MBE: Multistate Bar Examination
What the MBE tests
The MBE is the UBE's six-hour, 200-question multiple-choice component: 175 questions are scored and 25 are unscored pretest items. In New Jersey it counts for 50% of the UBE score. Each of seven subjects-Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts-contributes 25 scored questions. Questions test general doctrine applied to short facts; local New Jersey law is not tested.
Core rules to have ready
- Civil Procedure: personal and subject-matter jurisdiction, venue, Erie, pleadings, discovery, summary judgment, claim and issue preclusion.
- Evidence: relevance, hearsay and exceptions, confrontation, impeachment, character evidence, privileges.
- Constitutional Law: judicial review, federalism, due process, equal protection, First Amendment, state action.
- Contracts: formation, consideration, defenses, third-party rights, performance, breach, remedies; UCC Article 2 for goods.
- Criminal Law and Procedure: mens rea, actus reus, homicide, theft, defenses, accomplice liability, attempt; Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendment rules.
- Real Property: estates, future interests, landlord-tenant, conveyancing, recording, mortgages, easements, covenants.
- Torts: intentional torts, negligence, strict liability, products liability, defamation, privacy, damages.
Worked example
A painter agrees to paint a house for $5,000. After starting, the owner says, "I will not pay unless you finish by Friday." The painter finishes Friday and demands $5,000. Is there a contract modification? Under common law, a promise to perform an existing duty is not consideration. The owner's promise to pay the original $5,000 is not enforceable as a modification because the painter gave no new consideration. The painter is entitled to the original contract price, not an extra $5,000. If the facts said the painter agreed to additional work, the result would differ.
Traps that cost marks
- Reading facts before the call and missing the doctrinal hook.
- Treating a nonhearsay use as hearsay.
- Using common-law rules for UCC Article 2 goods.
- Missing criminal procedure issues hidden in a substantive crime fact pattern.