DC bar exam results are posted here for the July 2014 exam.
The overall pass rate was 39.3% this time with a 55.2% pass rate for first time takers.
Congratulations to everyone who passed!!! If you did not pass, take a couple of days to get over the initial disappointment and then take a look at how you prepared and think of a plan for February 2015.
Now that the bar exam is over, we wait for the results. This is the worst part really, 2+ months of waiting from here is no fun. DC and Maryland should post the last week of October, we’re looking around Oct 29th for DC and Oct 31st for Maryland. Virginia is a bit earlier to post and will be in mid October, towards the end of the week, October 17th. And of course for California, you’ve got over 3 months of waiting, until November 21st until the results are sent out.
This bar exam marked the end of a couple of things. First of all, for DC and all other jurisdictions using the MEE (including all UBE jurisdictions), commercial paper is no longer a tested essay topic. Additionally, for everyone except Louisiana and Puerto Rico (which doesn’t use the MBE), this was the last time the MBE will test the same six subjects because starting with the next bar exam in February 2015, Civil Procedure will be added to the MBE as a 7th subject. My students for February already have a strategy around this and in fact this should make the MBE easier for those who have struggled with it in the past for several reasons, but we’ll cover that another day. For the time being, try not to think about the bar exam and enjoy the rest of the summer. The results will be here when they will be here, nothing can make them come sooner or later.
Congratulations on surviving the first day. Down here in Virginia we had an interesting exam, with our predicted subjects making up nearly all of the exam and with civil procedure(s) having a negligible showing: Lots of local government, some personal property, crim law, partnerships, wills, domestic relations, agency and commercial paper. DC was fairly straightforward as well, with predictions nearly on the mark this time (6 out of 7 ain’t bad): crim, contracts, evidence, civ pro, fam law/conflicts and corporations. And on a positive note, the administration/proctoring of the DC exam today went smoother than last time, although there were still some issues, but hopefully this is a sign they are getting their act together slowly but surely. Oh, MPTs were a fairly tough memo and a letter. Good luck on the MBE tomorrow for everyone taking it!
By now most everyone is in full swing with their studying for the July 2014 bar exam as we are solidly into June. But I thought I would make a mention of the Feb bar exam as one of the most anticipated (dreaded perhaps?) changes to the bar exam is the addition of Civil Procedure to the February 2015 bar exam. Well, the NCBE has given some additional news which will probably be better received; effective the same exam, Feb 2015, they will no longer test UCC3 (Commercial Paper aka Negotiable Instruments) on the essay (MEE) portion of the exam. Here is the direct quote from the NCBE themselves:
“Effective with the February 2015 bar exam, Negotiable Instruments (Uniform Commercial Code Article 3 and the excerpts of Article 4, Bank Collections) will no longer be tested on the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE).”
So, for those of you taking the bar in February 2015 who were upset about Civ Pro coming to the MBE, maybe news will come as some small relief. In the meantime, I am going to commence my daily twitter Tips of the Day (#TOTD) so be sure and follow me if you have not already.
The official pass list has been posted at the Courthouse in DC, and the list has also been posted online here. Overall pass rate was 47% with 58% first time takers passing. Believe it or not this is a higher rate than we have seen in past February bar exams so congratulations to everyone who passed!
Half way there (I know the west coast is still going, but I wanted to get my thoughts on DC and VA out there before dinner)…
DC was a mess today, poor administration, inconsistent time given to students, poor lunch break management, just an all around disaster. I feel bad for everyone who sat for DC today, expect more of the same tomorrow and try to just stay focused on the exam. Good news is the subjects tested were as expected, although only two MBE subjects this time around, con and crim law. The MEE subjects were a mix of easy and hard, with civ pro, partnership, trusts and UCC9. Oh, the MPTs were a memo and a brief.
Things were smoother in Virginia, essays were basically exactly as planned. Lots of VA civ pro, some PR, crim, UCC3, our friend detinue made an appearance (hope you read my twitter tips of the day), property, wills was back, corporations and some creditors rights/suretyship. All around a very fair and straightforward exam, what we have come to expect from VA, tough but fair, exactly how a bar exam should be.
Stay strong and finish things off properly with the MBE tomorrow to put this exam behind us. Good luck!