Is Negotiable Instruments Tested on the Multistate Essay Exam?  

Is Negotiable Instruments tested on the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE)?

[Note, the MEE is administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and offered in about 30 states* listed below.]  If you are in an MEE jurisdiction, you may wonder if negotiable instruments is tested on the Multistate Essay Exam. The answer is: no. 

Beginning February 2015, Negotiable Instruments (Uniform Commercial Code Article 3, and excerpts of Article 4, Bank Collections) is no longer tested on the Multistate Essay Exam. This means that you do not have to know this subject for any future MEE’s. This is a relief to many test-takers, because Negotiable Instruments used to be heavily tested on the Multistate Essay Exam in the past. Further, it is a difficult subject that many students do not learn in law school.

The National Conference of Bar Examiner’s made the announcement prior to the February 2015 bar exam. It said: “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).”

After the announcement by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, some states followed suit and dropped Negotiable Instruments or other from their state exams — this includes Indiana (which dropped Negotiable Instruments) and Louisiana (which dropped Secured Transactions altogether!). (One major exception to this trend is Florida, which curiously added Negotiable Instruments to its bar exam in 2013.) Other states (like Michigan, Ohio, etc.) will continue to list Negotiable Instruments as fair game to be tested.

You may be wondering if you are in an Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) jurisdiction. The following jurisdictions administer the MEE (and thus, unless stated otherwise by the state board of bar examiners, no longer test Negotiable Instruments): Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Virgin Islands. 

• Looking for MEE Help?

  Free or discounted resources

  • Free popular bar exam guides (on the highly tested MEE topics, how to pass the bar exam, and what to do if you failed the bar exam) written by bar exam experts!
  • Free bar exam webinars taught by top bar exam experts
  • Our new Free Bar Exam Resource Center, which includes our most popular free guides, posts, webinars, and more!

  Other resources

  Our most POPULAR and highly rated bar exam resources are:

  • A five-star MEE course that provides you with the best instruction, outlines, and questions. Preview our course for free here!
  • MEE One-Sheets—rated five stars! Our customers love these!
  • NEW MEE Mastery Class, an effective and engaging way to review the highly tested areas of law on the MEE!
  • MEE Feedback for those seeking substantive and organizational review of practice questions
  • MEE Private Tutoring for those seeking one-on-one help to pass the MEE

  You can read more about our MEE services here.