Realizing the difficulties that so many young attorneys face, the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) created the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) to enhance the portability of bar exam scores and encourage greater reciprocity between states.
The UBE is not a new test, but consists of Multistate bar exam components with which many current and future bar takers are already familiar: The Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), and the Multistate Performance Test (MPT). No state-specific law is tested on the UBE, hence its portability. However, some states, such as Missouri, require bar applicants to supplement their UBE scores with state-specific exercises.
The number of jurisdictions that have adopted the UBE is still small, though the list is growing. Currently, these jurisdictions administer the UBE: Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Missouri, and North Dakota. Arizona will move to the UBE in July 2012, Washington in July 2013, and Montana and Nebraska have conditionally approved its adoption sometime in the future.
Though UBE scores are transferable between jurisdictions that accept them, each jurisdiction sets its own policies regarding what constitutes a passing score and how long incoming scores will be accepted, so consult your state board of bar examiners for details. You can also learn more about the benefits of the UBE here, and you can read up on the policies behind the exams creation here.
Have a question about preparing for the bar exam? Email Kimber Russell at Kimber.Russell@kaplan.com.
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