The July 2016 Bar Exam is over! This was definitely one of the harder exams on the books, with both the MBE and MEEs being more difficult/different than in the recent past. Virginia’s essays were, as usual, fair yet challenging as expected.
In DC we saw about twice the number of test takers due to this being the first time DC has tested as a UBE jurisdiction. Many folks opted against going up to New York or other jurisdictions and decided to stay local and take the exam here. I think yet others opted for DC instead of VA this time as well due to DC being a UBE jurisdiction. As far as the usual chaos that is the administration of the DC bar exam, they did not disappoint, although it was not the worst it has ever been. The main problem this time was delays in starting, which in the grand scheme of things is annoying but not as bad as what we’ve seen before. The morning MPTs were pretty straightforward, with a memo and a brief, but a couple of the MEEs were tricky this year. We had the following MEE subjects: Corporations (LLC), Evidence, Torts, Secured Transactions, Contracts and Federal Civil Procedure. Sounds like most people disliked the evidence question the most as it was pretty unusual and different from what one would expect on an MEE.
Virginia was pretty standard as far as administrations go, with them tending to abandon the highly predictable subjects but still being predictable enough to prepare adequately. We saw Torts, Secured transactions, Criminal law, Partnerships(LLP)/Agency, Federal civ pro/local government, Commercial Paper, Personal property/Common carriers and our favorite, VA civ pro. All multiple choice this time around, not that terrible.
The MBE was again, in mine and many others opinions, slightly harder than the last exam, continuing the trend. So, this indicates a clear pattern that the exam is still trending to be a little more difficult each and every time. It’s not a dramatic difference, but it’s noticeable, especially when looking at it over several administrations of the MBE.
And just a quick reminder for everyone taking the February 2017 exam, the real property topics being tested will change slightly, with some being changed slightly, some new topics being tested, and others no longer being tested. More on this later, but for now, here are the new topics being tested: conflicts of law; property owners’ associations and common interest ownership communities; drafting, review, and negotiation of closing documents; and persons authorized to execute real estate documents.
Good luck to everyone who took the exam, expect results in the October time frame, I will post anticipated results dates as I hear more. Virginia results will be posted October 21, 2016.
