1.02. This course and the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)

Every state in the nation except Wisconsin & Maryland require an applicant to pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) before receiving a license.  The MPRE is a two-hour, 60-question multiple choice test.  The exam tests a lawyer’s professional responsibilities. Because the MPRE is a national test, it does not test the ethical rules of a particular state, instead, it tests knowledge of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct.  If you want to see a listing of the topics (and the percentage of questions for each topic) that the MPRE tests take a looks at the MPRE Subject Matter Outline that is put out by the organization that writes the MPRE questions.[1] 

A couple of things you need to know about the MPRE scores.  First, every jurisdiction has a different score that must be obtained on the MPRE to pass.  To give a couple of examples, for Mississippi and Alabama the minimum passing score is 75 in Tennessee it is 82, and in Texas it is 85.  Therefore, you need to be aware of the minimum score needed to pass the MPRE in the jurisdiction where you want to practice.[2]  The second thing you need to be aware of is how long your MPRE score is good for.  In other words, the MPRE score has a shelf-life.  You want to make sure that your score will still be valid when you are planning to take the bar exam.  To give an example, in Mississippi you must pass the MPRE within 24 months before or within 1 year after passing the Mississippi Bar Examination.  Believe it or not, we have had a student who passed the Mississippi Bar Examination but waited too long to take the MPRE – and had to retake the Mississippi Bar Examination.  You do not want that to happen!  What is more likely to happen is that you take the MPRE too early and then have to retake it when you get ready to take a state bar examination.  So you should consider now what bar exam(s) you want to take and try to take the MPRE at a time when it will have the longest shelf-life.[3]  

The next thing to address is how this course prepares you for the MPRE.  Certainly, I want the class to help you on the exam; however, this class is not an MPRE prep class. Reading through and thinking about the rules will make you familiar with what the rules cover, but you still need to educate yourself on the unique test-writing approach of the MPRE. The MPRE website has a free set of questions that can expose you to the type of questions that the test will ask.[4] In addition, bar review courses (Kaplan and BarBri) offer review material for the exam. What you need out of these study aids are the practice exams, so you can become familiar with the way that the MPRE tests.

[1] The Subject Matter Outline can be found here:  http://www.ncbex.org/pdfviewer/?file=%2Fdmsdocument%2F2

[2] The NCBEX (the organization that writes and administers the MPRE) has a very helpful map of the different states with the minimum requirements here:  http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpre/

[3] Once again, the NCBEX comes to the rescue.  It has a very nice digital booklet setting out the time parameters for the MPRE score.  It is here (p. 31):  http://www.ncbex.org/pubs/bar-admissions-guide/2018/mobile/index.html#p=42

[4] http://www.ncbex.org/pdfviewer/?file=%2Fdmsdocument%2F3