Bar Exams & Admission
- Curriculum Planning Guide for Law Students
- Illinois and Multi-State Bar Exam
- Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
It is the responsibility of each student to ensure that he/she has satisfied all bar admission requirements for the state or states where he/she intends to practice law. Students should be aware that a growing number of jurisdictions (including Illinois) require that registration for the bar occurs during the first year of legal studies. If a student intends to practice in a state other than Illinois, the applicant should obtain from the Board of Admission to the Bar or from the Clerk of the Supreme Court in the state in which he/she intends to practice complete information concerning the requirements of that state. A failure to obtain this information may unnecessarily delay or preclude admission to the bar.
The Directory of State Bar Admission Agencies can be located at: http://www.abanet.org/legaled/publications/compguide2006/directory.pdf.
Students who plan to take the Illinois bar exam can complete the application online at the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar Website at: www.ibaby.org.
Illinois and Multi-State Bar Exam
Most law graduates take the bar exam after they graduate. Most states offer the exam in two parts: one day of the state bar exam (usually essay in form) followed by the multiple choice Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) on the second day. Each state bar exam may be a little different from the next, so be sure to ask the bar authorities from the state to which you will apply for admission. See Dean Faught for further information.
The Illinois Bar Exam is a 2 day exam offered on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of each February and each July.
The first day of the Illinois Bar Exam consists of:
- One 90-minute Multistate Performance Test (MPT) question. The MPT is worth approximately 7%;
- Six Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) questions:
- MEE Subjects
- Agency
- Commercial Paper
- Conflict of Laws
- Corporations
- Family Law
- Federal Civil Procedure
- Partnerships
- Sales
- Secured Transactions
- Trusts and Future Interests
- Wills and Estates
- ** Plus all MBE subjects (see below)
- Three questions drafted by Illinois examiners. The essays are worth approximately 43%.
The second day of the Illinois Bar Exam consists of:
The 200-question Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) multiple-choice exam.
- MBE Subjects
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts/Sales
- Criminal Law/Procedure
- Evidence
- Real Property
- Torts
- The MBE is worth approximately 50%
Results
February exam results are generally released six weeks after the exam. July exam results are generally released 8-10 weeks after the exam.
Most students who take a reasonably well-rounded curriculum at Loyola will be well prepared for the bar exam in any state. Students who, in planning there schedules, focus only on bar-related courses may not take advantage of the courses in the curriculum that offer a deeper perspective into the profession of law or that help develop important skills for the practice of law. Students who do not take enough courses that touch on the areas tested on the bar exam may find themselves poorly prepared for the bar. In either case, the student will find that his or her preparation for the profession of law is not well-rounded. For suggestions on what to take into consideration when choosing law school courses, please refer to the Curriculum Planning Guide for Law Students.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
The MPRE is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, a multiple choice examination containing 50 questions, which is produced, marketed, and administered by the American College of Testing (ACT) on behalf of the NCBE three times each calendar year (March, August, and November). The Test is designed to measure the examinee's knowledge of the ethical standards of the legal profession and is two hours and five minutes in length. Many jurisdictions, including Illinois, require bar applicants to write the MPRE. The MPRE is also scored and scaled nationally, although each jurisdiction establishes its own passing score.
Illinois requires a scaled score of 80 or more points on the MPRE. An Illinois applicant must have earned the lesser of 60 credit hours or two thirds of the credits required to obtain a JD degree from his or her law school before sitting for the MPRE; for most applicants, this means that the MPRE may have been written no sooner than August preceding commencement of the final year of law school. No exceptions to these requirements are made.
At Loyola University Chicago School of Law all students must have earned at least 57.0 credit hours before sitting for the MPRE.
An applicant need not take the MPRE before writing the bar exam. However, the Board must received satisfactory proof than an applicant has achieved a passing MPRE score before he or she can be recommended for admission to the bar.
You may visit the website of the NCBE at http://www.ncbex.org for detailed information, booklets, and study guides concerning the MPRE.
