Washington DC (UBE) & Virginia Bar Exam Tutoring & Self-Study

Category: Virginia Bar Exam

  • July 2016 Bar Exams are over – DC, VA and MBE discussion

    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: (more…)

  • Public Service Announcement – Strategies and Tactics 6th edition now available – Tips of the day on twitter

    PSA – The new edition of Emmanuel’s Strategies and Tactics for the MBE is now shipping. Expect a full review from me shortly. The main change is the addition of a Civil Procedure section (both questions and a substantive review) plus an additional 100 or so questions from the NCBE OPE-4. If you have the 5th edition, email the publisher as they can give you online access to the Civil Procedure questions.

    Also, I have started posting my daily Tips of the Day (#totd) on twitter. Check for the #totd hashtag to get MBE and Virginia bar exam tips each day.

  • Virginia February 2016 Bar Exam results released

    Virginia has posted their February 2016 bar exam results here. The pass rates are as follows:

    Overall pass rate: 57.5%
    First time taker pass rate: 65.5%

    Highest overall pass rate school: Both George Mason and Washington and Lee with 83% of test takers passing, well done!

    These results fall in line with a typical February 2016 administration of the VA bar exam. Waiting for DC next week or two hopefully.

  • Virginia, DC, Maryland and NY February 2016 bar exams are over

    And with that, the February 2016 bar exam is over in this area for DC, Maryland, NY and Virginia. With this, NY and DC will be joining the growing number of jurisdictions to adopt the UBE starting with the July 2016 exam this summer (keep your eye open for an upcoming post on this topic soon). The exams were brutal and the weather pretty miserable but that’s about what you have to expect when it comes to the bar exam. DC didn’t disappoint with a dismal proctoring experience and near mutiny by the test takers over incorrect timing and other issues but everyone managed to survive more or less. Other jurisdictions were mostly smooth as usual. See below for the breakdown of subjects tested and some release date predictions: (more…)

  • Virginia July 2015 Bar Exam Results posted!

    The Virginia Board of Bar Examiners has posted the results of the July 2015 Virginia bar exam here. Congratulations to everyone who passed! The overall pass rate was 71%. First time takers had a good pass rate of 75.6%. The top school this summer was UVA with an overall pass rate of 89.8%. The admissions ceremony will be December 9th in Richmond, which is a nice ceremony. Again, congratulations to everyone who passed. For those of you that did not pass, take a look at your scores when they come in the mail and see if the MBE or essays (or both) were your problem areas. Think about the approach you took, how much time you studied, etc. The best thing to do is continue studying for February using what worked for you and changing what didn’t work.

  • July 2015 Bar Exam is over! DC and VA breakdown of subjects

    Exhausted, tired, relieved that the bar exam is over. It was a long, hot summer. I am so relieved to have the rest of the summer to relax and I hope everyone else is able to enjoy these next few months till results come out. I know that waiting for results is painful and stinks but make the best of it and enjoy the free time as a result of not having to study, I know I will.

    I thought the Virginia essays were fair and straightforward. They tested the following subjects: (more…)

  • Virginia bar exam results for February 2015 posted early

    1 week early to start the weekend. The VBBE has posted the results of the February 2015 Virginia bar exam. The overall pass rate was 59% with 67% of first time takers passing. My friends down in Lexington at Washington and Lee scored the highest out of any Virginia school with an excellent 89% pass rate and 100% of first time takers passing. Well done. Check out the full pass list of names here.

  • Virginia and DC Bar exams are over for February 2015

    The DC and Virginia bar exam are now officially finished. In DC we had a solid exam with an objective memo and a persuasive letter to start the AM. The afternoon essays were as expected with Agency, torts, con law, civ pro, wills/trusts, and property and UCC 9. Trusts was a little tough, but otherwise manageable. The MBE was straightforward, with the civ pro questions being easier than expected and the rest of the exam being as expected with the usual focus areas.

    As for Virginia, we’re back to business as usual with a bunch of Fed and VA procedure questions, sales, partnership, agency, some equity and personal property, wills and everyone’s favorite creditors rights :-) Overall a very fair exam and nice to see the VA and federal jurisdiction back on the exam as those are critical subjects for any attorney to be tested on. Little bit surprised not to see the usual long Corporations, local govt, real property and criminal as I feel those are core subjects they should always test but overall, as usual, it was a very fair exam.

    Time to celebrate and enjoy the extra time that comes with not having to prepare for a bar exam! Results to be posted in late April for Virginia and late May for DC.

  • July 2014 Virginia Bar Exam Results Posted

    The results for the July 2014 Virginia Bar Exam have been posted over at the VBBE’s website.

    Overall pass rate was 68%
    The first time taker pass rate was 72.86%

    Congratulations to everyone who passed! This is a big moment and your hard work has paid off. The swearing in ceremony is on December 3rd at the Greater Richmond Convention Center at 12:30PM. It’s a very nice ceremony and is a special session of the Supreme Court of Virginia.

    For everyone who did not pass, don’t despair. Instead, look over how you studied for the exam and what you feel you should have done differently. Don’t give up and be sure to apply to take the February exam before the December 15th deadline.

  • July 2014 Bar Exam is over – Results coming in a couple of months

    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.