Kara Sears
The Texas Bar Exam is a 2-and-a-half-day exam that includes a Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) with 200 multiple-choice questions, a Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and a Multistate Performance Test (MPT). The MBE, which makes up 50% of the score, covers seven subjects, including Contracts. The MEE, accounting for 30% of the score, includes six 30-minute essay questions on subjects that vary from exam to exam, including Contracts. The MPT, which makes up the remaining 20% of the score, consists of two 90-minute problems testing basic lawyering skills, and may include tasks such as drafting a contract provision. While the MEE and MBE cover Contracts, it is not clear whether the Texas Bar Exam specifically tests common law for contracts.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Exam Name | Texas Bar Examination |
| Exam Type | Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) |
| Exam Duration | 6 hours |
| Number of Questions | 200 multiple-choice questions |
| Subjects Covered | Civil Procedure, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure, Evidence, Real Property, Torts |
| Essay Component | Multistate Essay Examination (MEE): 3 hours, 6 essay questions |
| Essay Subjects | Business Associations, Civil Procedure, Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Real Property, Torts, Trusts and Estates |
| Essay Instructions | Analyze questions using generally accepted legal principles rather than local statutory or case law |
| Multistate Performance Test (MPT) | 3 hours, 2 items |
| MPT Task Examples | Legal memorandum, letter to a client, contract provision, will, counseling plan, settlement proposal, witness examination plan, closing argument |
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What You'll Learn
Multistate Essay Examination (MEE)
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is one of three components of the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE). It consists of six 30-minute questions, and you are given three hours to complete the exam. The MEE is administered by some states that do not offer the UBE.
The MEE tests your knowledge of specific subjects, which may include highly tested topics such as Contracts, Torts, and Criminal Law and Procedure. While most states do not test state distinctions if they administer the MEE, it is important to check with your state's Examiners to confirm their specific requirements.
To prepare for the MEE, you can refer to various resources, such as study guides, webinars, and practice essays. Self-grading your practice essays can help you identify and correct your mistakes, improving your performance. Additionally, you can access previous MEE questions and analyses to familiarize yourself with the exam format and commonly tested topics.
From July 2026 onwards, certain areas will no longer be tested on the MEE, including Conflict of Laws, Family Law, Trusts and Estates, and Secured Transactions. Instead, Family Law and Trusts and Estates will be regularly tested through the Multistate Performance Test during the period from July 2026 to February 2028.
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Multistate Performance Test (MPT)
The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) is one of the three components of the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE). The MPT is administered by participating jurisdictions on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday of February and July each year. It consists of two 90-minute assessments, which include a file and a library. The file contains the facts of a fictitious case, along with relevant legal documents and a memorandum outlining the examinee's task. The library contains statutes, cases, and other forms of rules. The MPT is designed to test an examinee's ability to apply fundamental lawyering skills to a realistic situation, rather than substantive knowledge. It assesses whether an examinee can apply these skills in a context that a new lawyer would likely encounter. Each jurisdiction grades the MPT and determines the weight given to it in their bar examination.
To be eligible to take the Texas Bar Examination, candidates must meet the law study requirement in Rule 3, which includes having received a J.D. degree from an ABA-approved law school. Alternatively, candidates may demonstrate that they have completed a course of study at a properly accredited foreign law school, which was based on the principles of English common law and was substantially equivalent in duration to an ABA-approved U.S. law school program.
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Contracts in MBE
The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a crucial component of the bar exam, including the Texas Bar Examination. Contracts are a highly tested MBE topic, with approximately 25 out of 175 scored multiple-choice questions focusing on this area. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) has categorised contracts questions into six primary categories:
- Formation of Contracts: This includes topics such as offer, acceptance, and consideration. For instance, under common law, an acceptance must be the "mirror image" of the offer, whereas the UCC allows for a "battle of the forms".
- Performance, Breach, and Discharge: This category addresses whether a breach occurred and if performance was sufficient to trigger the other party's obligations. The UCC requires sellers to provide a perfect tender of goods, allowing buyers to reject imperfect goods.
- Defenses to Contract Enforceability: Certain situations can render a contract unenforceable, such as a party being a minor, lack of capacity, duress, mistake, or illegality. The Statute of Frauds also falls under this category, requiring certain types of contracts, such as those involving the sale of land or lasting one year or more, to be in writing.
- Parol Evidence and Interpretation: The parol evidence rule comes into play when a party wants to add a term from preliminary negotiations to the final written agreement. The level of integration of the contract, whether partial or complete, determines if additional terms can be admitted.
- Contract Remedies: This category focuses on the remedies available when a contract is breached or unenforced.
- Third-Party Rights: This covers the rights of individuals or entities beyond the primary parties to the contract.
When approaching contract questions on the MBE, it is essential to determine whether common law or the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) applies. The UCC is relevant for contracts involving the sale of goods, while common law applies to all other contracts. This distinction helps identify the specific rules to apply.
Additionally, some key concepts are important to understand when dealing with contracts on the MBE. One such concept is delegation, where duties under a contract can be delegated unless the contract prohibits it or involves skill, judgment, or trust. Another concept is the assignment of rights, where rights can generally be assigned unless the contract or its obligations change significantly. Furthermore, modifications to contracts under common law require consideration unless specific exceptions apply, whereas good faith is sufficient under the UCC.
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Contracts in MEE
The Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) consists of six 30-minute questions. One of the areas of law that may be covered in the MEE is Contracts, including Article 2 (Sales) of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC). The particular areas covered vary from exam to exam.
Contract formation is heavily tested on the MEE. This includes the principles of offer and acceptance, consideration, and defences to formation (e.g. incapacity). For example, an offeror can generally revoke their offer at any time before acceptance.
Performance obligations are also tested, including the differences between common law and UCC Article 2. Under common law, a party must substantially perform its contractual obligations to demand performance from the other party, whereas UCC Article 2 requires perfect tender unless an instalment contract is in place. Damages are another heavily tested topic, including expectation damages, incidental damages, and consequential damages.
It is important to be aware of the distinctions between UCC Article 2 and common law, as the application of one set of rules may lead to a different result than the other. For example, UCC Article 2 applies to transactions in goods, which are moveable at the time of identification in the contract.
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Contracts in Texas Essay Exam
The Texas Bar Exam, or UBE, is administered by the Texas Board of Law Examiners. While I could not find specific information on the essay exam for contracts, I did find some general information on contracts and sales in the context of the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE). Here is some information that may be relevant to the Contracts in Texas Essay Exam:
Common Law vs. UCC Article 2:
It is important to be aware of the distinctions between common law and UCC Article 2, as both are regularly tested. UCC Article 2 applies to transactions in goods, which are defined as items that are movable at the time of identification in the contract. In the February 2018 MEE exam, an issue was whether Article 2 or common law applied, so it is good to be familiar with both.
Contract Formation:
This is a heavily tested topic. The principles that are often examined include offer and acceptance. For example, an offeror can generally revoke their offer any time before acceptance, with some exceptions.
Parol Evidence Rule:
This rule only comes into play if there is a final written agreement or something that can be argued as such.
Anticipatory Repudiation vs. Prospective Inability to Perform:
Understanding the timeline of a contract, including its formation, performance, and breach, is crucial. For example, revocation can occur at two distinct stages: before contract formation, when an offeror revokes their offer, and after contract formation, when a buyer revokes acceptance of goods due to issues such as defects.
Practice Questions:
Practice questions can be a great way to prepare for the exam. Here is an example of a practice question related to contracts:
> A photographer schedules a trip to a new city to meet with six potential clients. The appointments are all on the same day, three in the morning and three in the afternoon, at various locations. The photographer decides to hire a chauffeur from New City Drivers to transport him to the meetings. However, the photographer misses the morning appointments due to a mix-up with the original chauffeur, and only attends the afternoon meetings, signing contracts with two out of three clients. The photographer sues New City Drivers for breach of contract, seeking $45,000 in damages for the missed morning meetings. Analyze the arguments and counterarguments for both parties, and determine whether the photographer is likely to obtain the judgment for damages.
This question can be an opportunity to discuss contract formation, breach of contract, damages, and the potential applicability of UCC Article 2 or common law.
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Frequently asked questions
The Texas Bar Exam is a 2-and-a-half-day exam that tests prospective lawyers on their knowledge of Texas law. The exam has been updated over the years, with the state adopting the UBE (Uniform Bar Examination) in 2021.
Yes, the Texas Bar Exam does test common law for contracts. The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) and the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) both cover contracts, with the MEE specifically testing Article 2 (Sales) of the Uniform Commercial Code. The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) advises examinees to use generally accepted legal principles rather than local statutory or case law when answering MEE questions.
The Texas Bar Exam covers a range of subjects, including Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. The exam also tests prospective lawyers on their ability to use basic lawyering skills through the Multistate Performance Test (MPT).
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