A Short & Happy Guide to the Bar Exam's Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
Authors:
Darrow-Kleinhaus, Suzanne / Crisci, Irene McDermott
Edition:
1st
Copyright Date:
2019
9 chapters
have results for bar prep
Chapter 1 MEE Basics 1 21 results (showing 5 best matches)
- All of these are “practical” skills yet too many students spend most, if not all, of their bar prep time studying only the substantive law. Success on the bar exam requires mastery of both.
- The MEE is administered by participating jurisdictions on the state day of their bar exam and consists of six 30-minute essay questions. MEE questions are developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (“NCBE”), the entity that develops the licensing tests used by most U.S. jurisdictions for bar admission. These exams include the Multistate Bar Examination (“MBE”), the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”), the Multistate Professional Responsibility Test (“MPRE”) and, of course, the Uniform Bar Examination (“UBE”).
- Each jurisdiction sets the format for its bar exam and relative weight given to each section in calculating a bar passage score and makes this information available to candidates—unless it is a UBE jurisdiction where the weighting of each section is prescribed (the MBE is weighted 50%, the MEE 30%, and the MPT 20%). To this extent, each state’s bar exam is unique and you’ll want to know everything there is to know about the make-up of your particular bar exam. You should check your individual jurisdiction’s scoring policies very carefully for how it weights each section of the bar exam in calculating a passing score. A regularly updated list of each jurisdiction’s bar admission office address and phone number is available from NCBE’s website.
- The goal of the bar examiners is to test your competency for the practice of law. To pass the bar exam, you must demonstrate a
- Studying for the bar exam requires “active” studying. Unfortunately, it is all too easy to assume a very passive role—sitting through your bar review course for four or more hours each day and then rereading your notes for another four hours. Before you know it, the day is over, you are exhausted, and you have not worked through a single question!
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Chapter 2 Learning the Black Letter Law 9 26 results (showing 5 best matches)
- After you complete approximately 50 MBE questions in a subject, you are ready to proceed to MEEs in that area. Later, you will go back and work through many more MBE questions in that subject as part of your overall bar prep, but now we are using the law that you’ve learned from the MBE as a foundation for writing MEEs.
- Just as you studied from your professor’s old exams to prepare for law school finals, you’ll review released MEEs from NCBE when you study for the bar exam. While your bar review course includes a good number of simulated practice tests and essay writing exercises, there is no substitute for the real thing. It is essential that you become familiar with the structure, style, and content of the questions you can expect to see on bar day. Since the ultimate authority on the bar exam are the bar examiners, their questions should be your primary source for practice questions.
- Memorization is essential to success on the bar exam. As you proceed through your bar review course, make it a priority to memorize basic definitions and the elements of rules.
- Go to the UBE Chart and look over the MBE column. It lists the seven MBE subjects. Number each subject from 1 to 7 according to the order that you take it up in your bar review course. For example, if your bar review course begins with Civil Procedure, then you will write “1” in the box before Civil Procedure. Number the remaining six MBE subjects accordingly.
- Daily Study Schedule 1 covers the weeks during your bar review course. It assumes that you are taking your bar review course in the morning, so if you are taking your course at another time, make the appropriate schedule changes.
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Chapter 3 Writing for the MEE 31 29 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The National Conference of Bar Examiners’ Analyses Sheets are very helpful in your preparation for the MEE since they allow you to self-assess your work. They identify the issues you need to address in your answer, the rules of law, and the appropriate arguments. However, the Analyses Sheets are not written as “sample answers.” Rather, they are intended for the bar examiners in the individual jurisdictions who are using the MEEs as part of their bar exam.
- Before we discuss specific strategies for writing successful bar exam essays, let’s talk about writing in general: I’m sure a good number of you have been very successful in law school and a large part of that success can be credited to your ability to communicate effectively in writing. For you, doing well on the MEE will be a matter of gaining familiarity with the types of essays and their structure. But for those of you for whom essays posed a bit more of a challenge, we want you to know that you, too, can do well on bar exam essays. There is a method to scoring points and this is what we are going to share with you.
- with the bar examiners. With every word you write, your goal is to tell the grader that you are prepared to take your place in the profession—that you are ready to meet with clients, analyze their problems, and represent them in court.
- You can write your way to bar passage—especially when what you write represents a substantial portion of your overall score. The written portion is 50% of your score on the UBE and in many non-UBE jurisdictions.
- How bar examiners use language to signal issues and non-issues.
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Appendix 141 15 results (showing 5 best matches)
- The Appendix contains two types of tables. One is organized by bar administration and identifies the MEE subjects tested on a particular bar exam. The other is organized by subject and allows you to focus on individual topics.
- Table of Issues by Bar Exam Administration
- Viewing a bar exam in its entirety lets you see the selection of MEEs on a particular administration and compare administrations over time.
- The individual Subject Charts and NCBE’s Subject Matter Outlines for the MEE work together to give you a comprehensive picture of the essay portion of the Uniform Bar Exam. You can see which issues have been tested and how frequently they have been tested. Once again, we must repeat that there is no sure way to predict what will be on the next bar exam. The Subject Charts are not meant to be predictive guides, but study guides: knowing the frequency of some issues allows you to target your study time to where it is most effective.
- By Bar Exam Administration: 2005–2018
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Chapter 4 Practice Makes Points 69 19 results (showing 5 best matches)
- You can use the “clues” in the bar examiners’ specific use of language to lead you to the issue and the rule. Often, the clues are written in the language of the rule itself. This is not an accident: the bar examiners are providing prompts to direct you where you need to go. The careful reader will not ignore these gifts but look for them actively and use them to facilitate memory and recall.
- Please note that your bar exam questions will not come labeled by subject area. You will figure it out for yourself as you work through the problem. Still, do not be so concerned with labeling the subject into set categories because the questions may combine subjects. For learning purposes, we are identifying the MEE by exam administration and topic.
- This MEE is an excellent example of what you can expect to see on the bar exam for a Torts question, substantively, and for any question, structurally.
- We selected the Corporations and LLC question from the July 2016 bar administration because the interrogatories provide a clear writing path and all you have to do is follow them.
- This MEE is also an excellent example of how to recognize the “clues” in the bar examiners’ specific use of language to lead you to the issue and the rule.
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Chapter 5 An MEE Make-Over Using Legal Forensics 113 7 results (showing 5 best matches)
- Here, you’ve decided to show the bar examiners how much time you’ve spent studying so you display that knowledge by writing everything you know. What happens is that you provide far more information than is necessary, often miss the relevant point, and take up valuable exam time without adding to your grade.
- No doubt these are both very serious problems. However, while the bar exam grader treats both problems alike with respect to the amount of points lost on your exam, we need to figure out which problem is yours. It makes a difference in how we go about fixing it.
- Like every other profession, the legal profession has its own specialized language and your job upon entering the field is to speak it fluently and precisely. The bar examiners are looking for evidence in your writing that you have learned the language of the law.
- Even if you struggled with “conclusory” statements throughout law school, there is no reason you can’t cure the problem for the bar exam—just study the following examples.
- The language of the law is precise: change the word and you change the meaning. Not only will you change the meaning, but you’ll show the bar examiner in a word (sometimes a single word will betray you) that you’ve totally disregarded the law and failed to appreciate the special meaning of key language. While it’s often necessary to paraphrase, it’s essential that you maintain the integrity of the rule by preserving the legally significant language and hence its meaning.
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Table of Contents 2 results
- Publication Date: February 26th, 2019
- ISBN: 9781683288572
- Subject: Bar Exam Success
- Series: Short & Happy Guides
- Type: Overviews
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Description:
A “Short & Happy Guide to the MEE” is shorter than other books on the bar exam because its sole focus is the Multistate Essay Examination. It is a one-source resource for what you need to maximize your performance on the MEE—not a generic essay writing guide, but a treasury of information, issue identification, and subject area frameworks tailored specifically for the MEE. This book is not intended to replace a bar review course for the substantive law you need to know to pass the bar exam. However, a bar review course does not show you how to turn the law into point-worthy essays. We do.
We teach you everything that you need to know about preparing for and taking the MEE to achieve the highest possible essay scores, beginning with how to use the individual Subject Charts (organized by MEE subject) and Table of Issues (organized by bar administration). These charts identify every issue and sub-issue tested on the MEE over the past 14 years, thus letting you see the frequency of tested topics and gain familiarity with how they are tested. When combined with our unique strategies for writing under timed conditions, developing a well-organized answer, and writing a solid analysis, you are ready to write your way to bar passage.
