MEE: Multistate Essay Examination
What the MEE tests
The MEE is the UBE's three-hour essay component: six questions, each designed for 30 minutes, worth 30% of the New Jersey UBE score. It tests issue spotting and written analysis in the MBE subjects plus Business Associations, Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, and Secured Transactions under UCC Article 9. Answers should state the rule, apply it to the facts, address counterarguments where useful, and conclude.
Core rules by subject
- Business Associations: agency creation and authority; partnership formation, fiduciary duties, dissociation; corporation formation, promoter liability, veil piercing; LLC member management.
- Conflict of Laws: constitutional limits on choice of law; most significant relationship; recognition of judgments under full faith and credit; domicile.
- Family Law: marriage and divorce; property division; spousal and child support; custody standards; premarital agreements.
- Trusts and Estates: intestate succession; will formalities, revocation, and contests; trust creation and fiduciary duties; powers of appointment.
- Secured Transactions: attachment, perfection, priority, proceeds, and default under UCC Article 9.
Worked example
Debtor grants Bank a security interest in equipment on April 1. Bank files a financing statement on April 5 using Debtor's trade name, not its legal name. On April 3, Debtor grants Lender a security interest in the same equipment, and Lender files under Debtor's correct legal name. Under UCC § 9-503(a)(1), a financing statement must give the debtor's correct legal name; a trade name is insufficient under § 9-503(c). Bank's filing is seriously misleading and ineffective under § 9-506, so Bank is unperfected. Lender perfected first and has priority. Bank's interest still attached on April 1, but attachment alone does not defeat a later perfected interest.
Traps that cost marks
- Stating a conclusion without the governing rule.
- Missing the call's scope, such as "discuss" versus "is the client liable."
- Using common law where the UCC governs.
- Failing to apply each fact to the element.