Bar Examination Week

Next week, on July 30th and 31st, many recent law school graduates and others seeking to be admitted to the practice of law will take the Multi-State Bar Examination or the Uniform Bar Examination.  A non-profit organization, the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), assists in the development of these standardized tests for nearly every jurisdiction in the United States.  The tests include:
--The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a six-hour, 200 question, multiple-choice test
--The Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), a collection of 30-minute essay questions
--The Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), a two-hour, 60 question, multiple-choice test
--Multistate Performance Test (MPT), two 90-minute skill questions
--Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), comprised of the MEE, two MPT tasks and the MBE

13 jurisdictions have adopted the UBE.  The UBE jurisdictions uniformly administer, grade and score the same exams, use a common set of six MEE questions, and conduct the two MPT tasks in one 3-hour test, rather than the two 90-minute sessions.  Based on this uniformity, UBE jurisdictions agree to accept UBE exam scores from other UBE jurisdictions; thus, making the UBE scores "portable."  For more details on the UBE, please read "The UBE: The Policies Behind the Portability" by Kellie R. Early and other articles about the UBE.

For more information about bar admission requirements by jurisdiction, please consult the National Conference of Bar Examiners website and the Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2013.  And for anyone who is contemplating take the bar exam in the future, the McKusick Law Library has compiled a Bar Exam Study Information Library Guide.  This guide contains information on taking the bar in South Dakota and surrounding states, as well as more information about the UBE and law library materials on studying for the bar.

Is the requirement of passing a bar exam in order to practice law constitutional?  See this Above the Law post about a lawsuit filed in Texas. Take a break from your bar exam studies and see if you can spot the flaws in the plaintiff's arguments.

(This entry was originally written and posted by Marsha Stacey)