ND Bar study guide
ND Bar · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.
Bar admission in North Dakota is controlled by the North Dakota Supreme Court, which acts through its Board of Law Examiners - the committee listed on the state court system's site under both "Committees and Boards" and the "Lawyers" menu. This page is an independent study guide for candidates preparing for that admission exam. It is not published by, endorsed by, or affiliated with the Supreme Court, the Board of Law Examiners, or the State Bar Association of North Dakota. The exam is a generalist licensing test rather than a specialty certification. Topics on this exam: Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), and Multistate Performance Test (MPT). The ND Bar study guide has 3 sections and about 967 words.
01MBE: Doctrine Under Time Pressure
The North Dakota Bar’s MBE component is the NCBE’s 200-question, six-hour multiple-choice test; 175 questions are scored and 25 are unscored. It samples seven subjects-Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts-through fact patterns that require selecting the single best answer under prevailing majority doctrine. Civil Procedure: personal jurisdiction (minimum contacts, fair play), subject-matter jurisdiction, venue, Erie, pleading, summary judgment, claim and issue preclusion. Constitutional Law: state action, due process, equal protection tiers, First Amendment, Commerce Clause, federalism.
346 words, about 2 min02MEE: Structured Essay Analysis
The North Dakota Bar’s MEE component has six 30-minute essays in three hours. It draws from twelve subject areas, including Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Real Property, Torts, Trusts and Estates, and Secured Transactions. Each answer is graded on issue spotting, accurate rule statements, factual application, and clear organization-not on a single “right” conclusion. Read the call of the question first; it tells you which parties and issues to address.
304 words, about 2 min03MPT: Lawyering in a Closed Universe
The North Dakota Bar’s MPT component has two 90-minute tasks in three hours. It tests lawyering skills-legal analysis, factual analysis, organization, drafting, and problem solving-in a closed universe. The Library supplies statutes, cases, and rules; the File supplies facts, correspondence, and client documents. You are not tested on outside substantive law, and importing it can cost points.
317 words, about 2 min