What You Must Know About The Maryland Bar Examination

The Maryland Bar Exam consists of two parts:

the Maryland Essay Exam ("MEE"), which, as of the February 2007 administration of the Maryland Bar, will include the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”) and the Multistate Bar Exam (" MBE").

PTEX focuses exclusively on the written test (the MEE and the MPT questions), which is the most challenging portion of the Maryland Bar Exam and the portion that is weighted twice as much in computing your total score.

The MEE is drafted by the State Board of Law Examiners, a committee comprised of seven Maryland practitioners. The MPT is drafted by the National Conference of Bar Examiners.

MEE TEST

Agency		Leases
Bank Deposits & Collection		Maryland Civil Procedure
Constitutional Law		Negotiable Instruments
Contracts		Partnerships
Corporations		Maryland Professional Responsibility
Criminal Law		Property
Criminal Procedure		Sales
Evidence		Secured Transactions
Maryland Family Law		Torts

MULTISTATE PERFORMANCE TEST

The MPT is an examination designed to test an examinee’s ability to apply fundamental lawyering to a factual scenario presenting a problem requiring legal resolution. It tests examinees’ ability to extract legal principles and facts from the library case file and to apply controlling doctrine to the facts at issue in a well organized and analytically sound motion or memorandum.

THE MARYLAND WRITTEN TEST

Beginning in February 2007, Maryland’s written test will consist of 10 Maryland Essay questions with a time allotment of 25 minutes per question and one MPT question with a time allotment of 90 minutes. The morning session of the written test will consist of 7 Maryland Essay questions with a total session writing time of 2 hours and 55 minutes. The afternoon session of the written test will consist of 3 Maryland Essay questions and one MPT question with a total session writing time of 2 hours and 45 minutes. The total length of the written test (which includes morning and afternoon writing time) will be 5 hours and 40 minutes.

How The Maryland Bar Exam Is Scored

The MEE is weighted twice as much as the MBE in computing your total score, and the MPT will be weighted twice as much as a single essay exam question. The total raw score for the written test will be computed as follows:

Total Written Raw Score = (sum of the individual raw scores for each essay question, which will range from 0 to 6 points) + (MPT raw score, which is also graded on a six point scale) x 2.

The highest possible written test raw score will be 72. The total written test raw score will be scaled to the Multistate Bar Examination scale. The Maryland Board of Law Examiners will use the following formula for determining whether you have passed the Maryland Bar Exam:

(Written Test Scale Score x 2) + MBE Scale Score = Total Passing Score.

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