Utah Bar Exam Information Review
Application Procedure
Utah State Bar
645 South 200 East
Salt Lake City, Utah 84111
(801) 543-9077
www.utahbar.org
In order to qualify to sit for the Utah Bar Exam you will (1) need to have graduated from an ABA approved law school with a Juris Doctorate, (2) get approval from the Character and Fitness Committee, and (3) pass the MPRE with a minimum score of 80.
Utah doesn’t have a reciprocity agreement with any other state at the moment, so if you want to practice law in Utah you will need to sit for their Bar exam. However, if you have already been licensed in another state you may want to check with the Utah Bar Association for special consideration of your case, as they may be willing to offer reciprocity to legal professionals under certain circumstances.
For more information about taking the MPRE you can write to the address below for a testing application packet.
National Conference of Bar Examiners
C/O MPRE
P.O. Box 4001
Iowa City, Iowa 52243
To download or request a complete application packet with testing information, requirements, and general information you will need to visit the Utah State Bar website at the address listed above. After you receive your 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 late fee of $100, final date late fee $300, $450 for student application, $625 for attorney application, $250 to retake the Utah Bar Exam, and a laptop fee of $100.
Testing Format
The Utah Bar Exam lasts two days, and it is given twice a year. Once in late February, and once in late January.
On the first day of the Utah Bar Exam you will be given two Multistate Performance Test questions, and eight essay questions.
On the second and final day of the Utah Bar Exam you will take the Multistate Bar Exam which consists of 200 multiple choice questions.
In order to pass the Utah Bar exam you need to attain a combined score of at least 130.
Study Tips
Studying for the Utah 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. Law schools and self-study institutes provide these courses. For a list of quality Bar Exam Review course please check out the Utah Bar Association’s website at: www.utahbar.org.
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 Utah Bar Exam – Multistate Essay Exam
The following topics will be covered in the Multistate Essay Exam portion of the Utah Bar Exam. You will need to know specific rules, regulations, general applications, and procedures that apply to these topics.
1. Agency and Partnerships
2. Conflict of laws
3. Decedents Estates
4. Federal Civil Procedures
5. Secured Transactions
6. Commercial Papers
7. Corporations
8. Family Law
9. Sales
10. Trusts and Future Interest
Topics That Will Be Covered on the Utah Bar Exam – Utah Essay Exam
The following topics will be covered in the Utah Essay Exam portion of the Utah Bar Exam. You will need to know specific Utah rules, regulations, general applications, and procedures that apply to these topics.
1. Administrative Law
2. Civil Procedures
3. Contracts
4. Criminal Law and Procedures
5. Evidence (Utah and Federal)
6. Family Law
7. Torts
8. Wills, Estate Planning, Trusts, and Related Tax Issues
9. Business Entities
10. Creditor/Debtor
11. Ethics
12. Real Property
13. Universal Commercial Code Articles II, III, IV, and IX)
What to Know About the Multistate Performance Test Questions
The Multistate Performance Test questions will be designed to test your ability to do “lawyer work.” They will test your proficiency in the following areas:
1. Problem Solving
2. Factual Analysis
3. Legal Analysis
4. Reasoning
5. Written Communication
6. Organization Skills
7. Project Management of Legal Tasks
8. Ability to recognize and respond to ethical dilemmas
What to Know About the Multistate Bar Exam
The Multistate Bar Exam is designed to test your general legal knowledge, and will cover the following topics:
1. Contracts
2. Criminal Law
3. Evidence
4. Real Property
5. Torts
6. Constitutional Law
Study Resources
To help you study, the following websites provide official rules of legal procedures for the state of Utah and for federal procedures.
For past Utah Bar Exam questions, application forms and general information go to:
www.utahbar.org
For Utah Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/urcp
For Federal Rules of Civil Procedures go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/frcp
For Utah Rules of Professional Conduct go to:
http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/approved/archives/001004.html
For ABA Rules of Professional Conduct go to:
http://www.abanet.org/cpr/mrpc/mrpc_home.html
For Utah Rules of Evidence go to:
http://www.utcourts.gov/resources/rules/ure
For Federal Rules of Evidence go to:
http://www.law.cornell.edu/rules/fre
