Colorado Bar Exam Basics

The July 2012 bar exam was the first year that Colorado administered the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). To pass the UBE, test-takers must earn a minimum total score of 276/400. The UBE is comprised of three different sections.
 

1) Multistate Essay Exam (MEE)

The MEE is administered in the morning on Day 1 of the bar exam and is worth 30% of the overall score. Test-takers have three hours to complete six essay questions. Computers are permitted, but not required, for this portion of the exam.

Please note that the scoring system for the MEE recently changed to holistic grading, meaning that each essay is given a grade of one to six (unanswered questions are given a zero). Holistic grading takes into account the overall quality of the test-taker’s answer (including organization and use of complete sentences), as opposed to awarding points for each issue spotted or point of law mentioned.

The following is a complete list of testable MEE topics (** indicates that the topic is also tested on the MBE); however, not all of these topics will in fact be tested and it is possible that multiple topics will be tested in a single essay question:

  • Trusts and Estates
  • Secured Transactions
  • Commercial Paper
  • Agency and Partnership
  • Corporations and LLCs
  • Conflict of Laws
  • Federal Civil Procedure
  • Family Law
  • Real Property**
  • Torts**
  • Constitutional Law**
  • Criminal Law/Procedure**
  • Evidence**
  • Contracts**

2)Multistate Performance Test (MPT)

The MPT is administered in the afternoon on Day 1 of the bar exam and is worth 20% of the overall score. Test-takers have three hours to complete two writing prompts. Computers are permitted, but not required, for this portion of the exam.

Each prompt provides the test-taker with a closed universe of information from which he or she must craft a specific type of written communication (e.g., a persuasive brief, an objective bench memo, a letter to a client, etc.). These questions are designed to test skills commonly used by lawyers practicing law competently. Like the MEE, the MPT is scored using holistic grading.

3) Multistate Bar Exam (MBE)

The MBE is tested on Day 2 of the bar exam and is worth 50% of the overall score. Test-takers must answer 200 multiple choice questions in six hours: 100 questions in the morning, and 100 questions in the afternoon. This portion of the exam must be completed in pencil.

The following topics will be tested on the MBE in roughly equal sections (and might also be tested on the MEE):

  • Real Property
  • Criminal Law/Procedure
  • Torts
  • Constitutional Law
  • Evidence
  • Contracts

Given the importance of performing well on the MBE (which is 50% of the total score), your mentee should allocate significantly more time towards preparing for MBE topics than MEE-only topics. For example, your mentee should spend more time learning Torts (a MBE topic) than Secured Transactions (a MEE-only topic) because torts is guaranteed to be tested at least once (possibly twice if it is also implicated by a MEE question), whereas Secured Transactions may or may not be tested as a MEE question.

If your mentee is experiencing difficulty on the MBE, Emanuel’s Strategies and Tactics for the MBE (which will be on reserve in the library) can be a helpful resource.