What are bar exams in the US like?

Factual Questions
1

First of all, I know that there are different requirements for bar admission in different states and territories, and that there may be multiple exams depending on where one wants to practice.

If you are barred from providing information due to law, professional practice rules, contract, etc., please do not do so.

I’m curious as to what the bar exam is really like. I’ve studied the law privately and can think of two ways you could examine a potential candidate:

  1. Rules of interpretation, ability to take a statute and case law and come up with a reasonable analysis of the situation. E.g., given this statute, this case law, and this situation, how would you show negligence?

  2. Memorization of local statutes and case law. E.g., “What is the maximum prison sentence for grand theft in Oklahoma?”, “If a person is convicted of 2nd degree rape in Colorado, is sentenced to 5 years incarceration and 10 of probation, is sex offender therapy a required condition of release, and if not, is it within the discretion of the judge, or the parole board, and to what court could the defendent appeal such discretion?”, “In Colorado, does the fact that a person is receiving mental heath treatment lead to a presumption that they are unfit to have custody of a child, and if so, is the presumption rebuttable or unrebuttable, and if rebuttable, what is the required burden of proof to rebut the presumption?”

2

Well, I can tell you a bit about my experience. Bear in mind that this is about Texas, and every state’s procedures will be different.

The exam took three days. The first was a half-day, consisting of short essay questions (five lines to answer for each) that covered law specific to Texas. Your task was to read the issue presented and answer as best you can.

Day two was the multistate bar exam, a multiple choice test of, I think, 200 questions, each reasonably complex, covering legal issues that do not vary from state to state. Day three was long essays, six or eight, I forget which; each question was one or two full pages of text, and sometimes additional materials such as statutes or cases you’d need. You’d read up on everything and answer the questions in long-essay format in a separate blue book for each question. The questions ran along the lines of, “You’re the junior prosecutor, here’s the criminal case file, write a memo to your superior discussing the key points of evidence that need to be brought up at trial, the weaknesses of the case, and what, if any, additional evidence or information is missing that would be useful,” or, “Here’s the timeline of when business equipment was purchased, how it was purchased and/or secured, who it was purchased from, and who has it. The buyer is now unable to pay, who can recover and how much?” Stuff like that.

Very little about law student testing involves black-and-white answers, such as those you list in option 2. They would rather you demonstrate an ability to think like a lawyer than regurgitate a bunch of facts.

3

Most states use the Multistate Bar Exam:

There are also several essay questions which require the applicant to analyze hypothetical cases at length. Both portions of the exam test the applicant’s knowledge of the “Black Letter Law,” which are general principles of American jurisprudence, as well as the ability to distinguish legal issues, apply the correct rules, and reach the correct conclusion. Statutes play little role in this, although many states do have supplemental exams which test knowledge of local law. There is also an ethics exam (usually the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination), and in most states there is a performance test, in which the applicant drafts an opinion or motion based on a hypothetical case with a set of mock-up documents.

The US portion of the Wikipedia article starts here.

4

If you’d actually like to see some old bar exam questions, you can find them online. For example, the Maryland Bar Examiners have posted the state law essay questions (with repesentative good answers) from the July 2009 exam: http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/pdfs/answers/2009/gbrepanswers7-09.pdf.

The Maryland bar exam also uses questions from the Multstate Performance Test to assess an applicant’s ability to apply new laws and facts presented in a hypothetical problem. You can see representative good answers here: http://www.courts.state.md.us/ble/pdfs/answers/2009/mpt7-09.pdf. (Note, however, that the actual questions aren’t available for free -you’d need to buy them from the National Conference of Bar Examiners).

If you want to learn more about the Multistate Bar Exam, a description and sample questions can be found here: http://www.ncbex.org/uploads/user_docrepos/MBE_2010.pdf

5

Forgot: You can find some sample MPRE questions at http://www.ncbex.org/uploads/user_docrepos/MPRE_IB2010.pdf

6

The Ohio exam is two and half days. First day is two parts. Part one is 6 half-hour essay questions, limited to the front and back of a sheet paper per question. The second half of the first day is the Multistate Performance Test, which is two scenario based writing exercises. Second day is the Multistate Bar Examination, 200 multiple choice questions spaced over two three hour sessions. The final half day is another session of 6 essay questions. The 12 essay questions each cover one area of law, and are scenario that asks for analysis.

There are details that those taking the exam obsess over, but that is the format. As to discussing the exam, go here: Ohio Supreme Court Bar Exam. Not only does that give the general format, you can see the actual essay questions from previous exams. Check out July 2008 for the questions they used to torture me.

Generally, law schools and bar exams don’t cover learning exact statutes. Some classes will emphasize statutes because of their nature, but it is mostly case law. The exception is civil procedure, where most everybody learns and is tested on the federal rules and their states version.

7

Neither.

In most states, one day of the two-day exam is the aforementioned Multistate Bar Exam, which has a ton of multiple-choice questions which are based on a general knowledge of the common law. Since no state in the Union actually has the common law unmolested anymore, there will be plenty of instances in which the particular answer in your state would differ from the expected answer on the MBE. But that doesn’t matter, because law school teaches you the common law and the typical kinds of statutory deviations from it; when you’re practicing, you can just look up which one applies to your particular jurisdiction.

The other day is the essay questions portion. While it’s based on the law of your jurisdiction, it doesn’t, generally, require you to know things like statutes of limitation, sentences, etc., with precision. (The biggest exception being you’ll need to know what precise facts can support a death sentence, if your jurisdiction has it.) Mostly, it presents a short fact pattern and asks you to analyze it. In doing so, you should be able to identify what causes of action might be at issue and what defenses could be in play, and then come to a reasoned conclusion about how the case should come out. (But it doesn’t have to be “right” – you can get full points on most questions regardless of whether you say the guy goes to jail/is liable/etc. or not so long as you spotted the right issues and developed a legitimate chain of reasoning to your conclusion.)

In my state, at least, we did have a short-answer section, which was equal in total points to one essay. There were several short questions, and those were the only places where you’d expect the kind of questions you suggest in the OP. But still, in most cases you wouldn’t need to memorize the precise contour of a particular provision. Specific points of law aren’t what they’re testing you on, because it doesn’t require legal education to just look that stuff up.
(To wit – I don’t know the answer to any of the questions you posed in Paragraph 2), and it’s not necessary to know any of that to pass the Bar or be a lawyer.) Legal education is about the shape of the law, and how it hangs together, and the types of things that it contains, and how to analyze them – not whether the answer to a given question is A or B.

(N.B. The above describes what I understand to be the typical Bar Exam, but they differ by state. Some states don’t use the MBE; some states have a three-day exam. And Wisconsin, IIRC, admits you to practice without examination if you graduate from an accredited school in the state. But the two day, MBE/Essay format is the most common, AFAIK.)

Oh, and there’s no need to be circumspect about what the exam entails – these aren’t the Elysian Mysteries – as noted, old exam questions are commonly available, and part of the accepted study protocol includes taking practice exams made up of old questions – both MBE and essay. (I’ve still got the essay questions from my exam around here somewhere.) Those giving the tests want to test your understanding of the material, not how well you grapple with the format. And since the subject: namely, “the law” is so broad, there’s no effective way to cram for the tests.

Of course it’d be a different story if you found out the particular questions they were going to ask ahead of time, esp. for the essays, because it is possible to cram for “there’s a negotiable instrument question concerning a fraudulent note that was innocently transferred to later holders…,” or “there’s a crim question in which the defendant broke in to a house during the day and took a stereo which was found on a warrantless search of his car; his lawyer wasn’t present during the line-up…,” etc.

–Cliffy

8

Forgot to mention that not only are past questions sometimes available, there may also be answers published by the state. Ohio releases model answers for its essay questions. I have no idea where to find them online, but they are available.

9

I can guarantee you that you won’t be asked to memorize sentencing guidelines or parole conditions. The custody question also seems unlikely.

However, you will be required to know certain things about state law, such as whether your state is a contributory negligence or comparative negligence state. These kinds of things are routinely covered by bar review courses. It’s also likely that you’ll be required to distinguish the different kinds of homicide, which tend to be slightly different from state to state.

But this kind of knowledge will be required in applied or analytical type questions. You’ll be given a pattern of facts and perhaps some relevant statutory texts or judicial opinions and asked to apply your knowledge. It’s unlikely these things will be addressed as yes or no, or true-false questions or, like you’ve posed, single-word answers.

10

New York’s Bar Exam is shorter than some (2 days) but considered harder than most. It tests on a larger number of discrete topics, including otherwise non-foundational topics in commercial law like secured transactions and negotiable instruments.

The first day is 50 multiple choice question on any topic of New York Law, Essays, and one MPT (already described above). The second day is a MBE. The MPRE is given every other month and you can take it before or after the New York Bar Exam.

The essays can deal with multiple topics of law for example, you might have a personal injury on a business property (negligence), and then describe how liability attaches to a business partner (partnerships), and it might also implicate some landlord/tenant issues. Not everything in the fact pattern is necessarily important; identifying the relevant, important facts is key to doing well. You also get credit for identifying the legal issue, even if your answer is completely wrong legally.

Fact sorting is also important on the MBE & MPRE. There’s a certain type of question which contains a loooong description and most of the information is irrelevant. Sometimes several of the answers are correct, and you have choose the one that is most correct.

As other have said, it is rare that knowing the exact content of a particular statute is applicable.

You can see example NY essays from last year with model answers here:
http://www.nybarexam.org/ExamQuestions/JULY2009QA.pdf

11

How long did everyone spend preparing for the Bar exam? Not from the US so not entirely sure how it works. Do you have to go to a school first? Can you just sign up and take the exam independently? Either way, how much work is there for it?

12

In at least some states there is a process for applying for the bar Exam without having gone to law school (or at least, there is in New York) but it is extremely rare. In any event, to do that (in New York)a licensed attorney must serve as your mentor, and you have to do apprenticeship-style study equivalent to three years of law school; no self-study is possible.

Law School is 3 years fulltime.

After graduation, in NY you enter a 2.5 month study program specifically for the bar. It is not required, but most people do. I don’t personally know anyone who did not take a study course and passed. Some people have private tutors instead, but that isn’t necessarily better. You study 40-60 hours a week if you have an easy time with the material, 60-100 hours a week if not. That’s approximately 10 weeks fulltime+ exclusively for the bar exam.

13

Most states require you to haveadegree from an accredited law school andmost law schools require that you have a bachelor’s degree of some kind. That’s a total of at least 7 years beyond high school. (I think California lets you take the exam without a law degree.)

After that, most law school graduates take an exam preparation course of about 8-10 weeks long between law school and the bar exam.

14

In Ohio, the exam is two and a half days, with three major sections.

First day is state essays. You get a short fact pattern, and you have to decide what law to apply to it. You are not told which area of law it’s covering, you just have to figure it out based on what the facts are. Potential areas include Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Wills and Estates, Property, Civil Procedure, Corporations, Commercial Paper, Secured Transactions, Contracts, Torts, and Evidence. There’s probably something else I’m forgetting, but it’s been almost six years now. You get 30 minutes for each essay.

Second day is the MBE. Two big sections of multiple choice, same general subjects, and again, you’re not told what subject the question covers, you’re just given a fact pattern and then asked a few multiple choice questions about it. This is harder than it sounds.

Third day, which is a half-day, is something called the MPT. I cannot remember what that stands for. It gives you a long scenario, as if a client shows up at your firm with that sort of issue, and tells you to do something like write a letter to the client, or a memo to a senior partner, dealing with the issue given. It is more of a test of legal writing than the law itself, although it certainly does involve the law.

You take the test in late July or February, and get the results in late October or April, depending on which month you took it. Most recent grads take it in July–the February exam is for part-time students and people who failed it in July, so it has a much lower passage rate. The passage rate runs about 80% in July.

There’s also a separate test that solely deals with Legal Ethics that you also have to pass, and you have to go through a character and fitness evaulation before you can sit for the Bar. They look at things like your criminal record, credit history, and work history. The Bar application asks you for the address of every place you’ve lived since you were 14, and every job you’ve worked at since you were 18, including supervisor information. That was VERY hard for me, because I held a lot of temp jobs in college and couldn’t remember the names of my supervisors, and calling the places was no help, because the people who hired me were no longer there either. For me, the application process was worse than the actual test.

15

Looking back at the thread, howye got the order right–the state essays are split up between days. It’s been a while since I took that test, and I’ve blocked way too much of it out. :wink:

16

Those are some of the most surreal days in my life, I doubt I will ever forget some of the details. I can remember where I sat clearly, and the joy of getting a whole table to myself. But, looking at the questions today and I found that I had blocked out the details of those.

Interesting quirk of the testing and reporting dates for Ohio, the July results are released exactly three months from the last day of the exam. This means it is always a Friday and occasionally the results are released on Halloween. That is how you make the day scary.

I would also point out that just applying to take the bar takes a long time. The process here started in the second year of law school, the beginning of the second year.

17

This is my experience: To get into law school, you have to take the LSAT. Studying for the LSAT in no way prepares you to participate in a law school class. Studying to participate in a law school class in no way prepares you to take a law school exam. Studying to take a law school exam in no way prepares you to take the bar exam. Studying to take the bar exam in no way prepares you for the practice of law.

18

Pshaw!

You’re in your Bar review class 15-20 hours a week for about eight or nine weeks. IIRC they did say to spend an hour studying for every hour you spent in class, but I don’t know anybody who actually did that. Studying for the Bar is a monumental task, no doubt, but it’s hella easier than working.

–Clliffy

19

Adding to the litany of different methods, states use to test bar applicants. New Jersey is a two day test, usually Wednesday and Thursday. The first day is the Multistate portion. This allows applicants to take another state’s essay portion on the previous day (Tuesday). Both PA and NY have their essay portion on that Tuesday. (Delaware holds it essay portion on Thursday, which means that you can not take the NJ and Delaware exam at the same time). As mentioned the Multistate is 200 multiple choice questions, 100 in the morning portion and 100 in the afternoon. These portions are 3 hours a piece. The MBE tests on 6 major subjects; Criminal procedure/law, Constitutional Law, Torts, Property, Contracts/Sales and Evidence. These questions are not state specific and test your knowledge of the common law and any of the major variations states use when applying it.

The second day in New Jersey is all essay. 7 questions with each question testing a separate subject. These subjects include the 6 MBE areas as well as Federal/State Civil Procedure. The questions are designed to be specific to the state law of New Jersey, but I found that in most cases New Jersey law does not vary in a major way from the general common law. This means its likely possible to know nothing about New Jersey law and still pass. I’m sure there might be instances where that isn’t the case, but that was my experience.

New Jersey is one of the slower states to release bar result information, at least in my area of the country. (New York releases its grades a few days after NJ, IIRC) When I took the exam, it took more than the three months for me to receive results. (Took the exam July 29/30 and results were posted November 9th).

20

Nothing much to add here, except perhaps that the NY essays were fairly straightforward–they weren’t looking for a subtle and nuanced analysis of a grey area. They just wanted you to know the rule and show that you could apply the facts to it to reach a conclusion. This isn’t surprising–they’ve got thousands of these things to grade, after all.