MPRE Information -- Welcome to BarPlus Bar Review, the site for law students, lawyers, future lawyers, law profs, college students studying for the LSAT, and law school graduates taking the bar exam.

The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (the MPRE)
is a 50-question multiple-choice exam given three times a year --
in March, in August, and in November, generally on the second Friday of the month.

Almost every state requires that you pass the MPRE prior to your admission to the bar.
Yet you do not take the MPRE as part of your regular bar exam.
Most candidates take the MPRE during their second or third year of law school.

In addition, you may sit for the exam at any location.
Thus, if you live in California, attend law school in Ithaca, New York, and plan to take the Florida bar exam,
you can fly to Houston (if you choose to) or anyplace else for the exam.

The MPRE is not a test of whether you're ethical.
It is instead a test of whether you understand standards governing the conduct of lawyers and judges.

These standards, as tested by the MPRE, are based primarily
on the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct.
The MPRE also requires your knowledge of "controlling constitutional decisions and generally accepted principles
established in leading federal and state cases and in procedural and evidentiary rules."

MPRE questions generally involve a fact pattern, followed by a question and four possible answers.
You have two hours and five minutes -- two hours to answer the 50 MPRE questions,
and five minutes to answer 10 questions about the exam site and the testing conditions
(e.g., How was the parking? Was the lighting okay?).
The two-hour allotment will give you about two and a half minutes for each MPRE question.
By comparison, you will have three hours to answer 100 questions on the Multistate Bar Exam (the MBE).
This comes out to only about one minute and 45 seconds per question on the MBE.

BarPlus recommends the Free PLI MPRE Lecture, taught by Stan Chess

Stan Chess, the President of LawTV, taught Professional Responsibility and other subjects
in New York, California, Illinois, Texas, Florida, and more than 30 other states
for Bar/bri bar review over a period of 22 years.
He has prepared more than 250,000 law students and law school graduates
for the MPRE, final exams, and the bar exam.

PLI, a not-for-profit educational organization, is the nation's premier provider of CLE (Continuing Legal Education).

PLI's Free MPRE Course, Click Here

MPRE Passing Score, by Jurisdiction*

*Many jurisdictions have restrictions on the MPRE, such as when you must take the exam for it to be accepted.
Check with your specific state by clicking here.

Upcoming Test Dates:

Friday, November 7, 2003
Regular Applications must be RECEIVED by September 30. Late Application Deadline: RECEIPT by October 16.

Saturday, March 13, 2004
(Sunday available for Saturday-Sabbath observers)
Regular Applications must be RECEIVED by February 3. Late Application Deadline: RECEIPT by February 19.

Friday, August 13, 2004
Regular Applications must be RECEIVED by July 6. Late Application Deadline: RECEIPT by July 22.

Friday, November 12, 2004
Regular Applications must be RECEIVED by October 5. Late Application Deadline: RECEIPT by October 21.

Application Details

MPRE Subject-Matter Outlines
As Prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners

The following subject matter outline indicates the examination's scope of coverage and the approximate percentage of items that are included in each major area. The outline is not intended to list every aspect of a topic mentioned. Although the test items for each MPRE are developed from these categories, each topic is not necessarily tested on each examination.

I. Regulation of the Legal Profession (8-12%)

A. Inherent Powers of Courts to Regulate Lawyers
B. Admission to the Profession
C. Regulation After Admission
D. Maintaining Professional Standards--Peer Responsibility
E. Unauthorized Practice
F. Fee Division with a Non-Lawyer
G. The Law Firm
H. Contractual Restrictions on Practice

II. The Client-Lawyer Relationship (10-14%)

A. Acceptance or Rejection of Clients
B. Scope, Objective, and Means of the Representation
C. Within the Bounds of the Law
D. Withdrawal
E. Client-Lawyer Contracts
F. Fees

III. Privilege and Confidentiality--Clients and Former Clients (6-10%)

A. Evidentiary Privilege
B. Professional Obligation of Confidence
C. Client-Authorized Disclosure
D. Permissible Disclosure
E. Special Problems

IV. Independent Professional Judgment--Conflicts of Interest--Client Consent (12-16%)

A. As Affected by Lawyer's Personal Interest
B. Lawyer as Witness
C. Acquiring an Interest in Litigation
D. Entering into Business Transactions with Client
E. Conflicting Interests--Current Clients and Former Clients
F. Influence by Persons Other than Client
G. Law Firm, Associates, and Related Persons
H. Lawyer's Service as Arbitrator, Mediator, or Judge

V. Competence, Legal Malpractice, and Other Civil Liability (8-12%)

A. Civil Liability, Including Malpractice
B. Maintaining Competence
C. Acceptance of Employment
D. Exercise of Diligence and Care
E. Limiting Liability for Malpractice

VI. Litigation and Other Forms of Advocacy (12-16%)

A. Exercise of Professional Judgment
B. Civility, Courtesy, and Decorum
C. Conduct in the Course of Litigation--Claims, Defenses, Testimony, and Evidence
D. Fraud or Perjury
E. Communications in Course of Representation

VII. Different Roles of the Lawyer (4-8%)

A. Lawyer as Advisor
B. Lawyer as Intermediary
C. Lawyer as Evaluator
D. Lawyer as Negotiator
E. Lawyer as Mediator
F. Special Obligations of the Lawyer in Public Service
G. Appearances before Legislative Bodies

VIII. Safekeeping Property and Funds of Clients and Others (4-8%)

A. Lawyer as Trustee of Client Funds
B. Lawyer as Custodian of Client Property
C. Disputed Claims

IX. Communication About Legal Services (6-10%)

A. Public Communications About Services
B. Referrals
C. Group Legal Services
D. Direct Contact With Prospective Clients (Solicitation)
E. Fields of Practice--Limitations of Practice and Specialization

X. Lawyers and the Legal System (2-6%)

A. Lawyer Activity in Improving the Legal System
B. Impropriety Incident to Public Service

XI. Judicial Ethics (6-10%)

A. Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
B. Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety
C. Duties of Impartiality and Diligence
D. Activities to Improve the Legal System
E. Extra-Judicial Activities
F. Political Activity of Judges
G. Candidate for Judicial Office

The law governing the conduct of lawyers is based on the disciplinary rules of professional conduct currently articulated in the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct (1983 as amended), and the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct (1990 as amended), as well as controlling constitutional decisions and generally accepted principles established in leading federal and state cases and in procedural and evidentiary rules.

Test items covering judicial ethics measure applications of the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct (CJC). Other items will deal with discipline of lawyers by state disciplinary authorities; in these items, the correct answer will be governed by the current ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC). The remaining items, outside the disciplinary context, are designed to measure an understanding of the generally accepted rules, principles, and common law regulating the legal profession in the United States; in these items, the correct answer will be governed by the view reflected in a majority of cases, statutes, or regulations on the subject. To the extent that questions of professional responsibility arise in the context of procedural or evidentiary issues, such as the availability of litigation sanctions or the scope of the attorney-client evidentiary privilege, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence will be assumed to apply, unless otherwise stated.

As a general rule, particular local statutes or rules of court will not be tested in the MPRE. However, a specific test question may include the text of a local statute or rule that must be considered when answering that question. Amendments to the MRPC or CJC will be reflected in the examination no earlier than one year after the approval of the amendments by the American Bar Association.

Each question contained in the MPRE provides a factual situation along with a specific question and four possible answer choices. Examinees should pick the best answer from the four possible answer choices. Each question may include, among others, one of the following key words or phrases:

1. Subject to discipline asks whether the conduct described in the question would subject the lawyer to discipline under the provisions of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct. In the case of a judge, the test questions also asks whether the judge would be subject to discipline under the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct.

2. May or proper asks whether the conduct referred to or described in the question is professionally appropriate in that it:

a. would not subject the lawyer or judge to discipline; and

b. is not inconsistent with the Preamble, Comments, or text of the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct or the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct; and

c. is not inconsistent with generally accepted principles of the law of lawyering.

3. Subject to litigation sanction asks whether the conduct described in the question would subject the lawyer or the lawyer’s law firm to sanction by a tribunal such as contempt, fine, fee forfeiture, disqualification, or other sanction.

4. Subject to disqualification asks whether the conduct described in the question would subject the lawyer or the lawyer’s law firm to disqualification as counsel in a civil or criminal matter.

5. Subject to civil liability asks whether the conduct described in the question would subject the lawyer or the lawyer’s law firm to civil liability, such as claims arising from malpractice, misrepresentation, and breach of fiduciary duty.

6. Subject to criminal liability asks whether the conduct described in the question would subject the lawyer to criminal liability for participation in, or aiding and abetting criminal acts, such as prosecution for insurance and tax fraud, destruction of evidence, or obstruction of justice.

When a question refers to discipline by the "bar," "state bar," or "appropriate disciplinary authority," it refers to the agency in the jurisdiction with the authority to administer the standards for admission to practice and for maintenance of professional competence and integrity. Whenever a lawyer is identified as a "certified specialist," that lawyer has been so certified by the appropriate agency in the jurisdiction in which the lawyer practices.