The annual bar exam brought hundreds of recent law school graduates to Roanoke on Tuesday and Wednesday -- a small army of potential litigators all vying for jobs at Virginia law firms.

The testing site at the Roanoke Civic Center is one of the 10 largest in the country and is the statewide location for the main exam in Virginia, according to Scott Street, secretary and treasurer for the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners. More than 1,500 applicants were quizzed on law and legal procedure over the two-day period.

Tuesday's portion of the exam included two three-hour essay sessions that focused on Virginia law, while Wednesday's sessions pitched several hundred multiple-choice questions about intrastate legal matters at applicants.

Dozens of rows of tables were added to the civic center's exhibit hall to accommodate the exam, with a nearly endless stream of people in suits filling in the cavernous room. Baggy eyes and tousled hair were somewhat of a requirement for entry.

"It's been two and a half months of solid prep and nothing else," said Liz Lowe, 26, of Chevy Chase, Md., who is a recent graduate of William and Mary Law School. "It's really tiring."

The bar exam is given twice a year -- also in February -- but this is the larger gathering. February's test typically draws only a few hundred applicants because of the time of year, Street said.

All 50 states take the exam during the same week in July.

"You look forward to graduating from law school, and then you start squirming for this," said Stephen Isaacs, the board's director of character and fitness.

Isaacs, 62, of Richmond, sat for his bar exam in 1973 in the lower parking deck of Hotel Roanoke, sitting one row behind Chuck Robb, who went on to serve as Virginia's governor and as a U.S. senator.

"I don't think I could pass it again," Isaacs admitted. "Unless I looked it up."

The board enforces a strict dress code for the exam, one which Street said is as much about respect for the fellow test takers as it is about preparing them for court.

The website puts it bluntly:

"Recognizing the high calibre of professionalism that has traditionally characterized the bar, the Board is confident that no further discussion of this topic will be necessary."

Lloyd Liu, 25, a recent graduate of Georgetown Law School, loosened his tie by 5:30 p.m. after completing day one of testing.

"It's kind of like being in 'The Matrix' in there," he said. "Before 'The Matrix' got cool."