Florida Bar Exam Essay Trends (2015–2025): High Tested Areas -

The Florida Bar Examiners follow patterns. When you look at enough years back-to-back, the essays stop feeling unpredictable and start revealing a clear rhythm—certain subjects cycle in and out, certain hybrids repeat almost verbatim, and some issues show up every single year.

Below, you’ll find a complete ten-year dataset of every Florida Bar Exam essay question from 2015 – 2025. This raw table lets you see real patterns — which subjects repeat, how often ethics appears, and which topics cluster together. It’s the same data we use when building predictions, guides, and study plans, and now you can review it directly and decide where to focus your time.

After that, we highlight the recurring themes and high-frequency issues that appear again and again. Together, these sections give you both the raw data and the insight you need to understand what the Florida Bar actually tests.

Florida Bar Exam Essay Data (2015–2025): Full 10-Year Essay Question Dataset

How to Use This Dataset
Use the search bar to filter by subject or issue (“Miranda,” “Homestead,” “Equal Protection”).
Sort by year or topic to spot patterns.
Focus on rule clusters that repeat — those are the ones most likely to appear again.

Recurring Themes and High-Frequency Issues

IMPORTANT NOTES (Read Before Interpreting the Data)

Dependency Removed From the Exam

Dependency (juvenile dependency, abuse/neglect, GAL issues, shelter petitions, and DCF-initiated TPR cases) used to be a standalone essay subject, but it was removed from the Florida Bar Exam subject outline starting in July 2020.

Older essays include Dependency fact patterns — current exams do not.

(Note: Family Law still includes TPR as a family-law statutory ground for terminating parental rights, so it can appear inside a Family Law essay. It is no longer a separate “Dependency” subject.)

Trusts Shifted to Multiple-Choice

Historically, Trusts appeared in essay questions.
But beginning in July 2023, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners announced that:

Trusts
UCC Article 3
UCC Article 9

are primarily tested through the Florida multiple-choice section, not essays.

You may still see Trusts issues folded into a multi-subject fact pattern (usually involving homestead), but standalone Trusts essays are now rare.

UCC Articles 3 & 9 Are No Longer Regular Essay Subjects

The FBBE explicitly shifted UCC Articles 3 and 9 to MCQs.
Older exams contain full-length secured transactions or negotiability essays, but now candidates should expect:

negotiability
holder-in-due-course
attachment/perfection
PMSIs
priority
commercial reasonableness
deficiency judgments

…on the MCQs not full essay questions.

Access the official Florida Board of Bar Examiners’ released essay questions and selected answers here.

What Is Tested the Most on the Florida Bar Exam?

Across the last 10 years (2015–2025), essay frequency breaks down roughly as:

Con Law (FL + Fed): ~25%
Criminal Law/Crim Pro: ~17%
Real Property: ~14%
Family Law (not Dependency): ~12%
Contracts / UCC Article 2: ~12%
Torts: ~11%
Trusts + Wills/Estates: ~8–10% combined
UCC Articles 3 & 9: ~5%

These numbers are helpful — but remember:
Trusts and UCC Articles 3 & 9 are now MC-heavy subjects.

Past frequency ≠ future likelihood.

What This Really Means for Your Study Plan (The Actual Priorities)

Even if the subjects look evenly spread, they aren’t.

Once you factor in frequency and the predictability of rule clusters, the priorities are clear.

Tier 1 — Master Completely (Highest ROI)

Your “Big Four”:

Constitutional Law (Florida and Federal)
Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure
Real Property
Contracts / UCC Article 2

Why these four?

They show up consistently, test the same clusters year after year, anchor mixed essays, and cause the biggest point losses when students are underprepared.

Tier 2 — Strong Preparation Required

These still appear frequently and produce long, dense, rule-heavy essays:

Family Law
Torts

Why?

They have a lot of moving parts, they rely heavily on knowing the rule structures, and they reward clear, accurate rule statements.

Tier 3 — MC-Driven but Still Essay-Relevant

These subjects show up mostly in Florida MCQs now, but you must still know the rules:

Trusts
Wills (can still appear on essays)
UCC Articles 3 & 9

Highly testable topics include:

Trust creation/modification
Duties of loyalty & accounting
Spendthrift + creditor access
Elective share / pretermitted issues
Negotiability / HDC
Attachment / perfection
PMSI / priority

Old essays are still gold for learning examiner phrasing.

Tier 4 — The Overlay (Appears Everywhere)

Professional Responsibility / Ethics

Ethics shows up in nearly every subject:

Con Law
Property
Contracts
Family
Torts
Crim Pro
Trusts/Wills

Often buried in the final sub-question of an essay.
It’s one of the fastest ways to pick up points.

Here is how these subjects actually show up in the exam, based on the last decade of essay patterns.

Subject-By-Subject Breakdown

Constitutional Law

The most persistent theme. Expect issues involving:

First Amendment speech
Equal protection
Due process
Standing & justiciability
Conditional spending & commerce
Florida privacy right
Access to courts (Kluger)
Sunshine/open-government

Often paired with Crim Pro or Family Law.

Criminal Law & Criminal Procedure

Recurring clusters:

homicide (including felony murder, vehicular homicide)
inchoate crimes
traffic stops, home entries, auto exception
Miranda, voluntariness, right to counsel
fruit of the poisonous tree
juvenile transfer/direct file

Expect at least one Fourth/Fifth/Sixth Amendment issue.

Real Property

The grader favorites:

homestead (descent, devise, creditor rights)
future interests and life estates
mortgages & foreclosure
easements & covenants
landlord–tenant law
TBE, recording/notice, deed formalities

Always Florida-heavy and rule-dependent.

Contracts & UCC Article 2

Highly predictable clusters:

formation
statute of frauds
parol evidence
conditions vs breach
remedies (expectation, cover, consequential, LD vs penalties)
non-competes
anticipatory repudiation
merchant confirmations / battle of the forms

Contracts regularly blends with business torts + ethics.

Family Law

Frequent issues:

equitable distribution
alimony types
modification standards
child support guidelines
TPR & adoption
UCCJEA jurisdiction

Always emotional fact patterns — always rule-based scoring.

Torts

Recurring themes:

negligence & premises liability
wrongful death
comparative fault
products liability
defamation
dangerous instrumentality
punitive damages

Often includes ethics or business issues.

Trusts and Wills

Even with fewer essays recently, still essential for MC:

trust creation / modification
duties of loyalty & accounting
spendthrift & creditor access
homestead intersections
will execution formalities
elective share / pretermitted issues

UCC Articles 3 and 9

Dense and rule-heavy:

negotiability requirements
holder-in-due-course
attachment & perfection
PMSIs
priority fights
commercial reasonableness
deficiency judgments

Professional Responsibility / Ethics

Embedded everywhere:

conflicts of interest
fee agreements
solicitation
former-client duties
minors & vulnerable clients
settlement restrictions
competence

Fast points, high yield.

Most Common Florida-Specific Distinctions You MUST Know

Now here’s your “distinctions” section — the exact ones that repeat across the essays:

Florida Con Law Distinctions

Explicit right of privacy
Access to courts (Kluger)
Sunshine / open meetings
Home rule powers
Strict scrutiny for abortion → shifted over time
Heightened scrutiny for FL free speech in some contexts

For more info on FL Con Law Distinctions, click here.

Crim & Crim Pro Distinctions

Florida Stop and Frisk Act
Constructive vs actual possession nuances
Florida’s approach to juvenile transfer/direct file
Stand-Your-Ground immunity layers

Real Property Distinctions

Homestead descent and devise restrictions
Tenancy by the Entirety presumption
Special homestead creditor exceptions
Florida recording statute nuances

Contracts / UCC Distinctions

Liquidated damages vs penalties — Florida applies reasonableness strictly
Florida non-compete statute (legitimate business interest)
Merchant confirmations and battle of the forms patterns

Check out our Most Tested FL Contracts series.

Family Distinctions

Best-interest factors uniquely emphasized
Alimony categories and requirements
UCCJEA home-state jurisdiction rules
TPR statutory grounds

Torts Distinctions

Dangerous instrumentality doctrine
Pure comparative fault
Punitive damages caps & findings
Slip-and-fall constructive notice statute

Trusts / Wills Distinctions

Trust modification / termination
Spendthrift exceptions
Witness presence requirements (Wills)
Elective share + homestead interactions
Pretermitted spouse/child themes
Revocation by act vs inconsistent writing

These are the items that reappear dozens of times across the ten-year dataset.

Conclusion

The Florida Bar Exam rewards pattern recognition.
It doesn’t test all subjects equally — it tests the same clusters every single year.
If you focus on Florida Con Law, Criminal Procedure, homestead, equitable distribution, UCC formation, negligence, and ethics, you’ll be prepared for the essays no matter what scenario they throw at you.

If you want a structured way to memorize these clusters, check out the Ameribrights Florida Bar Exam guides.