MBE Subjects

The Multistate Bar Exam consists of seven subjects administered in a six hour timeframe, across 200 multiple choice questions. Understanding each of the seven subjects will prove your knowledge to the NCBE and get you one step closer towards your dream career of practicing law. But what exactly are the subjects you will be tested on?

Subjects Tested on the MBE

• Civil Procedure
• Constitutional Law
• Contract Law
• Criminal Law & Procedure
• Evidence Law
• Real Estate Law
• Tort Law

Civil Procedure

Civil Procedure covers the procedural rules that courts follow during a civil lawsuit. The most tested topics covered include Jurisdiction and Venue, Pretrial Procedures, and Motions made pre-trial, during trial and post-trial. When studying for this section, you will apply the current version of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. In addition, the sections of Title 28 of the U.S. Code pertaining to appellate jurisdiction, venue, and transfer apply.

Constitutional Law

Constitutional Law covers the laws, constitutional provisions and legal issues dealing with the United States Constitution. References made to the constitution on the MBE refer to the Federal Constitution unless indicated otherwise. The most tested topic for this subject is Individual Rights, including the Bill of Rights, other Amendments, and procedural and substantive due process, which generally consume up to 50% of the constitutional Law questions. Questions regarding statutory review are also prominent, including the concepts of strict scrutiny, heightened scrutiny and rational basis.

Contract Law

Contract Law encompasses the creation and enforceability of contractual agreements in court. Half of the Contract Law questions will include Formation of Contracts (offer, acceptance and consideration) as well as Performance, Breach, Anticipatory Breach and Discharge. The awarding of damages for breach are also considered, along with quasi-contractual obligations that may be applied instead of a formal contract. For these questions you will have to assume that the Official Text of Articles 1 and 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code are in effect.

Criminal Law & Procedure

Criminal Law & Procedure handles the defense and prosecution of alleged criminal offenses against individuals and corporate officials. This includes the study of pre-arrest procedures, arrest, arraignment, bail, indictment, preliminary hearings, criminal motions, burden of proof in a criminal case, trials, punishment and appeals. Also covered are criminal attempt and conspiracy. The elements and required proof of the basic crimes are also included, such as first-degree murder, second-degree murder, felony murder, manslaughter, assault, battery, theft, receiving stolen property, criminal trespass, burglary, arson, robbery and other significant criminal charges. Expect half of all Criminal Law & Procedure questions to be based on Constitutional Protection of Accused Persons.

Evidence Law

The law of Evidence entails a study of the rules and principles that guide the admission or exclusion of evidentiary offerings in civil and criminal trials. On the MBE, questions on Evidence Law should be answered according to the Federal Rules of Evidence. Keep in mind that your state’s rules of evidence may not apply. In general, however, most states have by now adopted a set of evidentiary rules that pattern the federal rules. This course comprises the study of basic principles of evidence such as relevance, materiality, hearsay and non-hearsay, hearsay exceptions, documentary evidence, authenticity, best evidence, expert testimony admissibility and other major evidentiary rules.

Real Estate Law

Real Estate Law deals with real property, such as land and buildings. Expect the Real Property questions to be evenly split between Ownership Rights, Real Estate Contracts, Mortgages/Security Devices, and Titles. Ownership will cover the common law concepts, i.e., tenants in common, life estates, joint tenants, rights of survivorship, entireties and other real estate rights such as partition, zoning, easements, rights of way, the rule against perpetuities and other common law concepts. Title insurance, closing procedures, title searches, deed delivery, deed warranties, quitclaim deeds, recording and priorities of title, are included.

Tort Law

Tort Law focuses on providing relief to those who have suffered a civil loss and personal harm. About half of the questions tested for Torts will be about Negligence. For this section, you must assume that survival actions and claims for wrongful death are available. Also, always assume that joint and several liability, with pure comparative negligence, is the relevant rule unless stated otherwise. In addition to accidents caused by negligence, the course will include coverage of products liability, strict liability, defamation, infliction of distress, recklessness and damages, along with the gamut of popular tort issues that arise in real life. The elements required to prove the most common tort actions are included.

MBE Subject Frequency

To help streamline your studying strategy for the MBE, we have put together this chart covering the frequency of topics tested. Use this as a guide to inform your focus as to which areas of law you need to spend more time on versus others. Keep in mind that EVERY section will be tested so don’t neglect the smallest of topics.

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