The NH Bar is the New Hampshire Bar Examination. The New Hampshire Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners gives it to people who want to be admitted to practice law in the state. This page sets out the format, fees, filing deadlines and passing score, all checked against official sources. It also links to free practice sets on MBE subjects, ethics, procedure and legal writing skills. Practice with the free NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar practice test on PracticeTestGeeks (7 questions with answer explanations).

Free NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar Exam Study Tools

Interactive NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar Exam resources on PracticeTestGeeks, free to start:

• NH Bar Constitutional Law 1 — 7 questions with answer explanations
• NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar Exam flashcards — review key terms and concepts card by card
• NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar Exam study guide — topic-by-topic overview of what the exam covers
• NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar Exam cheat sheet — one-page printable summary for last-minute review

NH Bar Exam at a Glance

Facts verified Oct 21, 2026 against New Hampshire Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners. Dates that have passed are removed automatically.

What the NH Bar is and how it works

According to New Hampshire Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners, “The MBE is a multiple-choice examination consisting of 200 questions, developed by the NCBE.”^[1]

The New Hampshire Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners uses the New Hampshire Bar Examination to decide who may be admitted to practice law in the state. It is given twice a year, on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February and of July. The next sittings are February 23–24, 2027 and July 27–28, 2027.

You take the exam in person in New Hampshire. It has three parts: the Multistate Bar Examination, with 200 multiple-choice questions; 6 Multistate Essay Examination essays; and 2 Multistate Performance Test tasks. You can handwrite the MEE and MPT or type them on a laptop, which costs an extra $52.50. A total score of 270 or more on a scale of 400 passes.

The exam fee is $995, paid with a single check or money order made out to the State of New Hampshire. Repeaters pay the same $995. The Office of Bar Admissions must receive your application by December 1, 2026 for February 2027, or by May 1, 2027 for July 2027. There is no late filing deadline.

You also have to pass the MPRE before you can be admitted. You can take it before or after the bar exam. If you are applying with a transferred UBE score, it must come from an exam taken within the last 3 years, or 5 years if you have 2 years of active practice. You must also have earned the passing score within 4 UBE attempts. Rules change, so check the court's bar admissions pages before you file.

NH Bar content outline and where to practise each area

The content areas below are copied from the official NH Bar content outline published by New Hampshire Supreme Court Board of Bar Examiners. The right-hand column shows which of our practice sets covers it.

Worked examples: how to reason through NH Bar questions

These are practice questions written for this site, not questions from the real exam. Each explanation shows why the right answer is right and why the others are wrong.

Example 1

Question: Under the Fourth Amendment, which of the following searches is generally permissible without a warrant?

1. A search incident to a lawful arrest
2. A search of a home based solely on probable cause
3. A search of a hotel room when police have a hunch of illegal activity
4. A wiretap of phone conversations between private parties

Answer: A. A search incident to a lawful arrest

Explanation:

A is correct. A search incident to a lawful arrest is a long-recognised exception to the Fourth Amendment warrant requirement. Officers may search the arrestee's person and the area within the arrestee's immediate control, to protect themselves and to keep evidence from being destroyed.

• B is wrong: the home gets the strongest protection. Probable cause alone does not excuse the need for a warrant unless there are exigent circumstances or consent.
• C is wrong: a hunch does not even amount to probable cause, and a hotel guest has a reasonable expectation of privacy in the room.
• D is wrong: listening in on private phone calls is a search that needs a warrant.

Rule to remember: a warrantless search is presumed unreasonable unless a specific exception applies, and each exception only reaches as far as its purpose.

Example 2

Question: Which factor BEST indicates mastery of dispute resolution & mediation in NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar?

1. The ability to adapt knowledge and skills to varying contexts while maintaining standards
2. Years of experience in a single setting
3. Number of certifications held
4. Speed of task completion

Answer: A. The ability to adapt knowledge and skills to varying contexts while maintaining standards

Explanation:

A is correct. The best sign of real skill in dispute resolution and mediation is being able to apply what you know to different disputes while still meeting professional standards. Parties, stakes and settings change from case to case, so judgment that carries over matters more than routine.

• B is wrong: years in a single setting can build narrow habits rather than flexible skill.
• C is wrong: certifications show that training was completed, not how well someone performs.
• D is wrong: working fast can get in the way of careful listening and building options.

Rule to remember: when a question asks for the best indicator of skill, choose adaptable work that meets standards over proxies like time, credentials or speed. This is a general skills question. The bar exam itself tests law through the MBE, MEE and MPT.

Example 3

Question: Which client communication & advocacy technique is MOST appropriate when delivering complex information in NH Bar - New Hampshire Bar?

1. Breaking information into manageable segments and confirming understanding
2. Presenting all information at once to save time
3. Using only written materials without verbal explanation
4. Assuming the audience will research details independently

Answer: A. Breaking information into manageable segments and confirming understanding

Explanation:

A is correct. Breaking complex information into manageable parts and checking that the client understands each one lets the client make informed decisions. That is the purpose of a lawyer's duty to explain a matter.

• B is wrong: giving everything at once overloads the listener and buries the points that matter.
• C is wrong: written materials alone leave no room to answer questions or notice confusion.
• D is wrong: leaving the client to research the details does not meet the lawyer's own duty to communicate.

Rule to remember: good client communication is interactive. Use clear segments, plain language and a check that the client understood. The same habit helps on the MPT, where the task may ask you to write for a client rather than a court.

How to use these practice tests

Start with the official material. Read the Board of Bar Examiners' bar examination page and the NCBE descriptions of the MBE, MEE and MPT so you know what each part asks for. Then take a set without studying first, such as NH Bar Constitutional Law, to see where you stand.

• MBE: rotate through Constitutional Law, Civil & Criminal Procedures and Evidence Collection & Preservation. For every miss, write the rule in your own words and note which fact should have pointed you to it.
• MEE: turn missed questions into short timed essays. Practise on laptop or by hand, whichever you will use on test day.
• MPT: use Legal Research & Case Analysis and Client Communication & Advocacy to build the habit of pulling rules from given sources and writing for the stated audience.
• Ethics: use Ethics & Professional Responsibility alongside your MPRE preparation.

In the final weeks, switch from topic drills to mixed sets taken under timed conditions, and go back to the official NCBE sample materials.