July 2025 | Michael Fechter
Roughly 3,000 would-be barristers will descend on the Tampa Convention Center on July 29-30 for the Florida Bar Exam. With a few exceptions, Tampa has hosted the exam, held each February and July, for more than three decades, says Michele Gavagni, executive director of the Florida Board of Bar Examiners.
It is considered centrally located in the state for test-takers, and convention center staffers have become adept at providing an efficient and secure environment. While there have been “isolated” examples of cheating over the years, “our goal is to prevent the opportunity for violating the exam rules of conduct during the exam by closely monitoring the items permitted in the examination room and vigilantly proctoring the exam room prior to the start of, during, and at the end of each exam session,” she says.
Passing the exam is required before applying for Bar membership, but Florida does not limit the number of times someone can take the exam.
Since it is closest to graduation season, the July exam draws more first-time applicants than winter. In February, only 65% of the 553 first-timers passed. Last summer, 2,289 people from accredited law schools in Florida took the exam for the first time, with 76.6% passing.