How Do You Get Admitted to the New Hampshire Bar?

Bar admission in New Hampshire is run by the New Hampshire Supreme Court Office of Bar Admissions, under Supreme Court Rule 42.

Rule 42 sets out the ways in: by examination, by transferred UBE score, by motion without examination and, for Daniel Webster Scholars, by completing the honors program.

The New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners appears in the admission pages as the body that established the MPRE passing score.

New Hampshire gives the Uniform Bar Exam.

NCBE's UBE consists of the Multistate Essay Examination, two Multistate Performance Test tasks and the Multistate Bar Examination, weighted 30%, 20% and 50%, with total scores reported on a 400-point scale.

New Hampshire requires all three components to be taken in New Hampshire.

The state's minimum passing UBE score is 270, and a UBE jurisdiction's passing score applies both to applicants who test in the jurisdiction and to applicants who transfer a score in — which is why the same 270 governs UBE transfers to New Hampshire.

NCBE's jurisdiction page lists New Hampshire as requiring a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school to sit for the bar exam.

Our research did not establish the rest of New Hampshire's eligibility rules — the Office of Bar Admissions' instructions govern, so read them before you apply.

New Hampshire requires a scaled MPRE score of 79.

The New Hampshire Board of Bar Examiners established that passing level, and the exam can be taken before or after the bar exam, but it must be passed before admission.

NCBE, which writes the MPRE, reports MPRE scaled scores from 50 to 150 and leaves the passing score to each jurisdiction.

New Hampshire does not use NCBE's character-and-fitness services; NCBE's jurisdiction page directs applicants to contact New Hampshire for filing instructions.

A Committee on Character and Fitness reviews applicants.

Our research did not establish what the committee weighs, when in the application cycle the review happens, or how it treats specific issues in an applicant's history — those questions belong with the Office of Bar Admissions and the committee.

Out-of-state lawyers have two routes.

New Hampshire accepts transferred UBE scaled scores of 270 or higher earned within the past 3 years, or within 3 to 5 years with 2 years of active practice; the application fee is $995.

Admission on motion without examination, under Supreme Court Rule 42(XI), costs $2,500, requires the MPRE first and depends on the applicant's jurisdiction — New Hampshire works from a reciprocal list, with special rules for Maine and Vermont.

Maine and Vermont lawyers filing under Rule 42(XI)(b) or (c) must first complete 15 hours of continuing legal education on New Hampshire practice and procedure.

NCBE lists New Hampshire's admission-on-motion practice requirement as 5 of the past 7 or the past 3 years; the pages we read do not break that listing down by rule subsection, so confirm the exact years-of-practice test with the Office of Bar Admissions.

A transferred UBE score does not skip New Hampshire's own character-and-fitness review.

The bar exam application fee is $995.

Applications are due May 1 for the July exam and December 1 for the February exam.

Transferred UBE score applications carry the same $995 fee, admission on motion under Rule 42(XI) costs $2,500, and Daniel Webster Scholar applications are $995, with January 15 the deadline for graduates seeking admission upon graduation.

Our research did not find a current New Hampshire bar pass rate or a results-release timeline; check both with the Office of Bar Admissions.

New Hampshire will implement the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination in July 2028, and NCBE's adoption table lists New Hampshire among the jurisdictions scheduled to start the NextGen UBE that month.

Nationally, NCBE says the current exam — the legacy UBE — will be administered through February 2028.

NCBE has announced a NextGen passing score of 620 for New Hampshire, on the NextGen's own scale, which runs from 500 to 750 and reports one score.

NCBE cautions that legacy UBE scores and NextGen scores should not be compared directly.

Supreme Court Rule 42(XII) makes graduates of UNH Law's Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program eligible for admission to the New Hampshire bar without taking the bar exam.

Graduates must apply within one year of completing the program, pay $995 and pass the MPRE; those seeking admission upon graduation file by January 15.