission of the Texas Board of Law Examiners.' Selected-answers page also states materials are 'available only for ... limited, personal ... ' use and 'not intended to' establish legal positions.

Essay archive / sample answers Essay archive / sample answers

Texas Board of Law Examiners (ble.texas.gov) is a strong, long-running example with both a legacy essay archive and current Selected Answers/MEE page, though reuse is explicitly restricted by copyright notice.

Fees & deadlines

Feesfirst_time_applicant: $450 / $640 / $1,290; attorney_applicant: $1,190 / $1,290; repeater: $545; late_fee_note: Late fees reflected in the higher figure(s) shown for the filing-deadline fields above where jurisdiction publishes a two-tier fee; laptop_fee: $140

Application deadlinesjuly_2026_regular: Feb. 1; july_2026_late: April 1 / May 1; february_2027_regular: Sep. 1; february_2027_late: Nov. 1 / Dec. 1

Next exam datesUBE jurisdictions administer the exam on the NCBE-set dates, generally the last Tue/Wed of Feb and July; New York has confirmed July 28-29, 2026 for the July 2026 administration. Confirm exact per-jurisdiction dates on the agency site; NCBE filing-deadline data above is confirmed for July 2026 / February 2027.

Possible multi-bar pathways

Researched examples that name Texas. Discovery content only — not eligibility approval.

Texas Admission Without Examination (AWOX) + MPRE 85 floor

Texas allows AOM (called AWOX) from ANY US jurisdiction (Texas's reciprocal_only = No), based on 5 of past 7 years' active, substantial practice, without needing a portable UBE score at all — useful for attorneys coming from non-UBE states like California-adjacent markets, Louisiana, etc. (though CA/LA-admitted attorneys must still independently qualify on the years-of-practice/ABA-grad criteria).

Official sources

Source 1 Source 2 Source 3

NextGen UBE first administration announced for July 2028; Legacy UBE final administration February 2028. Texas permits admission via Court-approved (non-ABA) law schools without added requirements, and via other unapproved schools with added out-of-state-admission/practice requirements.

VerdictUp is a study aid and does not provide legal advice or guarantee admission. Confirm with the admitting authority.