Maine Bar study guide
Maine Bar · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
The Maine Bar Examination is the licensing exam administered by the Maine Board of Bar Examiners for people who want to be admitted to practice law in Maine. The Board's site describes its purpose as helping candidates find information about the exam, application procedures, and the Maine Bar Admission Rules, which are promulgated by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and prevail over anything on the website if the two conflict. The Maine Bar study guide has 8 sections and about 2,813 words.
01Civil Procedure
Civil Procedure on the Maine Bar (a UBE jurisdiction) focuses on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: subject-matter and personal jurisdiction, venue, pleading, joinder, discovery, dispositive motions, trial, and preclusion. Expect MEE questions that combine jurisdiction with procedure, and MBE-style questions on rule application.
389 words, about 2 min02Constitutional Law
Constitutional Law tests judicial review, federalism, separation of powers, due process, equal protection, and the First Amendment. Maine’s UBE format asks you to identify the standard of review before analyzing facts.
361 words, about 2 min03Contracts
Contracts tests common-law formation and UCC Article 2 sale-of-goods rules, with emphasis on offer and acceptance, consideration, statute of frauds, parol evidence, excuse, and remedies. Common law requires mutual assent and consideration; UCC § 2-204 allows formation by any manner showing agreement, and § 2-206 permits acceptance by prompt promise or shipment.
370 words, about 2 min04Criminal Law and Procedure
Criminal Law and Procedure tests common-law crimes, mens rea, homicide, inchoate offenses, defenses, and constitutional rules governing police investigations and prosecutions. Actus reus, mens rea, concurrence, and causation.
356 words, about 2 min05Evidence
Evidence tests the Federal Rules: relevance, character evidence, impeachment, hearsay and exceptions, privileges, expert testimony, authentication, and the best-evidence rule. Evidence is relevant if it has any tendency to make a fact more or less probable and the fact is of consequence.
360 words, about 2 min06Real Property
Real Property tests estates and future interests, landlord-tenant law, conveyancing and recording, mortgages, easements, covenants, and adverse possession. Fee simple absolute, life estate, fee tail (rare), and defeasible fees.
332 words, about 2 min07Torts
Torts tests intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, products liability, defamation, privacy, and defenses. Battery requires harmful or offensive contact with intent; assault requires apprehension of imminent contact; false imprisonment requires confinement without consent; IIED requires extreme and outrageous conduct and severe emotional distress.
316 words, about 2 min08Multistate Performance Test
The Multistate Performance Test tests lawyering skills, not substantive law recall. Each 90-minute task gives a File (facts, correspondence, pleadings) and a Library (cases, statutes, regulations).
329 words, about 2 min