LibGuides: California Bar Exam and MPRE: 2. The Essay Component

Guide Outline

Helpful Information

The State Bar of California [URL]
Provides information regarding the California Bar Examination, including a summary of the requirements for admission to practice law in California, information about how to register to take the bar exam, links to forms, and other important details.
MBE Information
Provides a description of the Multistate Bar Examination, or the multiple-choice portion of the bar exam. Outlines subjects covered, provides sample questions, and guidelines for taking the exam.
MPRE Information
Provides a description of the MPRE, including an outline of the subject matter covered, sample questions, and guidelines for taking the exam.

The Essay Component of the Bar Exam

Each essay question is designed to measure your ability to analyze legal issues arising from factual situations. Graders look for your ability to:

analyze the facts of the question;
tell the difference between material and immaterial facts;
discern the points of law and fact upon which the question turns; and
apply relevant legal principles to the factual scenarios provided.

Answers that merely state conclusions will receive little credit. In addition, unless a question expressly asks you to use California law, bar exam instructions advise that you should answer according to legal theories and principles of general application. The California State Bar provides online access to essay questions and selected answers from past examinations. For your convenience, links to PDF files for the essay questions and selected answers from recent years are provided below.

February 2018	July 2018
February 2017	July 2017
February 2016	July 2016
February 2015	July 2015
February 2014	July 2014