Bar examination in the United States#Multistate Performance Test (MPT)

{{See also|Admission to the bar in the United States#History}}

The first bar examination in what is now the United States was administered in oral form in the Delaware Colony in 1783.[http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Bar-Exam-Info-History.pdf California Bar Background information, accessed April 21, 2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090510143850/http://www.calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/admissions/Bar-Exam-Info-History.pdf|date=May 10, 2009}} From the late 18th to the late 19th centuries, bar examinations were generally oral and administered after a period of study under a lawyer or judge (a practice called "reading the law").{{Cite journal |last=Goforth |first=Carol |date=2015-02-18 |title=Why the Bar Examination Fails to Raise the Bar |url=https://scholarworks.uark.edu/lawpub/6 |journal=Ohio Northern University Law Review |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=47–88}} The trend in the 19th century was toward more casual examinations and options for exemptions.{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Daniel |date=1995-01-01 |title=Do We Need the Bar Examination--A Critical Evaluation of the Justifications for the Bar Examination and Proposed Alternatives ? |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev/vol45/iss4/32 |journal=Case Western Reserve Law Review |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=1191–1235 |issn=0008-7262}}

After the emergence of law schools in the 1870s onward, bar examinations became even less common as many states offered diploma privilege to local law school graduates.{{cite web |title=California Bar Examination: Information and History |url=http://admissions.calbar.ca.gov/Portals/4/documents/Bar-Exam-Info-History.pdf |access-date=June 27, 2011 |publisher=The State Bar of California |page=3}} Between 1890 and 1920, most states replaced oral examinations with written bar examinations.{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Daniel |date=1995-01-01 |title=Do We Need the Bar Examination--A Critical Evaluation of the Justifications for the Bar Examination and Proposed Alternatives ? |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev/vol45/iss4/32 |journal=Case Western Reserve Law Review |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=1191–1235 |issn=0008-7262}} Written examinations became commonplace as lawyers began to practice in states other than those where they were trained.{{Cite journal |last=Goforth |first=Carol |date=2015-02-18 |title=Why the Bar Examination Fails to Raise the Bar |url=https://scholarworks.uark.edu/lawpub/6 |journal=Ohio Northern University Law Review |volume=42 |issue=1 |pages=47–88}}

In 1921, the American Bar Association formally expressed a preference for required written bar examinations in place of diploma privilege for law school graduates. In subsequent decades, the prevalence of diploma privilege declined deeply, and bar examinations became a standard requirement of admission to the bar.{{Cite journal |last=Hansen |first=Daniel |date=1995-01-01 |title=Do We Need the Bar Examination--A Critical Evaluation of the Justifications for the Bar Examination and Proposed Alternatives ? |url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/caselrev/vol45/iss4/32 |journal=Case Western Reserve Law Review |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=1191–1235 |issn=0008-7262}}{{Cite journal |last=Goldman |first=Thomas |date=1974-01-01 |title=Use of the Diploma Privilege in the United States |url=https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/tlr/vol10/iss1/6 |journal=Tulsa Law Review |volume=10 |issue=1 |pages=36}} By 1980, all but five states required written bar examinations; as of 2020, only Wisconsin allows J.D. graduates of accredited law schools to seek admission to the state bar without passing a bar examination.{{Cite web |last=Hylton |first=J. Gordon |date=January 21, 2014 |title=Iowa Supreme Court Contemplating Diploma Privilege – Marquette University Law School Faculty Blog |url=https://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2014/01/iowa-supreme-court-contemplating-diploma-privilege/ |access-date=2020-07-22 |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Ward |first=Stephanie Francis |date=2020-04-21 |title=Bar exam does little to ensure attorney competence, say lawyers in diploma privilege state |url=https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/bar-exam-does-little-to-ensure-attorney-competence-say-lawyers-in-diploma-privilege-state |access-date=2020-07-20 |website=ABA Journal |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Olson |first=Elizabeth |date=2015-03-19 |title=Bar Exam, the Standard to Become a Lawyer, Comes Under Fire |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/20/business/dealbook/bar-exam-the-standard-to-become-a-lawyer-comes-under-fire.html |access-date=2020-07-20 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Valerie |date=July 13, 2020 |title=Why this pandemic is a good time to stop forcing prospective lawyers to take bar exams |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/07/13/why-this-pandemic-is-good-time-stop-forcing-prospective-lawyers-take-bar-exams/ |access-date=2020-07-20 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en}}

The bar examination is generally administered over two days (in some cases, three days).William Burnham, Introduction to the Law and Legal System of the United States, 4th ed. (St. Paul: Thomson West, 2006), 135. In most jurisdictions, it is administered twice a year, in February and July. Bar examinations in all but two jurisdictions in the United States use some examination component created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE).

The MBE is a standardized test consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions covering seven key areas of law: constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, federal rules of civil procedure, federal rules of evidence, real property, and torts.{{cite web|title=Preparing for the MBE|url=http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mbe/preparing/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170123220229/http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mbe/preparing/|archive-date=2017-01-23|access-date=2017-01-23|website=NCBE|language=en-US}} The MBE formerly addressed only six topics, with civil procedure added by the NCBE in 2009 and administered starting in 2015.{{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Leigh|date=2009-01-15|title=Potential Major Changes to Bar Exams Considered|url=http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1202427461503|magazine=The National Law Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140223090426/http://www.law.com/jsp/law/careercenter/lawArticleCareerCenter.jsp?id=1202427461503|archive-date=2014-02-23|access-date=2009-11-23|url-status=dead}} Examinees have three hours to answer 100 questions in a morning session and the same for an afternoon session. The MBE is administered in all U.S. states and territories, except Louisiana and Puerto Rico, which follow civil law systems very different from the legal systems in other states,{{cite web|title=Jurisdictions Using the MBE in 2008|url=http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mbe/mbe-faqs/jurs/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080914010756/http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mbe/mbe-faqs/jurs/|archive-date=14 September 2008|access-date=2008-08-14|publisher=National Conference of Bar Examiners|df=dmy-all}} and California, which in 2024 replaced the MBE with a test generated with the help of artificial intelligence to cut costs.{{cite news|title=State Bar of California admits it used AI to develop exam questions|first=Jenny|last=Jarvie|work=Los Angeles Times|location=Los Angeles|date=2025-04-23|accessdate=2025-04-24|url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-04-23/state-bar-of-california-used-ai-for-exam-questions}} The MBE is administered in most jurisdictions on the last Wednesday in February and July.

Of the 200 questions, 175 are scored and 25 are questions under evaluation for future use. The NCBE grades the MBE using a scaled score ranging from 40 to 200.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=MBE Scores|url=http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mbe/scores/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150414021821/http://www.ncbex.org:80/exams/mbe/scores/ |archive-date=2015-04-14 |access-date=2020-07-24|website=National Conference of Bar Examiners|language=en-US}} Taking the MBE in one jurisdiction may allow an applicant to use his or her MBE score to waive into another jurisdiction or to use the MBE score with another state's bar examination.{{cite web|title=Bar Admission Guide|url=http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files/Comp-Guide/CompGuide.pdf|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115075841/http://www.ncbex.org/assets/media_files/Comp-Guide/CompGuide.pdf|archive-date=2013-01-15|access-date=2 May 2015|website=NCBE}}

NCBE provides free example MBE questions for civil procedure with explanatory answers{{cite web|title=MBE Civil Procedure Sample Test Questions|url=https://www.ncbex.org/dmsdocument/16|website=NCBE}} along with further free example questions, to which answer explanations were provided{{cite journal|title=Quizmaster 20 Questions: Point of Law UBE Bar Review Questions

|url=https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3828097

|website=SSRN| date=2021 | doi=10.2139/ssrn.3828097 | ssrn=3828097 | last1=Engle | first1=Eric | s2cid=236573946 | url-access=subscription }} pro bono.

The MEE consists of six 30-minute essay questions that examines a candidate's ability to analyze legal issues and communicate them effectively in writing. In addition to the topics examined in the MBE, the MEE also covers business law, commercial law, conflicts of law, estates and probate law, and family law. The MEE is administered on the last Tuesday in February and July, the day before the MBE.

The NCBE drafts six MEE questions for each exam. The questions are drafted by the NCBE Drafting Committee, with the assistance of outside academics and practitioners who are experts in the fields being tested, and then reviewed by outside experts and state boards of bar examiners. Unlike the MBE, which is graded and scored by the NCBE, the MEE is graded exclusively by the jurisdiction that administers the bar examination.{{cite web|title=Why Jurisdictions May Want to Implement the MEE|url=http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mee/mee-faqs/why-implement-the-mee/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070708153957/http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mee/mee-faqs/why-implement-the-mee/|archive-date=2007-07-08|access-date=2007-04-30|publisher=National Conference of Bar Examiners}} Each jurisdiction has the choice of grading MEE questions according to general U.S. common law or the jurisdiction's own law.{{cite web|title=Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)|url=http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mee/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070430105039/http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-tests/mee/|archive-date=30 April 2007|access-date=2007-04-30|publisher=National Conference of Bar Examiners|df=dmy-all}}

{{See also|Performance test (bar exam)}}

The MPT is a "closed-universe" test in which each candidate is required to perform a standard lawyering task, such as a memo or brief. The candidate is provided with a case file and a "library" which contains all of the substantive law required to perform the task (plus some non-relevant material). The MPT is administered on the last Tuesday in February and July, the same day as the MEE. The NCBE provides two MPT questions.{{cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Multistate Performance Test|url=http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpt/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150413235222/http://www.ncbex.org:80/exams/mpt |archive-date=2015-04-13 |access-date=2020-07-24|website=National Conference of Bar Examiners|language=en-US}} The MPT is usually situated in the fictional state of Franklin.

California and Pennsylvania draft and administer their own performance tests.{{Cite news |last=Sloan |first=Karen |date=August 14, 2024 |title=California finalizes deal to give its own bar exam |url=https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/california-finalizes-deal-give-its-own-bar-exam-2024-08-14/ |work=Reuters}}

California began administering three-hour-long performance tests in 1983, based on the results of a July 1980 experiment.{{cite news |last1=Ward |first1=Stephanie Francis |title=A better bar exam? Law profs weigh in on whether test accurately measures skills required for law practice |url=https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/building-a-better-bar-exam |access-date=22 September 2020 |work=ABA Journal |publisher=American Bar Association |date=8 January 2020}} California performance tests are far more difficult than the MPT. Starting with the July 2017 bar examination, California switched to a 90-minute format{{cite news |last1=Hansen |first1=Mark |title=California bar exam to be one day shorter, but could be just as difficult |url=https://www.abajournal.com/news/article/california_bar_exam_to_be_2_3_as_long_just_as_hard |access-date=10 October 2020 |work=ABA Journal |date=28 July 2015}} but continues to prepare its own performance tests, which are usually situated in the fictional state of Columbia.

Essay questions are the most variable component of the bar exam. States emphasize different areas of law in their essay questions depending upon their respective histories and public policy priorities. For example, unlike Texas and California, Louisiana did not convert to the common law when it was acquired by the United States, so its essay questions require knowledge of the state's unique civil law system. Several states whose family law was influenced by Spanish and Mexican civil law, like California and Texas, require all bar exam applicants to demonstrate knowledge of community property law. Pennsylvania, with a history of federal tax evasion (e.g., the Whiskey Rebellion), tests federal income tax law, while New Jersey, with a history of discriminatory zoning (resulting in the controversial Mount Laurel doctrine), tests zoning and planning law. New Mexico, South Dakota, and Washington each test Indian law, because of their relatively large populations of Native Americans and large numbers of Indian reservations. Most states test knowledge of the law of negotiable instruments and secured transactions (Articles 3 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code), but Alaska, California, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania do not; they have recognized that the vast majority of criminal, personal injury, and family lawyers will never draft a promissory note or litigate the validity of a security interest.

The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) is a standardized bar examination in the United States developed by the NCBE. It consists solely of the MBE, MEE, and MPT, and offers portability of scores across state lines. According to the NCBE, the UBE is intended to "test knowledge and skills that every lawyer should be able to demonstrate prior to becoming licensed to practice law", and "is uniformly administered, graded, and scored by user jurisdictions and results in a portable score."{{cite web|title=The Uniform Bar Examination (UBE)|url=http://www.ncbex.org/about-ncbe-exams/ube/|access-date=June 30, 2015|publisher=National Conference of Bar Examiners}} UBE jurisdictions are allowed to additionally test candidates' knowledge of state-specific law, through either a test or course.

The UBE was created in 2011, and was first administered that year by Missouri and North Dakota.{{cite web|title=General UBE FAQs|url=http://www.ncbex.org/about-ncbe-exams/ube/ube-faqs/|access-date=April 16, 2014|publisher=National Conference of Bar Examiners}} Click on "Which jurisdictions administer the UBE?" It has since been adopted by 41 United States jurisdictions (out of a possible 56).{{cite web|title=Uniform Bar Examination|url=http://www.ncbex.org/exams/ube/|access-date=2020-07-21|website=NCBE|language=en-US}} The American Bar Association also endorsed the UBE at its 2016 mid-year meeting.{{cite web|date=February 11, 2016|title=Midyear Meeting 2016: ABA adopts Resolution 109 on Uniform Bar Examination|url=http://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2016/02/midyear_meeting_20163.html|access-date=February 6, 2017|publisher=ABA News}} However, some of the largest legal markets—including California and Florida—have not adopted the UBE. Concerns include the lack of questions on state law, and that the test provides NCBE with control over the bar credentialing process.{{cite magazine|last=Jones|first=Leigh|date=2009-10-12|title=Uniform Bar Exam Drawing Closer to Reality|url=http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434472731&Uniform_Bar_Examination_Drawing_Closer_to_Reality|magazine=The National Law Journal|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091015044550/http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202434472731&Uniform_Bar_Examination_Drawing_Closer_to_Reality|archive-date=October 15, 2009|access-date=November 23, 2009|url-status=live}} In addition, the largest UBE market (New York), indicated that it may withdraw from the UBE, after a task force commissioned by the New York State Bar found in 2020 that "since the adoption of the UBE, the fundamental purpose of the bar examination, which is to protect the public, has been lost."{{cite web |title=Report of the NYSBA Task Force on the New York Bar Examination |url=https://nysba.org/app/uploads/2020/03/Report-of-the-NYSBA-Task-Force-on-the-New-York-Bar-Examination-With-Appendix-compressed.pdf |website=New York State Bar Association |date=March 5, 2020}}{{cite web|date=2020-04-04|title=NYSBA Adopts Report Calling For Fundamental Change to Uniform Bar Exam|url=https://nysba.org/nysba-adopts-report-calling-for-fundamental-change-to-uniform-bar-exam/|access-date=2020-07-24|website=New York State Bar Association|language=en-US}}

A number of jurisdictions are considering or have considered adoption of the UBE:

• In 2014, The Florida Bar formed a Uniform Bar Examination Committee.[https://cdn.ymaws.com/ncbp.org/resource/collection/E6BF3A73-DAE9-40D8-8C3E-171C272418DC/2.6.15_Workshop_2A_-_Terry_-_Vision_2016_-_Committee_Reports_December_2014.pdf Vision 2016 Commission: Committee Reports]
• In 2016, the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners considered the UBE, but stated that "it is not in the best interests of the public of Virginia or the Virginia judicial system."{{cite web|date=October 5, 2016|title=Jury Out on Uniform Bar Exam's Effect on Minorities | Bloomberg BNA|url=https://www.bna.com/jury-uniform-bar-n57982069005|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161005071901/https://www.bna.com/jury-uniform-bar-n57982069005|archive-date=2016-10-05}}
• In September 2019, the Oklahoma Supreme Court created a Bar Examination Advisory Committee to consider adoption of the UBE. A final report is due by December 2020.[https://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/DeliverDocument.asp?CiteID=486222 Order-Creation of the Oklahoma Bar Examination Advisory Committee]
• In May 2020, Nevada indicated that it will not adopt the UBE anytime in the near future. In Nevada, the UBE is supported by the dean of the William S. Boyd School of Law{{cite journal |last1=Hamilton |first1=Daniel W. |title=Doing right by Nevada: Adopting the uniform bar exam |journal=Nevada Lawyer |date=April 2018 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=18{{endash}}20 |url=https://www.nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/NevadaLawyer_April2018_DeansColumn-UBE.pdf}} but opposed by the chair of the state Board of Bar Examiners.{{cite journal |last1=Trachok |first1=Richard |title=Nevada's Bar Exam |journal=Nevada Lawyer |date=April 2018 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=12{{endash}}14 |url=https://www.nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/NevadaLawyer_April2018_BarExam.pdf}}{{cite journal |last1=Morgan |first1=Ann |title=The State Bar tackles reciprocity |journal=Nevada Lawyer |date=April 2018 |volume=26 |issue=4 |pages=8{{endash}}10 |url=https://www.nvbar.org/wp-content/uploads/NevadaLawyer_April2018_Reciprocity.pdf}}{{cite web |title=In re matter of the July 2020 Nevada State Bar Examination |url=https://www.abajournal.com/files/ADKT558filedpetition.pdf |publisher=Supreme Court of the State of Nevada |date=May 7, 2020}}

Most law schools teach students common law and how to analyze hypothetical fact patterns like a lawyer, but do not specifically prepare law students for any particular bar exam. Only a minority of law schools offer bar preparation courses.

To refresh their memory on "black-letter rules" tested on the bar, most students engage in a regimen of study (called "bar review") between graduating from law school and sitting for the bar.Mark E. Steiner, "International Conference on Legal Education Reform: Cram Schooled", 24 Wis. Int'l L.J. 377, 392 (2006). This article contrasts American bar review courses against the 18-month cram schools used in Japan, Germany, Korea, and Taiwan, and argues that the short length of American bar review is due to the superior pedagogical methods of American law schools and the American tradition of relatively easy access to the legal profession (in comparison to most countries). For bar review, most students in the United States attend a private bar review course which is provided by a third-party company and not their law school.Wayne L. Anderson and Marilyn J. Headrick, The Legal Profession: Is it for you? (Cincinnati: Thomson Executive Press, 1996), 103.

A statement by the Society of American Law Teachers (SALT){{cite web|title=Society of American Law Teachers|url=http://www.saltlaw.org/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150423172123/http://www.saltlaw.org/|archive-date=2015-04-23|access-date=2 May 2015}} articulates many criticisms of the bar exam.{{Vague|date=December 2023|reason= What were the criticisms?}}54 JOURNAL OF LEGAL EDUCATION 442–458 The SALT statement, however, does propose some alternative methods of bar admission that are partially test-based. A response to the SALT statement was made by Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus in The Bar Examiner.{{cite journal |author=Suzanne Darrow-Kleinhaus |journal=The Bar Examiner |title=A Response to Criticism of the Bar Exam |date=May 2005|url=http://www.ncbex.org/uploads/user_docrepos/740205_darrowkleinhaus.pdf|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203122548/http://www.ncbex.org/uploads/user_docrepos/740205_darrowkleinhaus.pdf|archive-date=December 3, 2010|access-date=2011-02-17}}

The NCBE published an article in 2005 addressing alternatives to the bar exam, including a discussion of the Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program, an alternate certification program introduced at the University of New Hampshire School of Law (formerly Franklin Pierce Law Center) in that year.{{Citation needed|date=February 2011}}

• Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination{{snd}}Separate examination often required of attorneys

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{{Law of the United States}}

Category:Bar examinations in the United States

Category:Law of the United States