MBE Strategy of the Day: Contracts

Answer to the Contracts MBE Question

Subject:  Contracts

Legal Issue: Was the offer accepted by the neighbor?

Legal Rule and Analysis:  The general rule is that once an offer is rejected, it cannot be accepted. However, there is an exception for option contracts. An option contract is created when there is a promise to hold an offer open and consideration to support that promise. The rule for option contracts is that the offer can be accepted during the time the offer is held open even if there is first a rejection. The only exception to this is if the offeror takes steps in reliance on the offeree’s rejection prior to the acceptance.

In this case, there was a valid option contract for $10 to hold open the offer. $10 is not considered to be too “nominal” to hold open an offer. So the option contract is valid. Next, the neighbor rejected the offer on January 2. (Normally this would prevent the neighbor from accepting the offer later; however option contracts have special rules and state the offer can still be accepted so long as there is not reliance on the rejection.) The facts state that the “man did not take any steps in reliance” on the rejection. Thus, the January 3 acceptance was effective as it took place within the option deadline.

Choose an answer choice that most closely matches your conclusion and explain why the others are incorrect:   (C) is correct for the reasons stated above.

(A) is incorrect because while it would be true if an option contract were not at issue, in this case the man paid to have the offer “open” and he can (generally) accept it within that time frame. (B) is incorrect as $10 is sufficient consideration to hold open an offer. (D) is incorrect simply because it is too broad. It uses the word “always” (which you should look out for!). It is not true that an option contract can always be accepted during the time that the offer is held open. In fact, if the man had relied on the neighbor’s rejection, the neighbor would not have been able to accept the offer.

MBE Tip: You can see that these MBE questions are detailed and nuanced. This stresses students out and students tend to focus on the MBE to the exclusion of the other parts of the exam.

Remember that in most states, the MBE is worth 50% of your score. That means that the written portion is ALSO worth 50% of your score. Many students get so “bogged down” worrying about the MBE that they neglect the written portion where they could pick up substantially more points.

We just talked to someone in New York who failed by one point on the February 2017 bar exam. He is an extremely smart person and an excellent writer. However, prior to taking the New York bar exam for the first time, he had not written one single MPT. So his MPTs were terribly written!  If he would have taken just a few more hours to practice MPTs, he would not have to sit for the New York bar exam again!  He was so focused on the MBE that it actually caused him to fail!! Of course the MBE is important, but don’t make it your primary focus – it is only worth half your score after all!

We also have students who do the same thing with MEE’s – or the essay portion of their state bar exam. They are overly confident in their writing and they procrastinate practicing MEE’s. If writing is your strength, this is the exact opposite of what you should be doing! You should be capitalizing upon this strength and writing extra MEEs to take some of the pressure off of the MBE day.

You may hear of students who graduate at the top of their class or who have big law firm jobs lined up and that fail the bar exam. We help several of these students pass the bar exam on their second try. Usually, the reason they fail the first bar exam is because they neglect the written portion of the bar exam and make the MBE portion their primary focus.

If you are in a Uniform Bar Exam state, do not forget that the MPT portion is worth 20% of your score – or, to put it in context, the same as 70 multiple choice questions! The MEE portion is worth 30% of your score, or the same as 105 multiple-choice questions! If writing is your strength it will be much easier for you to improve on the written portion with less effort than it will be to improve on the multiple-choice portion.

If you are in an MEE state, we recommend you purchase our MEE one-sheets or Multistate Essay Exam seminar if you are looking for a very efficient approach to the MEE.  Or if you are not interested in spending money, we at least recommend you practice writing MEEs and MPT’s every day!! It is a worthy investment of time – especially if it means not having to retake the bar!!