February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam Recap

A Recap of the February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam (MEE and MPT)

In our blog post we give you a quick recap of the February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam, including what was tested on the February 2019 Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) and the February 2019 Multistate Performance Test (MPT).

February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam Recap

February 2019 Multistate Essay Exam (MEE):

For the most part, the issues tested on the essays were more in line with a traditional essay exam, especially in light of the difficulty of the July 2018 exam.  This time the Examiners chose to test the MBE and MEE subjects almost equally, rather than favoring one set of subjects over the other.

The following MBE subjects were tested on the MEE:

• Civil Procedure: motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction (particularly diversity jurisdiction), motion to dismiss for lack of personal jurisdiction, domicile of an individual, domicile of a corporation (Note: We did predict that Civil Procedure would appear on the exam and it did!)
• Criminal Law: larceny, embezzlement, burglary, receipt of stolen property (Note: We predicted that Evidence would appear on the exam, possibly as crossover with Criminal Law and Procedure, but instead the Examiners chose to test purely Criminal Law.)
• Torts: negligence, proximate causation, res ipsa loquitor, joint and several liability (Note: We did predict that Torts would appear on the exam, possibly with an Agency crossover, and the Examiners chose to test purely Torts.)

The following MEE subjects were tested:

• Corporations and LLCs/Agency/Partnership: how to create a LLC, how to create a general partnership, a partner has actual and apparent authority to bind the partnership in the ordinary affairs of the business, how a partner may withdraw from a partnership (Note: This is the first time the exam featured a crossover question testing LLCs, Agency and Partnership. We did predict that Corporations and LLCs would be tested. Indeed, it was tested in part, because examines were required to know that members need to file articles of organization to create a LLC. Further, we did note that Agency might appear on this exam, but we thought that it would be more likely to come up in conjunction with Torts, given that Partnerships was just tested in February 2018.) Note: some examinees are saying that LLCs were not an issue, but rather an LLP was tested. We have not seen the questions and have gotten conflicting responses, so we are just relying on what we have heard. Feel free to comment below!
• Secured Transactions: attachment, perfection, priority between a secured party and judicial lien creditor in collateral described as personal property, how a secured party may dispose of collateral (i.e., notice and a commercially reasonable sale) (Note: We did predict that Secured Transactions would appear on the exam and it did!)
• Trusts: duties of the trustee (loyalty, care), discretionary support trust, spendthrift trust, favored and non-favored creditors) (Note: We predicted that Decedents’ Estates (Wills) would appear on the exam, but instead the Examiners chose to test Trusts. We were surprised by this because Trusts appeared on the July 2018 exam and it focused largely upon the duties of the trustee!)

A significant number of issues that were tested were covered by our Multistate Essay Exam seminar and MEE one-sheets. We will be updating posts over the next week to note exactly which issues were covered in our UBE Course, our MEE Seminar and the MEE one-sheets. On the whole, we are quite happy that we predicted two-thirds of the subjects on the February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam.

If you are feeling nervous about what you wrote for any of the essay questions you are not alone! For the large part, Examinees reported that the fact patterns were quite lengthy (at least a page in length!). In particular, many students found the Criminal Law and Secured Transactions questions to be tricky.

February 2019 Multistate Performance Test (MPT):

The MPTs were a persuasive brief and an objective memo.  We suspected the NCBE would test at least one of the traditional tasks this round. And indeed, we were right—we predicted that exam takers would be expected to write a persuasive brief. Examinees were asked to write about a motion for a preliminary injunction. A woman operated a daycare center but did not comply with the state regulations. A number of examinees found that it took them longer than ninety minutes to complete the persuasive brief.

For the second MPT we predicted that an opinion or demand letter would be tested but the NCBE asked exam takers to complete another highly tested task – an objective memo.  Thus, the MPT tasks fell in line with a traditional exam. This MPT centered upon the duty of care element in a negligence claim, whether a defendant has an affirmative duty to act and the Good Samaritan doctrine.

Keep in mind that you cannot change what you wrote today, so try to get a good night’s rest and confidently tackle the MBE portion of the exam tomorrow. Remember to carefully read the call of the question and make sure your answer lines up with the facts presented in the questions. We hope you found our recap of the February 2019 Uniform Bar Exam helpful. Good luck on the MBE!

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