Everything You Need to Know About the Idaho Bar Exam
Application Procedure
Idaho State Bar
P. O. Box 895
Boise, Idaho 83701
(208) 334-4500
www.state.id.us/isb
To sit for the Idaho Bar you need to (1) have graduated with a Juris Doctorate from an American Bar Association approved law school, and (2) you must have taken and passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam with a score of 85 or higher before you take the Idaho Bar Exam.
For more information about the MPRE please visit www.ncbex.org. You will find application information, exam dates, and locations on this site. You can also write for an application packet and information from:
National Conference of Bar Examiners
MPRE Application Department
P.O. Box 4001
Iowa City, Iowa 52243
(319) 337-1287
To download or request a complete Idaho Bar Exam application packet with testing information, requirements, and general information you will need to visit the Idaho State Bar website at the address listed above. After obtaining the application packet you will need to fill out all of the forms and submit them by the stated deadlines, and you will need to enclose the appropriate application, examination, and late fees. These fees change annually, however, to give you an idea of the costs to expect the 2006 fees were $500 for student applicants with a $50 late fee (if applicable), and $690 for attorney applicants with a $100 late fee (if applicable).
Testing Format
The Idaho Bar Exam lasts two and a half days, and it is given twice a year. Once in late February, and once in late January. On the first day of the exam you will be given four essay questions. On the second day you will have six multistate essay questions and two multistate performance test questions. Finally on the third day you will be given a 200 multiple-choice exam known as the Multistate Bar Exam. The MBE will be worth one third of your total score, and the essay questions and performance questions will be combined for the remaining two thirds of your score. To pass you will need a combined score of 70% or better. If you are re-testing and have passed the MBE portion of the test in your prior attempt, you can carry that portion forward and not re-take it as long as your MBE score is no older than 25 months. The state of Idaho also has a reciprocity agreement with Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, so you may be able to be admitted to the Idaho Bar if you have been licensed in one of these states and have actively practiced law for five of the sever years prior to your motion to be admitted to the Idaho Bar.
Study Tips
Studying for the Idaho Bar will be quite an undertaking. You will need to devote several months to studying procedures, laws, and information that you learned during your three years of law school. To help direct your studying it is highly recommended that you enroll in a Bar Exam Review course. These courses are provided by law schools and self study institutes. For a list of quality Bar Exam Review courses visit the Idaho State Bar website.
In addition to enrolling in a Bar Exam Review course, you should also learn what will be on the examination and where you can go for study guides.
Topics That Will Be Covered on the Idaho Bar Exam
The following topics will be covered in a general manner. You will not need to know specific Idaho laws that are applicable in these areas. However, you will need to know rules, regulations, and general applications and procedures that apply to these topics.
1. Civil Procedures
2. Conflicts of Law
3. Constitutional Law
4. Contracts
5. Business Organizations
6. Evidence
7. Real Property including Water Rights
8. Torts
9. Ethics
10. Uniform Commercial Code Articles I, II, II, and IX
11. Family Law
12. Criminal Law and Procedures
13. Equitable Remedies
14. Wills, Estates, and Trusts
15. Commercial Property
While the above list of topics will be covered in a general manner, you will need to know how Idaho laws impact the following topics, including specific Idaho statues, laws, and procedures.
1. UCC Articles I, II, III, and IX
2. Water Laws
3. Wills and Interstate Succession (UPC)
4. Family Law
5. Community Property Law
Test Topics by Exam Segment
On day one you will take the Idaho Essay Exam portion of your Bar Exam you will be given four essays questions that can cover any of the following topics:
1. Business Organization
2. Civil Procedures
3. Community Property
4. Criminal Law and Procedures
5. Equitable Remedies
6. Family Law
7. Torts
8. Wills, trusts, decedents estates and trusts, and future interest
9. Conflicts of law
10. Constitutional law
11. Contracts
12. Ethics
13. Evidence
14. Real property including water rights
15. UCC Articles I, II, III, and IX
On day two you will be given the Multistate Essay Questions. This segment of the test will cover the following topics:
1. Business Organizations including agencies, partnerships, corporations, and limited liability corporations
2. Civil Procedures
3. Conflicts of Law
4. Family Law
5. UCC Articles I, II, II, and IX
6. Wills, Estates, and Trusts
On the final day of the Idaho Bar Exam you will be taking the Multistate Bar Exam. It will consist of 200 multiple-choice questions covering the following topics:
1. Constitutional Law
2. Evidence
3. Criminal Law and Procedures
4. Torts
5. Real property
6. Contracts
How to Address Specific Questions on the Idaho Bar Exam
1. When you are asked questions about civil procedures you will need to apply either the Idaho Rules of Civil Procedures or the Federal Rules of Civil Procedures. In addition to applying these rules you will also need to specify in your answer which rules of civil procedures that you used, either the Idaho or the Federal in order to get all of the points possible for the essay question.
2. In the ethics section of your exam you will need to both identify what rules of professional conduct that you used, either the Idaho or Federal, and you will need to identify what rule you used and why.
3. Evidence questions will also be included in the Idaho Bar Exam. You will need to identify if you used the Idaho or Federal Rules of Evidence, and what rules that you used, and why that rule was applicable to the question. Evidence questions may appear in any portion of your bar exam including essay questions, multiple choice questions, or the performance test segment of the exam.
Study Resources
To help you study, the following websites provide official rules of legal procedures for the state of Idaho and for federal procedures.
For past Idaho Bar Exam questions, application forms and general information go to:
http://www2.state.id.us/isb/adm/exam_info.htm
For Idaho Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://www.isc.idaho.gov/rules/civilidx.htm
For Federal Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp
For Idaho Rules of Professional Conduct go to:
http://www2.state.id.us/isb/PDF/IRPC.pdf
For Idaho Rules of Evidence go to:
http://www.isc.idaho.gov/rules/evideidx.htm
For Federal Rules of Evidence go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre
