Five Multistate Essay Exam Issues & Trends to Be Aware Of

Five Multistate Essay Exam Issues & Trends to Be Aware Of

Below are five multistate essay exam issues and trends you should be aware of. These have been “favorites” of the National Conference of Bar Examiners to test recently. These are not necessarily predictions. But they are multistate essay exam issues that we see students miss and they are issues or trends that have been tested regularly recently. So we figured it would be helpful to have a short list of these recent “favorites” as you go into the exam.

Five Multistate Essay Exam Issues & Trends to Be Aware Of

Be aware of crossover subjects as they are more common on the multistate essay exam!

Crossover subjects have been more common–especially recently–on the multistate essay exam. For the July 2017 exam, Conflict of Laws was tested with Civil Procedure. Criminal Procedure was tested with Evidence. And Trusts and Future Interests was combined with Decedent’s Estates. So half of the MEE questions (3 of the 6) had two subjects tested together.

A common crossover subject seen very recently has been Criminal Procedure and Evidence. (They were tested together in July 2017 and in July 2016. In both of those exams, Miranda warnings and hearsay were tested together. So if you see something that looks like it has components of Evidence and Criminal Procedure tested together, that would not be unusual!

LLC’s are becoming more popular to test on the multistate essay exam. Formation, rights, and duties are heavily tested, as is liability.

Of the last six exams that Corporations and LLC’s have been tested, LLC’s have been tested on three of those exams. So do not ignore LLCs when you study. They are more common than students think.

One thing that we noticed some commercial courses do not emphasize is the principal that members of an LLC are generally not liable for losses. However, they are liable if the court decides to pierce the LLC veil (similar to piercing a corporate veil) or if proper procedures for dissolution and winding up have not been followed. You can find examples of these in July 2013, July 2012, and July 2007 exams.

Miranda rights are by far the most popular on Criminal Procedure questions.

Of the last six times that Criminal Procedure was tested, Miranda was tested four of those times. You should be aware that it attaches when there is a custodial interrogation. And that to invoke Miranda, the suspect must be explicit, unambiguous, and unequivocal. Further, you should note that statements are excluded from the prosecutor’s case-in-chief but that the physical fruits are not excluded if the statements were made voluntarily.

Miranda is one of the most popular Criminal Procedure Multistate Essay Exam issues and is well worth making sure you know!

Have a general introduction in mind for if you see a Torts question that tests negligence.

Many multistate essay exams start a Torts question that tests negligence with, “In any negligence action, a plaintiff must show that the defendant owed the plaintiff a duty to conform his conduct to a standard necessary to avoid an unreasonable risk of harm to others, that the defendant’s conduct fell below the applicable standard of care, and that the defendant’s conduct was both the cause in fact and the proximate cause of his injuries.”

You don’t have to memorize this exact sentence but since negligence is tested so often (e.g., the last four times Torts was tested, negligence has been an issue) it is worth it to have an introduction memorized and ready to go.

Civil Procedure is no longer a “guaranteed” subject.

Civil Procedure was tested virtually every exam until recently. It was not tested on the February 2016 exam. Nor was it tested on the February 2017 exam. This means, you should not be shocked if you do not see it on one of the exams in 2018. It is still the most popular MEE subject, but the writers of the multistate essay exam seemed to have finally realized that there is no reason it needs to be tested every time. It seems as though we’ll be seeing some of the other MBE subjects more and Civil Procedure a little less in the years to come.

We hope this list of recent multistate essay exam issues and trends is helpful. Good luck studying!

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