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Hawaii Bar Exam Information

Hawaii Bar ExamHawaii bar exam format, subjects, scoring, pass rates, dates, and bar review course options. Comprehensive resources to help pass the Hawaii Bar Exam.

AmeriBar’s Hawaii Bar Review Course has helped students pass the bar exam for over 15 years.

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Hawaii Bar Exam Format

Overview

The Hawaii Bar Exam is administered over two days.

Day 1

The state portion of the exam is administered on the first day of the Hawaii bar exam. The state portion of the bar exam consists of the Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”), the Hawaii Legal Ethics Test, and the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”). You will have 4 hours to answer the 6 MEE questions and 15 Hawaii Legal Ethics Test multiple choice questions. You will have three hours to answer two MPT questions.

Day 2

The Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”) is administered on the second day of the Hawaii bar exam. The MBE is a multiple-choice test containing 200 questions. The MBE is split into a morning and afternoon session. Each session consists of 100 questions. You have three hours to complete each session.

Course Video on Hawaii Bar Exam Format

Useful Links

  1. Hawaii Bar Review Course – AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Hawaii bar exam for over 15 years.
  2. HawaiiBarExam.com – Detailed Information and resources for Hawaii bar exam takers.
  3. MBEQuestionBank.com  – Online question bank with over 2500 simulated MBE questions.

Exam Dates

  • July 30-31, 2019
  • February 25-26, 2020
  • July 28-29, 2020
  • February 23-24, 2021

Hawaii Bar Admissions

Board of Examiners of the Supreme Court of Hawaii
Ali’iolani Hale, Room 103
417 S. King Street
Honolulu, HI 96813-2912

Hawaii MPRE Score Requirement

Hawaii requires bar exam applicants to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (“MPRE”). You must score 85 or higher on the MPRE in order to pass in Hawaii.

Scoring/Grading and Results

In order to pass the Hawaii bar exam, you must score at least 134 on the MBE’s 200-point scale. The scores of the exam sections are weighted as follows: state portion 50% and MBE 50%. Hawaii makes bar exam results available approximately 10 to 12 weeks after the exam.

Reciprocity

Basically, although admission on motion is not generally available, Hawaii allows it on specific and limited grounds for:

  • full-time faculty members of the University of Hawaii Law School;
  • full time, active duty, uniformed service, judge advocates for uncompensated representation of certain military-related clients; and
  • lawyers employed by a non-profit legal services provider eligible for indigent legal assistance funds.

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Heidi

Thomas Cooley Law School

Heidi was unsuccessful twice with Barbri before enrolling in tutoring.

“Well, the one thing I did do differently was not use Barbri… I used the AmeriBar materials and had the one-on-one tutorial for the essays. I do think it probably made a large difference in how I handled and approached my essays.”

Hawaii Bar Review Course Books

Hawaii Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Hawaii bar exam for over 17 years. 

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AmeriBar Students

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Well, the one thing I did do differently was not use Barbri... I used the AmeriBar materials and had the one-on-one tutorial for the essays. I do think it probably made a large difference in how I handled and approached my essays.
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I really appreciate everything AmeriBar has done for me. It was probably the best decision I’ve made in the past five to six years of my life. If I didn’t pass this time, I wasn’t going to take the bar exam again. Without AmeriBar it would have been another disappointment. My scores went up 10-15 points in each section. The only thing I did differently this time is use an AmeriBar tutor.
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So, I can’t emphasize enough how much I would recommend AmeriBar to any student. I was able to pass the bar on the first attempt, even in a state that I didn’t go to law school in, and I feel like AmeriBar was a very significant contributing factor to my success on the bar exam.
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You are also taking a step in the right direction by considering AmeriBar for your test materials.
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The first time I took the bar exam, I took the Barbri program, which was a big, huge program where you don’t get a lot of individualized attention. However, the second time I took a bar preparation course, I took it through AmeriBar. AmeriBar really provided the one-on-one help that I needed to pass the bar.
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I felt so prepared and so well-versed in every area of the law for the exam. I never felt that way with BAR/BRI the first couple of times I took it. I can’t say enough about how well-prepared I felt and how relieved I was after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.
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I would tell law students considering AmeriBar they should go with AmeriBar because the materials are put together in a superior way. They read much more smoothly. I think they’re put together in a more sequential and chronological way. They are far easier to comprehend, and learning it in a linear sequential way, the way AmeriBar has them set out, really helped me pass.
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Hawaii Bar Exam Subjects

Hawaii Essay Subjects

  • Business Associations
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Family Law
  • Trusts, Wills, and Estates
  • UCC Article 2 – Secured Transactions
  • All MBE Subjects
  • Hawaii Ethics (quiz)

MBE Subjects

  • Civil Procedure
  • Constitutional Law
  • Contracts and Sales
  • Criminal Law and Procedure
  • Evidence
  • Property
  • Torts
MBE Question of the Day

Jennifer

Regent Law School

“I felt so prepared and so well-versed in every area of the law for the exam. I never felt that way with Barbri the first couple of times I took it. I can’t say enough about how well-prepared I felt and how relieved I was after failing twice to come back and just nail it after six years of absence from the law.”
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Hawaii Bar Exam Statewide Pass Rates

Exam DateFirstRepeatTotal
July 201778%43%72%
February 201770%38%59%
July 201676%38%69%
February 201684%46%73%
July 201575%33%69%
February 201579%42%62%
July 201475%29%69%
February 201472%44%64%
July 201383%47%78%
February 201377%46%66%

Hawaii Bar Review Course Books

Hawaii Bar Review Course

AmeriBar has been helping students pass the Hawaii bar exam for over 17 years. 

Learn More