Dr. Steiner 
(rev. 5-3-2007)

Overview of the Texas Bar Exam

I.        Format

II.      Web Resources

A.      Texas Board of Law Examiners

B.      National Conference of Bar Examiners

III.      Subjects

           A.       Texas Procedure and Evidence (10% of score)

                      1.        Description from Texas Board of Law Examiners

The P&E exam is a 90-minute test covering both civil and criminal procedure and evidence. It is printed in one exam booklet, and it is up to you to decide how much time to spend on each section. When you finish the first section of the test, go immediately to the second section.

                      2.        Web resources: Past exams and bar examiners' comments on Texas Bar Examiner website

           B.       Multistate Practice Test (10% of score)

                      1.        Description from Texas Board of Law Examiners

The MPT is a 90-minute exam designed to test your ability to use fundamental lawyering skills in a realistic situation and will evaluate your ability to complete a task a beginning lawyer should be able to accomplish. The exam materials to be provided to you will include a File and a Library. The MPT requires you to: (a) sort detailed factual materials and separate relevant from irrelevant facts; (b) analyze statutes, cases, and administrative materials for relevant principles of law; (c) apply the relevant law to the relevant facts to resolve a client’s problem; (d) identify and resolve ethical dilemmas, when present; (e) communicate effectively in writing, and; (f) complete the required task within 90 minutes.

                      2.        Format of assignment: brief in support of motion, client letter, memorandum

                      3.        Web resources: Past exams on National Conference of Bar Examiners website .

           C.       Multistate Bar Exam (40% of score)

                      1.        Description: 200 multiple choice questions; two 3-hour sessions

                      2.       Subjects

                                 a.        Contracts

                                 b.        Constitutional law

                                 c.        Criminal Law and Procedure

                                 d.        Real Property

                                 e.        Evidence

                                 f.        Torts

                      3.        Resources: Released questions can be purchased from NCBE.

           D.       Texas Essays

                      1.        Description: 12 essays; two 3-hour sessions

                      2.        Subjects

                                 a.        Uniform Commercial Code (2 essays)

                                 b.        Business Associations, including corporations, agency and partnerships (2 essays)

                                 c.        Family Law (2 essays)

                                 d.        Wills & Administration (2 essays)

                                 e.        Real Property (2 essays) (for a brief BLE outline of this subject click here)

                                 f.        Trust & Guardianship (1 essay)

                                 g.        Consumer Law (1 essay) (for a brief BLE outline of this subject click here)

                                 h.        Cross-over topics
1.    The Board of Law Examiners says that taxation and bankruptcy may appear as an element of other essays, such as family law, oil and gas, trusts, wills and estates, etc.
2.     As of the February 2007 exam, in the nineteen exams given since July 1999, seven essays (7/228) have had cross-over elements, including one essay asking about the effect of a bankruptcy stay on a foreclosure sale, two essays having questions about federal estate tax, one essay having a federal gift tax element, and one asking about the tax advantages of a limited liability partnership versus a corporation.  

                      3.        Web resources: Past exams and bar examiners' comments on Bar Examiner website

                      4.        Essays and examiners' comments are collated here for your convenience. They are grouped by subject matter:

• Business Associations
  
  
• Consumer Law
  
  
• Family Law
  
  
• Trust & Guardianship/Wills & Administration
  
  
• Uniform Commercial Code
  
  

IV.      STCL Courses and the Bar Exam

           A.       STCL Courses Related to the Texas Procedure and Evidence Section

                      1.        Evidence

                      2.        Texas Pretrial Procedure

                      3.        Texas Trial and Appellate Procedure

                      4.        Criminal Procedure

                      5.        Texas Criminal Procedure

                         Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, 91% had taken Criminal Procedure, 87% had taken Texas Pre-Trial Procedure, and 60% had taken Texas Trial & Appellate Procedure.

           B.       STCL Courses Related to the MPT

                      1.        LRW I

                      2.        LRW II

           C.       STCL Courses Related to the Multistate Bar Examination

                      1.        First-year substantive courses

                      2.        Evidence and Property II

                      3.        Criminal Procedure 

           D.       STCL Courses Related to the Texas Essays

                      1.        Uniform Commercial Code

                                 a.        Payment Systems

                                 b.        Secured Transactions

                                  Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, only 61% had taken Payment Systems and only 38% had taken Secured Transactions.                          

                      2.        Business Associations

                                 a.        Corporations

                                 b.        Agency & Partnership

                                  Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, 83% had taken Corporations and 76% had taken Agency and Partnership. 

                      3.        Family Law

                                 a.        Family Law

                                 b.        Marital Property

                                 Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates 72% had taken Family Law and 65% had taken Marital Property.

                      4.        Wills & Administration

                                 a.        Wills, Trusts, & Estates

                                 b.        Administration of Estates & Guardianships

                                 Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, 98% had taken Wills, Trusts, and Estates.

                      5.        Real Property

                                 a.        Property I

                                 b.        Property II

                                 c.        Oil & Gas

                                 Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, 75% had taken Oil & Gas.

                      6.        Trust & Guardianship

                                 a.        Wills, Trusts, & Estates

                                 b.        Administration of Estates & Guardianships

                      7.        Consumer Law

                                 a.        Consumer Transactions

                                 b.        Insurance

                                  Note: For STCL July 2004 bar candidates, only 28% had taken Consumer Transactions and 45% had taken Insurance.

                      8.        Cross-over topics

                                  a.      Business Bankruptcy

                                  b.      Consumer Bankruptcy

                                  c.      Estate and Gift Taxation

V.     Studying for the Bar

 In March 2007, Delta Theta Phi law fraternity sponsored a program on studying for the bar. It features advice from four recent graduates on such matters as scheduling. It is available here. One graduate, Adrian Ramirez, also provided a handout with a suggested schedule. It is available here.

Ronda Harrison has provided another suggested schedule, which was geared to the July 2006 bar exam. It is available here.

VI.     STCL Performance

           A.       Bar Passage Rates (BLE Statistics)

           B.       Analysis of July 2004 Bar Results (BLE-commissioned study of results that addresses causes of failure)