Category: Bar Exam

In a first for the DC Bar Exam, we had a virtually (remote) administered exam over the past 2 days, and was only 1/2 the amount of questions and time. And the exam was held on Monday/Tuesday instead of the usual Tuesday/Wednesday. Woah! It was a strange experience not being able to go onsite and using a webcam/being at home.

We had 1.5 hours starting at noon with a break then another 1.5 hours. So only 3 hours per day instead of 6. Much shorter, almost felt too fast in a way.

I’m expecting results to be posted in early December, but you never know. Good luck to everyone, hope to see a high pass rate!

Due to Covid-19, today marks the first ever Fall Bar Exam which is being held in Virginia, and next month in October will be the first ever for DC. Both DC and Virginia are offering shortened bar exams (Two 1/2 days in DC and 1 day in VA) but each are quite different. Let’s start with today’s exam in Virginia…

Virginia is offering a 1 day essay only exam today, meaning no MBE score is required to pass this exam. The passing score for all applicants is 64 raw Virginia Essay points out of a possible 100. Virginia gives 9 essay questions (10 points each) and 10 multiple choice questions (1 point each). This is a great opportunity for those who struggle on the MBE as this has never been an option before and likely never will again. Good luck to everyone today and remember to check the VBBE (Virginia Board of Bar Examiners) Covid-19 FAQ as there are strict requirements on the amounts and types of PPE you may bring to the exam.

Now, onto the Washington DC bar exam which will be held next month on October 5th and 6th. DC is taking a different approach and is still testing the full exam (sort of), but only 1/2 the normal amount of questions. Additionally, DC will be having their first ever “virtual bar exam”! This means students will be taking the exam from home. Let’s break down each of these starting with the Remote bar exam. This means that all test takers will be taking the exam from home, using their laptops and webcams. There will be monitors observing and special precautions taken. DC is notorious for poor exam administration so please be prepared for long delays and numerous technical difficulties. The exam starts at noon each day so hopefully they will spend time in the morning proactively working to ensure a smooth exam administration but prepare for there to be issues.

The DC exam will still be held over two days but will only be half the normal time and number of questions. The exam will be 3 hours per day instead of 6 hours per day and will start at noon each day with a 30 minute break. Day one will start with 1 MPT (instead of the usual 2) and you will have 90 minutes and then a 30 minute break. This will be followed by 3 MEE questions (instead of the usual 6). Day 2 will also start at noon and there will be 100 MBE questions (instead of the usual 200) with a 30 minute break after 1.5 hours. So expect 50 questions in 1.5 hours, then a 30 minute break, then the remaining 50 questions. This is great for folks who have stamina issues getting through 100 MBE questions at a time and especially for most folks who struggle with back to back MPTs in 3 hours. Having only half the usual questions and a break after 1.5 hours decreases the difficulty in this regard quite a bit. Again, a great opportunity for a shortened bar exam that may never come again.

Good luck to everyone taking Virginia today! I will post more updates soon with some of the changes to California’s bar exam and additional tips for the DC bar exam as we get closer to exam time there.

Just a short post to wish everyone good luck on the July 2020 bar exam tomorrow (in those jurisdictions still administering a July exam). As most of you know, there are many options available and a lot of moving parts for the bar exam these days, the most common being a September 2020 option. I will have a series of posts soon about those options, specifically focusing on Virginia and the Rochmond, VA September 2020 option.

Good luck tomorrow!

The NCBE has decided that although 19 jurisdictions (as of May 5th) have decided to postpone/cancel the July 2020 bar exam, there will likely be a sufficient number of jurisdictions that will still administer a July 2020 bar exam for the NCBE to move forward with making test materials available. This means that a July 2020 MBE, MEE and MPT will be available for any jurisdiction that wishes to proceed. It is now entirely in the hands of the individual jurisdictions as to whether or not they hold a July 2020 bar exam.

DC has officially cancelled the July 2020 bar exam and will make a decision on a Fall 2020 administration of the exam by May 4th (Could they be star wars fans?). I will continue to post real-time updates as I get them on the DC fall exam as well as all other exams.

Virginia will announce their July 2020 decision in May.