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The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) is a six-hour, 200-multiple-choice-question exam, testing six areas of law.

The six areas are: Contracts, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Evidence, Real Property, and Torts. Contracts and Torts are slightly more important, with 34 questions each. Con Law, Criminal Law, Evidence, and Real Property are each 33 questions per exam. The MBE is one day of the bar exam in 48 states and the District of Columbia, and in certain other regions. Most jurisdictions have two-day exams. Some, such as California and Ohio, have three-day exams.

The MBE is given in two parts, half in the morning and half in the afternoon, on the last Wednesday in February and the last Wednesday in July of each year. The morning session is three hours, with 100 multiple-choice questions. Likewise, the afternoon session is three hours, with 100 multiple-choice questions.

MBE questions typically are comprised of three parts.
1. The fact pattern, in which you are told the factual premises on which the question is based.

2. The question, often referred to as the "call of the question." The reason for this terminology is that sometimes the "question" is not in a question format. For example, instead of asking, "Which of the following is the best argument in favor of the plaintiff's case?", the examiners might pose the call of the question declaratively: "The best argument in favor of the plaintiff's case is:"

3. Four choices, sometimes called the "picks." You are asked to pick the best from among the four.

All candidates receive two scores on the MBE -- a "raw score" and a "scaled score." The raw score is the number of questions you get correct, with a possible high of 200 (and, of course, a possible low of 0). The scaled score is an adjusted score. It is adjusted to account for the difficulty of the exam and how many questions might be discarded. The National Conference of Bar Examiners "scales" your score so that scores can be compared from one administration of the exam to another. For instance, if you get 140 questions correct and 10 questions were discarded by the bar examiners, and six months later your friend gets 140 questions correct, with no questions being discarded, your 140 was "better" than her 140. In other words, you scored 140 out of 190 (10 questions were discarded). Your friend scored 140 out of 200. You had a higher percentage correct, even though you both had the same raw score.

So the bar examiners scale, or "equate." They add points to your score, generally with few points added at the high end of the spectrum (scores in the 185 range) and more points added at the low end of the spectrum (scores in the embarrassing range). In the middle of the spectrum (about 135), where most candidates' scores aggregate, the bar examiners add about seven points (the number, of course, differs from exam to exam).

When the bar examiners finish, your scaled score can be fairly compared with the scaled score of any other candidate, regardless of when he or she sat, or will sit, for the MBE.

Thus, a candidate might have a raw score of 130 and a scaled score of 139.

When lawyers talk about their "Multistate score," they always talk about their scaled score. Why? Because it's the higher of the two scores.

Several things to note:

1. You never leave a blank on the MBE (or on the similarly-structured MPRE). On some multiple-choice exams that you've taken before, you were told not to guess. A wrong answer is worse than an answer left blank, you were told, since you would gain no points from a blank answer, but you would lose points for a wrong answer. This is NOT the case on the MBE (or on the MPRE). On both the MBE and the MPRE a wrong answer and an answer left blank count the same. Therefore, you never leave any question blank. You ALWAYS answer a question on the MBE (and the MPRE).

2. You are not being tested on the case law or statutory law of any jurisdiction. You are instead being tested on "fundamental legal principles," the concept sometimes referred to as "multistate law."

3. Sometimes the bar examiners will tell you what the law or theory of liability is. Very often this will be BAD LAW in your jurisdiction or even in most of the United States. It doesn't matter. You are to apply that law. The MBE is essentially a reading-comprehension exam, designed to test your ability to apply the stated law to the fact pattern, even when the law is bad law.

4. The Bar Examiners are not looking for the CORRECT answer. Instead, they are looking for the BEST answer.

According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners:

"The questions on the examination are designed to be answered by applying fundamental legal principles rather than local case or statutory law. A given question may indicate the applicable statute, theory of liability, or comparable principle of law. Many of the questions require applicants to analyze the legal relationships arising from a fact situation or to take a position as an advocate. Some questions call for suggestions about interpreting, drafting, or counseling that might lead to more effective structuring of a transaction."