You can find information about a jurisdiction’s bar admission requirements, including contact information for each jurisdiction’s bar admission agency, on the National Conference of Bar Examiners website, www.ncbex.org (use drop-down box under “Jurisdiction Information” on the homepage).

Each state has its own rules for admission, including rules governing an applicant’s character and fitness for the practice of law. Additional information about applying for admission to the State Bar of Montana can be found on the State Bar’s bar admission page. If you plan to apply for admission to another state bar, you should go to that state’s “bar admissions” webpage as soon as possible to learn about its rules for admission. If you have questions about any state’s rules, please feel free reach out to the Associate Dean, Associate Dean for Students or Career Development Office for help.

As of July 2013, Montana is a Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) state. The UBE is coordinated by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), and it has three components:

• Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) (30% of the final score);
• Multistate Performance Test (MPT) (20% of the final score); and
• Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) (50% of the final score). 

The UBE is given over two days during the last week of February and July. During that week, the MEE and MPT are administered on Tuesday, and the MBE is administered on Wednesday. 

Bar examinees must earn a minimum score of 266 (out of a possible 400 points) to achieve a passing score for admission to the State Bar of Montana. Applicants who have taken the UBE in other jurisdictions may request an NCBE score transfer to Montana for up to three years after taking the bar exam, as long as the score is at least 266. All applicants to the Montana Bar must also take the one-day Montana Law Seminar.

The MEE consists of six 30-minute questions. The MEE may cover the following topics:

• Business Associations (Agency and Partnership; Corporations and Limited Liability Companies)
• Civil Procedure
• Conflict of Laws
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts (including Article 2 [Sales] of the Uniform Commercial Code)
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Evidence
• Family Law
• Real Property
• Torts
• Trusts and Estates (Decedents' Estates; Trusts and Future Interests)
• Article 9 (Secured Transactions) of the Uniform Commercial Code

The NCBE provides outlines for each MEE subject matter area on its webpage devoted to preparing for the MEE. MEE questions from February 2008 through July 2012 are also available at no charge on that webpage.

The MPT consists of two ninety-minute tasks designed to test fundamental lawyering skills in realistic situations.  Each MPT task has a “File” and a “Library.” The File contains an assignment memo and source documents with all the relevant facts (e.g., pleadings, correspondence, transcripts of interviews and depositions); the Library contains the law necessary to accomplish the assigned task (e.g., cases, statutes, regulations). 

The NCBE provides summaries of MPT questions through the most recent bar exam on its webpage devoted to preparing for the MPT. It also provides electronic copies of the actual MPT files and point sheets from February 2008 through July 2012.

The MBE consists of 200 multiple-choice questions. Only 175 questions are scored, while the remaining 25 are unscored pretest questions. The 175 scored questions are distributed evenly across seven subjects:

• Civil Procedure
• Constitutional Law
• Contracts
• Criminal Law and Procedure
• Evidence
• Real Property
• Torts

The NCBE provides sample MBE questions on its webpage devoted to preparing for the MBE. It also offers online practice exams for purchase at the NCBE Study Aids Store.

Because the National Conference of Bar Examiners does not release multiple-choice questions from the MBE, bar review companies construct questions that resemble MBE questions. Our library has several bar review books in the KF 303 area.