Preparing for and Surviving the Indiana Bar Examination - Basic Information and Tips

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

I.       INTRODUCTION

II.      THE INDIANA BAR EXAMINATION – ELEMENTS. 2

     A.     ESSAY PORTION.. 2

          i.        MULTISTATE PERFORMANCE TEST (MPT). 3

          ii.       INDIANA ESSAY EXAMINATION (IEE). 3

     B.      OBJECTIVE PORTION – MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION (MBE). 5

III.    TIPS AND TRICKS. 6

     A.     TEST DAY TIPS. 7

     B.      ESSAY PORTION.. 8

          i.        MULTISTATE PERFORMANCE TEST (MPT). 8

          ii.       INDIANA ESSAY EXAMINATION (IEE). 9

               a.      STUDY SMART. 9

               b.      ENROLL SMART. 9

               c.      ORGANIZE!. 10

                    1.      Large-scale organization. 10

                    2.      Small-scale organization. 10

     C.      OBJECTIVE PORTION – MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION (MBE). 11

          i.        STUDY SMART (AGAIN). 11

          ii.       ENROLL SMART (AGAIN). 12

          iii.      TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES
IV.    CONCLUSION

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I. INTRODUCTION

This article is intended for people who plan on taking the Indiana bar examination at some point in the near future.

Thus, recent law graduates who are preparing for the bar exam – or “preparing to prepare” for the bar exam – will find this insightful. However, law students will also find this article helpful as an easy “primer” on the layout of the Indiana bar exam, and as a guide for choosing law school classes that will be helpful to passing the Indiana bar exam – and to practicing law in Indiana. Finally, even pre-law or aspiring law students may want to take a look at this article to know what is waiting for them after the ordeal of law school is over.

However, I say “near” future because bar examinations change often. For example, the Indiana Board of Law Examiners recently adopted a fundamental change in the Indiana bar exam by allowing applicants to use their laptops to type their essay answers. Thus, the information contained in this article may very well become obsolete soon.

This article is divided into two main portions. Part II explains the basic layout of the Indiana bar examination, including an explanation of each element that is included in the exam. Part III contains advice, tips, and tricks for maximizing one’s success on the bar according to my experience in studying for, taking, and, ultimately, passing the Indiana bar exam.

II.      THE INDIANA BAR EXAMINATION – ELEMENTS

The Indiana bar exam is a two day exam offered twice per year, once in the summer and once in the winter. Specifically, since the Indiana bar examiners use the Multistate Performance Test (the “MPT”) and the Multistate Bar Examination (the “MBE”), Indiana’s bar exam must conform to the dates on which those examinations are offered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (more below). Thus, the Indiana bar exam is usually offered on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of July and on the last Tuesday and Wednesday of February each year.

On day one of the exam, applicants take the essay portion. In the morning session, the MPT is administered. In the afternoon session, applicants take the Indiana Essay Examination (the “IEE”). On day two of the exam, applicants take the objective portion – the MBE.

Applicants must receive a score of at least 264 in order to pass. The MPT portion is worth 20 percent, the IEE portion is worth 30 percent, and the MBE portion is worth 50 percent.

Each one of these three elements is discussed more fully below.

     A.     ESSAY PORTION

The essay portion of the Indiana bar examination consists of the MPT, which is offered on the morning of day one of the exam, and the IEE, which is offered in the afternoon of day one.

Just recently, the Indiana Board of Law Examiners decided to allow applicants to type the essay portion of the Indiana bar exam on the applicant’s own laptop. Applicants choosing to type the essay portion must pay an extra fee of $125, which covers the cost of special exam software. Importantly, there is no word limit imposed on the essay portions.

          i.        MULTISTATE PERFORMANCE TEST (MPT)

The MPT is the “practical” portion of the bar exam. In theory, it requires no knowledge of any law or legal principles, but is simply a measure of the applicant’s ability to consume voluminous amounts of information, then use that information to complete a very specific task, which is largely what the practice of law entails for a first year attorney.

Examples of MPT scenarios include an objective memorandum for a supervising partner advising on a client’s situation, a persuasive settlement letter to opposing counsel, a letter of advice to a client, or a persuasive argument section for a brief to the court.

Indiana uses two MPT scenarios, and applicants have 3 hours to complete both, so it is recommended that the applicant equally divide his/her time for 90 minutes on both MPT scenarios.

The MPT portion of the Indiana bar exam counts for 20 percent of the applicant’s overall score. The applicant’s MPT score is scaled to the MBE.

          ii.       INDIANA ESSAY EXAMINATION (IEE)

The IEE is the state specific portion of the Indiana bar exam which tests the applicant’s knowledge of substantive Indiana law as well as his/her ability to apply that knowledge to a given situation. This portion is based wholly on Indiana law, except for essays involving questions of federal tax law.

The following table depicts the topics tested on the IEE and the frequency with which they have been tested in the past ten years, as well as the subtopics tested within each topic and the frequency with which those subtopics have been tested. For example, in the last ten years, the topic of corporations under Indiana law has been tested on the Indiana bar exam 85 percent of the time. Further, when the topic of corporations has been tested, the subtopic of management and control of the corporate entity has been tested 28 percent of the time.

Topic	Frequency tested	Subtopic	Frequency tested
Pleading & Practice	95 percent	Pleading	61 percent
		Pretrial matters	57 percent
		Jurisdiction	28 percent
		Post-trial matters	19 percent
		Joinder	4 percent
Family Law	90 percent	Divorce decree[1]	61 percent
		Parents and children	38 percent
		Divorce proceedings	9 percent
		Creation of marriage	9 percent
		Annulment	9 percent
Corporations	85 percent	Formation	57 percent
		Fiduciary duties and liabilities	47 percent
		Management and control	28 percent
		Other business entities[2]	23 percent
		Fundamental changes	19 percent
Wills	76 percent	Distribution	52 percent
		Restrictions on testamentary disposition[3]	38 percent
		Validity	23 percent
		Will contests and probate proceedings	19 percent
		Intestacy	19 percent
		Revocation and revival	4 percent
Indiana Constitutional Law	61 percent	Art. IV legislative requirements	52 percent
		Equality and due course of law	42 percent
		Other rights	38 percent
		Individual freedoms	4 percent
Indiana Administrative Law	61 percent	Adjudication and rulemaking	52 percent
		Judicial review	38 percent
		Sources of law and agencies	14 percent
		Legislative power	9 percent
		Executive control of agency action	9 percent
Personal Property	42 percent	Acquisition of title or right to possession	38 percent
		Bailments and liens	33 percent
Secured Transactions (UCC Article 9)	38 percent	PMSI and financing statement	99 percent
		Attachment	75 percent
		Perfection	75 percent
		Applicability of UCC Article 9	50 percent
		Prioritization	33 percent
		Default	33 percent
		General principles	30 percent
		Collateral	10 percent
Indiana Taxation	38 percent	Inheritance tax[4]	28 percent
		Income tax	14 percent
		Sales and use tax	4 percent
		Utility tax	4 percent
Trusts	28 percent	Creation and types of trusts	14 percent
		Trustee duties	14 percent
		Modification, revocation, and termination of trusts	9 percent
Federal Taxation	23 percent	Estate and gift tax	9 percent
		Gains and losses on disposition of property	9 percent
		Exclusions from gross income	4 percent
		Deductions and credits	4 percent
		Taxable income	4 percent
Partnerships	19 percent	Basics of partnerships	14 percent
		General partnerships	14 percent
		Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships	9 percent
		Formation of general partnerships	4 percent
Commercial Paper (UCC Art. 3)	19 percent	Persons entitled to enforce	19 percent
		Enforcement actions	19 percent
		Liability of signatories	9 percent
		Presentment and dishonor	9 percent
		Negotiability	4 percent
Agency	15 percent	Relationship between agencies and third parties	65 percent
		Relationship between principal and agent	65 percent
		Basics of agency relationship	30 percent

The IEE portion consists of six essay questions, which applicants have four hours to complete. Thus, it is recommended that the applicant spend no more than 40 minutes on each essay. Importantly, there is no word or character limit imposed by the Indiana bar examiners.

Almost always, each essay consists of a short fact pattern followed by two to four specific questions requiring the applicant to apply Indiana law (or federal tax law) to the facts contained in the essay. For example, in a wills fact pattern, one question might state, “what can the Testator’s surviving spouse do to maximize her share of the Testator’s estate?” or “is John’s will valid? If not, how will John’s estate be distributed?”

Usually, the essays are fully contained within one topic, while the subtopics within that topic vary. For example, a Pleadings and Practice essay could test the subtopics of jurisdiction, pre-trial matters, and pleadings. However, a Family Law essay will probably not include elements of an Indiana Administrative Law question. At the same time, an essay question could test all three topics of Indiana taxation, federal taxation, and wills by asking, for example, the estate and inheritance tax consequences of probate proceedings. For the most part, however, the essay topics are contained within themselves.

Like the MPT, the applicant’s IEE score is scaled to the MBE.

     B.      OBJECTIVE PORTION – MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION (MBE)

The MBE portion of the Indiana bar exam is an objective, multiple choice test consisting of a total of 200 questions over a total of six hours. It is created by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. Out of the 200 questions, 10 are unscored and used solely by the National Conference for evaluation purposes. In the morning session, applicants complete 100 questions in 3 hours, and in the afternoon session, applicants complete the remaining 100 questions in 3 more hours. Thus, applicants have about 1 minute and 48 seconds per question.

The MBE tests the topics of Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional law, Torts, Real Property, and Evidence. Further, the MBE tests many subtopics within each tested topic. The following table depicts the topics and subtopics tested in the MBE and the approximate number of questions for each.

Topic	Number of questions	Subtopic	Number of questions
Constitutional law	31	Individual rights	16
		Other	16
Contracts	33	Formation, conditions, and remedies	20
		Statute of Frauds, consideration, assignments and delegations, third party beneficiaries	14
Criminal Law and Procedure	31	Crimes	16
		Procedure	16
Evidence	31	Hearsay	10
		Relevance, privileges, and writings and recordings	10
		Presentation	10
Real Property	31	Mortgages	6
		Land sale contracts	6
		Titles	6
		Ownership	6
		Rights in land	6
Torts	33	Negligence	18
		Other	18

MBE questions vary wildly in length and difficulty. Some questions are very short and very easy, some are very short yet very difficult. Others are very long yet very easy, and still others are very long and very difficult. The “average” MBE question, though, is the medium length, medium difficulty question.

Applicants receive two scores in a MBE administration: the raw score and the scaled store. As mentioned, the MBE contains 190 scored questions. Your raw score is simply the amount of questions you score correctly out of the 190 scored questions. After the MBE, the raw scores of all applicants across the U.S. (and wherever else the MBE is administered) are gathered, some kind of math beyond my knowledge is applied, and a scaled score is given. Typically, though, applicants can expect to add 10 to 20 points to their raw score in order to calculate their scaled score. Most importantly, the scaled score is what the Indiana Board of Law Examiners uses when calculating applicants’ total scores.

III.    TIPS AND TRICKS

                   

Part III seeks to provide insight on the mechanics of test day, tips for maximizing success on each element of the Indiana bar exam, and tricks for preparing for the exam.

     A.     TEST DAY TIPS

When test day comes, knowledge is power. Thus, keep in mind the following details of test day:

Typically, applicants are required to arrive at the test site around 8:00 am on day one of the exam for registration and check in. On day two, applicants typically must arrive no later than 8:30 am for check in only. However, applicants should expect to wait between 30 minutes to an hour, and even perhaps longer, until the test actually starts. This can be extremely frustrating, but the examiners need lots of time to settle several hundred people into the exam room, hand out testing materials, and give instructions to the examinees.

The venue for the Indiana bar exam varies. Typically, however, the February administration of the Indiana bar exam takes place in Plainfield, Indiana at the Palms Banquet and Conference Center, while the July administration usually takes place at the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis. Thus, think about your location during the exam. Unless you live downtown or in Plainfield close to the testing sites, it is highly recommended that you rent a hotel room close to the testing site during the bar exam. This is helpful in reducing stress associated with attempting to drive and find parking. Further, applicants are typically given an hour lunch break on exam day, but forbidden from bringing study materials to the exam site. Thus, depending on the location of your hotel room, you could even spend a few minutes on some last minute review in addition to eating your carefully planned lunch.

In that regard, keep in mind the importance of nutrition, especially for exam purposes. You know what kinds of foods keep you full and comfortable. So there is not much to add here, except to remind you not to underestimate the importance of eating right during the Indiana bar exam.

Also, applicants are permitted to freely use the restrooms, no signing out or waiting required. The only requirement is that the applicant hand off his testing materials to a nearby proctor before heading to the restroom.

Applicants are allowed to bring in a very basic watch (i.e., one “that cannot store information or make noises”), so an analog wristwatch would be helpful. Typically, however, the examiners provide a large countdown timer at the front of the examination room. Nonetheless, if you are situated at the back of the exam room, or behind a very large co-examinee, this timer may be difficult to read. So applicants should be prepared for a backup by bringing a plain, analog wristwatch.

Next, pens, highlighters, mechanical pencils, and old-fashioned lead pencils are all allowed in the exam; so if those tools help you, then bring them with you by all means.

Finally, note that only the things I’ve mentioned or will mention (laptop, power cord, external mouse, writing utensils, and wristwatch) are allowed in the exam room, except for of course your person and your clothes (no jackets, coats, or hats though – even though you’re entering a profession where a suit jacket is basically mandatory). Anything else that you bring to the exam site must be checked in and checked out outside the exam room. Not surprisingly, the line for checking items in and out gets pretty long. Thus, to reduce time wasted standing in a line, I recommend leaving all prohibited items in your car or hotel room. This time is better spent studying, relaxing, or uploading your essays (more below).

     B.      ESSAY PORTION

There are several tips and tricks that you can use to maximize your chances for success when studying for and completing the essay portion of the Indiana bar exam.

To begin, the Board of Law Examiners recently chose to allow laptop testing for the essay portion. Thus, unless you are computer illiterate, I cannot think of any reason why anyone would choose to handwrite the essay portion of the Indiana bar exam. The only quandary here lies in the inevitable problems that inhere in technology. Your laptop may explode or freeze, the power may go out at the exam site, or, in my case, the exam software company may just do a shoddy and substandard job.

In the latter case, Indiana used Examsoft for the essay portion, which is used by many other jurisdictions as well. With Examsoft, when applicants finish typing their essay answers, the answers are permanently saved and locked on your computer. Then, when you leave the exam site at the end of day one (you cannot take your laptop with you during the lunch break) and get connected to the internet, your answers will automatically begin uploading. Not surprisingly, with thousands of essays across the nation uploading at or near the same time, Examsoft experienced some high traffic (which Examsoft should have been aware of, right?). Thus, if you type your essay portion, expect the possibility of spending your entire evening after day one of the Indiana bar exam trying to upload your answers repeatedly.

          i.        MULTISTATE PERFORMANCE TEST (MPT)

First, I’m not going to give a detailed analysis of how to prepare for the MPT, your bar review course will take care of that. However, if you are not in that stage of law life yet, take a look at some sample MPT questions, which are freely available here: http://www.ncbex.org/about-ncbe-exams/mpt/preparing-for-the-mpt/

Although the MPT is only worth 20 percent of the applicant’s total score, it has lately been described as the main contributing factor to the failure of many recent Indiana bar applicants. Thus, the MPT portion should be understood for its low value, but respected nonetheless.

In completing an MPT scenario, I recommend that the applicant spend at least half of the allotted time (i.e., 45 minutes) reading and consuming the material. The first 5 minutes or so should be spent picking apart the task memo (which is the first document in the scenario; it explains the scenario and provides you with a specific task) and constructing an outline of what your answer will look like.

Next, some courses recommend creating an outline, others recommend a box or matrix method. The latter method worked fine for me. In any case, some kind of method of recording the information that you consume during the first 45 minutes is an absolute necessity, unless you are a genius or have a photographic memory. The MPT is all about speed reading many, many pages of information, picking out the relevant authorities, discarding irrelevant material, and constructing a minimally cogent piece of work product. And you simply cannot just passively read all the material and expect to be able to remember everything when you start typing your work product.

          ii.       INDIANA ESSAY EXAMINATION (IEE)

In the IEE, applicants have four hours to complete six essays, which amounts to forty minutes per essay. While preparing for the IEE, you will probably find that this is more than enough time. Thus, many people recommend spending 20 minutes outlining your essay and 20 minutes writing it.

In my experience, however, it is more effective to spend as much time as is reasonably necessary to understand the fact pattern and the question(s) given, then simply start writing. You will probably find that the IEE questions are very simple, and that outlining an answer would be a useless waste of time. Thus, I think it is better to read, type away, then spend the remaining 10-20 minutes working on organizing your answer(s) into an essay that flows beautifully for the grader.

When preparing for and taking the IEE, applicants should study smart, enroll smart, use good large-scale organization, and use good small-scale organization.

               a.      STUDY SMART

The first, and most obvious, piece of advice when preparing for the IEE is to study smart. That is, take a long hard look at the above graph depicting the frequency of topics and subtopics tested and plan your study time accordingly. Past behavior is the most reliable predictor of future behavior. For example, it is almost inevitable that there will be a scenario where a complaint is filed and a pleading question arises, so you should understand the Indiana Trial Rules addressing these matters with painstaking precision. Thus, since there are six essays given, and the essays are usually isolated to one topic, a smart applicant will spend most of his/her time studying the six most frequently tested topics (Pleading and Practice, Family Law, Corporations, Wills, Indiana Constitutional Law, and Indiana Administrative Law) before focusing too much on the other topics.

Also, keep in mind that the IEE is worth a bit more than the MPT (30 percent of the total score as opposed to 20 percent), and less than the MBE, which is worth 50 percent.

               b.      ENROLL SMART

On another note, if you are still in law school and not quite ready for the IEE, you’re in luck. You should also take a long hard look at the above graph and choose your classes accordingly. First, Pleading and Practice is fairly simple, and your 1L Civil Procedure courses are probably sufficient enough. In the same way, Personal Property is also a fairly simple topic, and 1L Property courses are likely sufficient as well. Further, I don’t recall seeing in classes during my law school career that would have even addressed these topics specifically.

Next, take a Family Law course and, if possible, an advanced Family Law course, such as Juvenile Law. Also, take a Business Organizations class, as well as an advanced Corporations course. Take a Wills, Trusts, and Estates course, as well as Federal Taxation and Estate and Gift Tax courses. Take a Secured Transactions (UCC Art. 9) course as well as a Commercial Paper (UCC Art. 3) course.

Finally, if your school offers courses on Indiana Constitutional Law, Indiana Taxation, and Indiana Administrative Law, definitely take those courses as well. However, I would not recommend taking a Federal Administrative Law course solely for purposes of preparing for the IEE, as the topics covered are largely irrelevant to Indiana’s rules of administrative law. I would, though, recommend such a course for general knowledge and practice, since the topic is so important (warning: you will start to find C-Span interesting and addictive after taking Administrative Law).

               c.      ORGANIZE!

If you take the above courses, or if your bar review course prepares you reasonably well for these topics, you will find that the IEE essay questions are, in general, laughably simple. Thus, curiously, the most important aspect of maximizing your chances for success on the IEE is to organize your answer with utmost perfection.

We must consider the “large-scale” organization of your essay, as well as the “small-scale” organization of each issue and sub-issue that you treat in your essay.

                     1.      Large-scale organization

First, think about this. Your essay grader may very well be an attorney who works all day, then comes home in the evening to grade bar exam essays into the wee hours of the morning. S/he probably has a point sheet with an outline of all the issues that could possibly be addressed in the essay; though, after a while, s/he probably has the point sheet memorized and no longer needs it.

Thus, I would be surprised to learn that the grader spends any more than one minute with each essay.

With that said, it becomes clear that the most important aspect of your essay answers (except for a reasonable amount of knowledge of the law, of course) is clear organization. With around one minute per essay, your grader will likely only scan your essay quickly, rather than give it a thorough review. Thus, focus on uncovering every issue and sub-issue to be addressed in the essay. Then treat each issue and sub-issue in a separate paragraph situated underneath a separate and distinct heading or subheading. To draw the grader’s eye to the issues and sub-issues you address, use headings and subheadings with bold characters, italics, and underlining.

                    2.      Small-scale organization

Next, each issue and sub-issue that you treat in your essay should follow an organizational formula. Some use IRAC (Issue-Rule-Application-Conclusion), some use ICRAC (Issue-Conclusion-Rule-Application-Conclusion), and the variations go on ad nauseam. However, I prefer the IRAC format, with the Issue stated clearly in a heading or subheading. Then, I prefer to articulate the Rule, Application, and Conclusion using the “Under-Here-Therefore” method. Consider this example:

[Issue]         1. DOES THE BILL FUNDING BUS TRANSPORTATION COSTS FOR ALL SCHOOLS IN INDIANA, BOTH PUBLIC AND PRIVATE, VIOLATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS AGAINST FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR RELIGION? [Rule] Under the Indiana Constitution’s legislative requirements, a bill may not provide financial support for religion. And, under the Indiana Supreme Court’s interpretation of this requirement, the determinative factor is whether any financial support provided by the bill confers a substantial benefit on a religious group or cause OR if it directly furthers or advances a religious purpose. [Application] Here, the legislature’s new bill in part provides money to some church-based private schools for the purchase of school busses. But, since transporting kids to school is only a small part of all the many elements that go into educating children, this would probably not be a direct advancement of religion. However, it may be necessary to enact precautions to make sure the money is used only for the purchase of busses, and not for other things, like teacher salaries for church-based private schools. Furthermore, this bill may confer a substantial benefit on private religious schools, since such schools often operate on very tight budgets, without the access to public funds in the way that public schools do. [Conclusion] Therefore, the Governor can expect a Constitutional challenge to the new law since the funding provision may provide a substantial benefit to private religious schools.

Note that experts and bar review courses advocate a litany of different organization methods. Some people prefer the ICRAC method (Issue-Conclusion-Rule-Application-Conclusion) and all sorts of other formulas. My justification for using the “Under-Here-Therefore” method placed underneath a heading or subheading stating the issue is based purely on making grading easier for the reader. As I already mentioned, your essay grader may very well be an attorney who works all day and comes home to grade several essays in the evening. S/he probably has a rubric of a perfect essay answer memorized. Thus, s/he probably spends about 1 minute scanning your essay to see how many issues you addressed and how many you missed, and if you stated the correct rule of law that applies to the issue. I don’t think that your essay grader cares very much at all what conclusion you reach and how you applied the law to the facts, so why state the conclusion first? Rather, I think it’s best to put the most important “point-getters” at the beginning of your paragraphs, where they are most likely to be seen, and seen quickly. This probably makes your grader happy but, of course, this is much different than the real practice of law.

  C.      OBJECTIVE PORTION – MULTISTATE BAR EXAMINATION (MBE)

The MBE is the objective portion of the Indiana bar exam which is offered on day two. The MBE is split into two sections, each consisting of 100 questions given over 3 hours. The following section provides insight on studying smart and enrolling smart for the MBE, as well as MBE test-taking strategies.

          i.        STUDY SMART (AGAIN)

Similar to my advice for the IEE, the first and most obvious piece of advice to consider is your study priorities in regard to the MBE.

First, the MBE is the heaviest weighted portion of the Indiana bar exam, consisting of 50 percent of the applicant’s total score. Thus, applicants should expect to spend the majority of their time studying the MBE topics and completing practice MBE questions, and a minority of the time studying for the IEE and practicing MPT scenarios, respectively.

Relatedly, smart applicants will spend the majority of their MBE study time studying the most heavily tested MBE subtopics. For example, at 20 total questions in the MBE, formation, conditions, and remedies under Contract Law is the single most heavily tested MBE subtopic. Thus, applicants should be extremely familiar with this most valuable portion of the MBE. On the other hand, the confusing problem of competing claimants in land in race, notice, and race-notice recording jurisdictions will see no more than six questions on the MBE, so study accordingly.

          ii.       ENROLL SMART (AGAIN)

Next, in addition to studying smart, law students who are choosing classes should also enroll smart. Of course, required 1L courses cover most of the MBE topics, including Contracts, Torts, Real Property, Criminal Law, and Constitutional law. However, other MBE topic courses are not required in law school. Thus, law students contemplating the bar exam should take Evidence and Criminal Procedure courses.

Furthermore, in order to solidify one’s knowledge of the MBE topics, I recommend taking an advanced course in as many of the MBE topics that your school offers. For example, First Amendment Law, an advanced Constitutional Law course, would be beneficial to preparing for the Constitutional Law portion of the MBE.

          iii.      TEST-TAKING STRATEGIES

Surprisingly, MBE test-taking strategies are rarely discussed in bar review courses and elsewhere. Most likely, this is because applicants figure out their own method during bar review. Nonetheless, here is the MBE strategy that I recommend.

First, disregard the MBE instructions, which state, inter alia, “take your time, but work quickly. If a question is too difficult, skip it and come back to it later.”

The first part of the MBE instructions on working quickly but effectively is not incorrect. However, in my experience, you will simply not have enough time to read a difficult MBE question, skip it, and come back later to give the question more consideration. If you are able to do this, then you may be working too quickly and overlooking easy issues, or you may be a genius. Thus, do not flag any MBE questions for reconsideration. Rather, when you come to a question, decide whether or not you will tackle it now and, if so, answer it, forget it, and move on. You cannot waste time in the MBE.

Bearing this in mind, in order to use time wisely, I recommend that applicants skip excessively long MBE questions and, if there is time remaining, come back and answer them at the end. The time spent trying to comprehend a long, complex, and twisted fact pattern, often containing irrelevant and distracting facts, is better spent on normal-length questions. After some practice MBE questions, you will begin to understand when a MBE question is “excessively” long. In my test-taking, I skipped MBE questions that took up one half of the page or more (including the fact pattern plus the four answer choices). On the real MBE on test day, thinking of you and my commitment to helping you, I actually spent a few precious seconds and counted about 16 such questions that I skipped out of the 200 total.

Additionally, while you should not skip MBE questions that are less than “excessively” long, you should tackle such shorter questions by beginning with the “call of the question” first. With this method, you can ascertain the subject matter of the question before consuming the MBE fact pattern and, thus, tune in to the important facts. However, there is one exception. This method is probably not very useful, and probably a damaging waste of time actually, for MBE questions that are very short, usually four lines or less.

Next, in multiple choice law school exams, I often completed the exam first, then filled in the bubble scantron sheet at the end. On the MBE, however, there is no time for this. Since it is more efficient to turn a page only once, then move on and forget about it, it is better to fill in the MBE answer bubble sheet whilst taking the exam (believe me, I timed both methods).

Finally, no matter where you are on the MBE exam, when there are five minutes left, you must STOP and examine your answer sheet to make sure it is perfect and pristine like the private beach of a multi-trillionaire, or a newly waxed Lamborghini. You can be a legal genius, but if you cannot fill in bubbles correctly, you will never be a lawyer. Even so, with only five minutes left, and at the end of a three hour portion of the MBE when your brain is mush, you probably would not even be able to answer more than one question with this time. Thus, it is better to spend this remaining time scouring all 100 questions on the answer sheet, and making sure an answer is bubbled in for each one. Since there is no penalty for guessing, please bubble an answer for every question.

IV.    CONCLUSION

In conclusion, I hope that this article has been helpful to pre-law and aspiring law students, current law students, and recent law school graduates preparing to take the Indiana bar exam.

As noted at the outset, this article is meant only as a starting point for basic information based on my personal experience in preparing for, taking, and, ultimately, passing the Indiana bar examination. Thus, it is not intended to be an in-depth or highly authoritative source of information. Indeed, many bar passers may have additional information to add, or may wholly disagree with some of my points. Thus, understand this article for what it is, and talk to other law students, bar passers, and your academic advisors for the best results on test day.

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[1] The divorce decree includes an analysis of: 1) distribution of the marital estate; and 2) spousal maintenance. If the couple had any children, it will also include an analysis of 3) child custody; and 4) child support.

[2] This includes Limited Liability Companies (LLCs), Professional Corporations (PCs), and foreign corporations.

[3] This includes the Elective Shares for the surviving spouse, pretermitted child(ren), and omitted child(ren), as well as the Indiana Family Allowance.

[4] Note that the Indiana Inheritance Tax was very recently repealed and, thus, while this subtopic was popular in the past, it will not likely be tested.