How Do You Get Admitted to the Arizona Bar?

The Arizona Supreme Court's Attorney Admissions Unit is responsible for processing all applications for admission, and it supports the Court's Committee on Examinations and Committee on Character and Fitness.

Admission carries membership in the State Bar of Arizona, a mandatory (integrated) bar: every member pays an annual membership fee under Rule 32.

Our research did not capture the dollar amount of the 2026–27 membership fee; check the State Bar's membership fee page for the current amount.

Arizona gives the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) — the Multistate Essay Examination, two Multistate Performance Test tasks and the Multistate Bar Examination — coordinated by NCBE over two days in February and July.

For exams from July 2023 through February 2027, a total of 270 points out of a possible 400 are required for admission in Arizona.

February 2027 is the last legacy UBE administration in the state; from July 2027 Arizona gives the NextGen UBE, whose passing score had not been announced as of October 2026.

For the July 2026 exam the regular filing deadline was March 31, with a late deadline of April 30; for February 2027 the deadlines are October 31 and November 30, per NCBE's jurisdiction profile.

Since January 1, 2026, Arizona Supreme Court Rule 35(g)(3) requires everyone taking and failing a bar exam after four attempts (withdrawing mid-exam counts as a failure) to request permission from the Committee on Examinations before testing again.

Our research did not establish the full education-based eligibility rules for exam applicants; the Attorney Admissions Unit's application instructions govern those.

Arizona requires a scaled MPRE score of 85.

For exam applicants, the passing score must be earned within eight years of the successful bar exam, or within the window for taking the oath of admission.

The MPRE itself is NCBE's two-hour, 60-question multiple-choice exam offered three times a year, and it measures knowledge of established standards of lawyer conduct rather than personal ethical values.

A background investigation is part of the admission process in every jurisdiction; NCBE runs investigations for many jurisdictions but makes no character and fitness decisions — each jurisdiction decides who is fit to practice.

In Arizona, that decision belongs to the Supreme Court's Committee on Character and Fitness, which makes every effort to complete all investigations within four months after receipt of a complete application.

Our research did not establish how the Committee weighs individual histories; questions about a specific record belong with the Committee through the Attorney Admissions Unit.

Yes, two ways.

Admission on motion is reciprocity-based: the applicant must have been admitted by bar exam in another US jurisdiction, hold an ABA-accredited JD, and have actively practiced law in the United States for three of the prior five years.

The admission-on-motion fee is $2,000.

Alternatively, Arizona accepts a transferred UBE score of 270 or higher — 273 before the July 2023 administration — earned within the prior five years; the application fee is $875, a score that fell short in the testing jurisdiction can still transfer if it meets Arizona's passing score, and transferring does not skip Arizona's character and fitness review.

Since July 2026, Arizona has also accepted transferred NextGen UBE scores of 620 or higher.

The bar exam fee is $680 for first-time takers who are not attorneys, plus a separate character-and-fitness fee whose amount our research did not capture.

NCBE's jurisdiction profile lists a $125 laptop fee, and Arizona's admissions FAQ directs laptop software payment to the vendor, ILG Exam360, rather than to the court.

Bar-exam and Lawyer Apprentice Program admittees also pay a $185 Supreme Court admission fee at the end of the process.

Scores from the February exam are scheduled to be released on or before the second Friday in May, and July scores on or before the second Friday in October.

Our research did not capture a current Arizona first-time pass rate; the admissions office posts exam statistics as PDFs per exam on its statistics page.

Arizona's last legacy UBE administration is February 2027, and NCBE's adoption table (updated September 25, 2026) schedules Arizona's first NextGen UBE for July 2027.

The NextGen passing score had not been announced as of October 2026 — NCBE's table lists it as to be announced.

For scale, NCBE says most jurisdictions that have set a NextGen passing score landed between 610 and 620 on a 500–750 scale, which should not be compared directly to legacy 400-scale scores like 270.

The NextGen runs nine hours over a day and a half and reports one combined score rather than separate multiple-choice and written scores.

No. Arizona law is not tested; local law is covered instead by the required online Course on Arizona Law.

Arizona is therefore one of the UBE jurisdictions that pairs the portable exam with a state-specific law component.

Completing the course is a prerequisite for the Committee on Character and Fitness to make a final admission decision, so it sits between a passing score and admission rather than inside the exam itself.

Arizona's admissions FAQ lists five admission routes, and two of them are unusual.

Under the Arizona Lawyer Apprentice Program (ALAP), applicants who score 260 to 269 on the UBE — just under the 270 passing score — can practice law for two years in rural Arizona or a public law office under the supervision of a qualified Arizona licensed lawyer.

The Government Law Admission Program (GLAP) is a separate route for government lawyers; our research captured its existence and audience but not its detailed requirements, which sit with the Attorney Admissions Unit.

Yes.

Arizona permits Alternative Business Structures (ABS): law firms with nonlawyer owners or decision-makers, licensed under Supreme Court Rules 31 and 31.1(c).

As of December 31, 2025, Arizona had 152 active licensed ABS entities.

This is employer context, not an admission route — it does not change how a lawyer qualifies for the bar, but it means not every Arizona firm a candidate might join is owned solely by lawyers.