Beginning with the February 2010 exam, Connecticut will be using the Multistate Essay Exam (“MEE”). As reported by the Connecticut Law Tribune, the Connecticut Bar Examining Committee will continue to administer 12 essays, but will now have the option of choosing up to six MEE questions. The MEE is written by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (“NCBE”), but is administered and graded by the individual jurisdictions. It tests the following subjects:
- Agency and Partnership
- Commercial Paper
- Conflict of Laws
- Corporations and Limited Liability Companies
- Decedents’ Estates
- Family Law
- Federal Civil Procedure
- Trusts and Future Interests
- Secured Transactions
- All MBE Subjects (Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts)
Connecticut questions will continue to be administered to comprise the balance of the 12. Those questions will cover:
- Administrative Law
- Business Entities (Corporations, Partnerships, and Sole Proprietorships)
- Conflict of Laws
- Contracts
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Federal and State Constitutional Law
- Civil Procedure
- Evidence
- Professional Responsibility
- Property (Real and Personal, including Future Interests)
- Torts
- Uniform Commercial Code
- Wills, Trusts, and Estates
This begs several questions: Will the Board administer questions on those topics covered by the MEE? If so, will multiple questions on the same topic be posed? Because for all topics other than state constitutional law (which which has not recently been tested) Connecticut tests only general principles, why not switch to the uniform exam completely?
Stay tuned for more information as we receive it…
Although the MEE offers many advantages, including movement toward a uniform exam and high-quality questions whose authors understand and appreciate the science behind testing, there are also some disadvantages. Perhaps the most significant unintended consequence of this change is that examinees will no longer be able to sit for the Connecticut and the New York bar exams in the same administration period. Because it is a uniform exam, the MEE must be administered on Tuesday of the exam period—the same day as New York’s state-specific section. However, Connecticut examinees will now be able to take the Massachusetts exam concurrently as the Massachusetts state-specific section falls on Thursday.
This will cause some interesting developments as more and more states move toward the uniform bar exam—especially in the closely-situated East Coast states. Will those states still using exclusively their own exams be willing to move exam dates? Will firms be more lenient in allowing for study/licensing time when hiring new graduates? While this all remains to be seem, with consistent testing throughout the country and “portable scores” offered by the uniform exam, the quandary of sitting for exams in multiple jurisdictions may become altogether moot.
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