Multistate Essay Examination
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is a collection of essay questions administered as a part of the bar examination in 19 jurisdictions[1] of the United States.
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[edit] About the examination
The MEE, developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), can cover any of the following areas:[2]
- Business associations — Agency and partnership, corporations, limited liability companies
- Conflict of laws
- Constitutional law
- Contracts
- Criminal law and procedure
- Evidence
- Family law
- Federal civil procedure
- Real property
- Torts
- Trusts and estates — decedents’ estates; trusts and future interests
- Uniform Commercial Code — Article 3, Negotiable Instruments; Article 9, Secured Transactions
Note that multiple areas of law can be, and very often are, tested in a single question.
The questions are actually drafted by the NCBE Drafting Committee, with the assistance of outside academics and practitioners who are experts in the fields being tested. After initial drafting, the questions are pretested, analyzed by outside experts and a separate NCBE committee, reviewed by boards of bar examiners in the jurisdictions that use the test, and then revised by the Drafting Committee in accordance with the results of this process. Each MEE question is accompanied by a grading guide, and the NCBE sponsors a grading workshop on the weekend following the bar exam whose results are provided to bar examiners.[3]
[edit] Administration
The examination is always administered on a single day of the bar examination, specifically the day before the Multistate Bar Examination, a multiple-choice examination also drafted by the NCBE and used in almost all U.S. jurisdictions. Through February 2007, the NCBE consisted of seven questions, with most jurisdictions selecting six of the seven questions to administer. Starting in July 2007, the NCBE will provide nine MEE questions, and jurisdictions will be able to preselect the questions they wish to administer. Unlike the MBE, which is graded and scored by the NCBE, the MEE is graded exclusively by the jurisdiction that administers the bar examination. Each jurisdiction has the choice of grading MEE questions according to general U.S. common law or the jurisdiction's own law.[2]
The MEE is generally partnered with the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), a written performance test developed by the NCBE and used in 33 U.S. jurisdictions.[4] The only jurisdiction that uses the MEE without also using the MPT is Kentucky.[5]
Bar examinations in the United States may also include state-specific essay questions on a second or even third day.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Jurisdictions Using the MEE in 2007. National Conference of Bar Examiners. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ a b Multistate Essay Examination (MEE). National Conference of Bar Examiners. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Why Jurisdictions May Want to Implement the MEE. National Conference of Bar Examiners. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Jurisdictions Using the MPT in 2007. National Conference of Bar Examiners. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
- ^ Comprehensive Guide to Bar Admission Requirements 2007 (PDF) p. 21. National Conference of Bar Examiners & American Bar Association Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar. Retrieved on 2007-04-30.
