February and July 2014 Florida Bar Exam
We hope the following information helps you in your 2014 Florida Bar Exam study endeavors. Some of the info might seem mundane, but all of it is enlightening to some degree. If you have questions or comments, either use our contact form or the comments section to communicate with us. Kind regards, and happy studying!
(Note: The February 2014 pass/fail results were released on April 14, 2014. The July 2014 Florida Bar Exam pass/fail results were released on September 22, 2014. You can find the officially released February and July 2014 questions and answers here. You can find the February and July 2016 Florida Bar Exam subjects here.)
I. General Information
A. Florida Board of Bar Examiners v. The Florida Bar
B. When and Where is the February Exam?
C. When and Where is the July Exam?
II. Part A (The Florida Portion)
A. The Exam’s Purpose
B. How is the Florida Portion Tested?
C. Time Allotments and Raw Scores
D. What Subjects are on Part A?
1. Essay Subjects
2. Multiple-Choice Subjects
3. New Florida Subjects
III. Part B (The MBE)
A. The Exam’s Purpose
B. How is the MBE Tested?
C. Time Allotments and Raw Scores
D. What Subjects are on Part B?
IV. Passing Score Requirements
I. General Information
A. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners v. The Florida Bar
As a bar exam applicant and a soon-to-be licensed Florida attorney, it is a good idea to understand the difference between the Florida Board of Bar Examiners and The Florida Bar. Maybe you already know the difference. If so, great. Explain it to your peers and to others. There tends to be confusion on the worldwide web and among bar exam applicants regarding this seemingly mundane, yet important, difference, which is why we are taking the time to discuss it here.
The Florida Supreme Court has exclusive power to license and discipline Florida attorneys.[1] The Court performs its duties through two entities: The Florida Board of Bar Examiners and The Florida Bar. As an administrative agency of the Court, the Board is responsible for implementing the rules regulating an applicant’s admission to The Florida Bar.[2]The Board has authority over an applicant’s admission to The Florida Bar.
The Florida Bar has no direct authority over an applicant’s admission.[3] The Bar is an organization that oversees unethical conduct of licensed attorneys—including the unlicensed practice of law. Once you become a licensed Florida attorney, you become a member of The Florida Bar.
Simply stated, as an applicant you answer to the Board; as a licensed attorney you answer to The Florida Bar. If you are interested in knowing the Board’s authority after admittance, read Rule 5-14.
B. When and Where is the February 2014 Exam?
The February 2014 Florida Bar Exam is tested on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 25-26, 2014. Part A, the Florida portion, is tested on Tuesday the 25th; Part B, the MBE, is tested on Wednesday the 26th. The exam is held at the Tampa Convention Center, 333 South Franklin Street, Tampa, Florida.
C. When and Where is the July 2014 Exam?
The July 2014 Florida Bar Exam is tested on July 29-30, 2014, Tuesday and Wednesday, at the Tampa Convention Center (see above). Part A, the Florida portion, is tested on Tuesday, July 29th; Part B, the MBE, is tested on Wednesday, July 30th. You can find detailed information such as arrival and exam session times on the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website (“Exam Information”)
II. Part A—The Florida Portion
A. Purpose of the Florida Portion
Obviously, as an applicant, your purpose for taking the bar exam is to pass it and become a licensed Florida attorney. However, from a strategical stand point, have you considered the purpose of the exam as seen through the eyes of the examiners? We have, and we believe that understanding it from the examiners perspective is beneficial to understanding the exam in general. It allows an applicant to “get into the examiners head,” so to speak.
According to the Florida Supreme Court, the purpose of the General Florida Bar Exam is threefold. First, the exam tests your “ability to reason logically.” Second, it tests your ability to “accurately analyze the problem presented.” And third, it tests your ability to “demonstrate a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of law and their application.”[4]
So when you’re studying for the bar exam, study like a lawyer and not like a student. Know as much about your opponent as is diligently possible. In this situation, your opponent is the bar exam. The more insight and understanding you have about the overall exam, and of course, the substantive law, the more confident you should feel when facing your opponent.
Taking the bar exam is very different from taking a law school exam. The bar exam is all-encompassing. You need to know a vast array of federal law subjects, including Florida law distinctions. Memorization alone is not enough to pass the exam, although mnemonics are certainly helpful.
As you are studying, just keep in mind the exam’s purpose. Be prepared to show the examiners that you: (1) have a thorough knowledge of the fundamentals of law; (2) can accurately analyze the questions presented; (3) know how to apply the law to the facts of the specific question; and (4) can logically reason to reach a conclusion. With this insight in mind, hopefully some semblance of stress about your opponent will be relieved.
B. How is Part A Tested?
Part A is comprised of two sessions—the Tuesday morning essay session and the Tuesday afternoon multiple-choice session. The morning session consists of three hours answering three essay questions; the afternoon session consists of three hours answering 100 multiple-choice questions. Part A tests your knowledge of both federal law and Florida law. When federal law differs from Florida law, be sure to answer all questions pursuant to Florida law.[5]
C. Time Allotment and Raw Points
You are allotted one-hour to answer each essay question. Each essay is worth 100 points for a total possible raw score of 300 points. As for the 100 multiple-choice questions, you are allotted 1.8 minutes to answer each question. The total raw score available on the multiple-choice section is 90 points. This is because 10 of the questions are “experimental” and do not count toward your total score. The total raw points available on Part A are 390—300 points on the essay section and 90 points on the multiple-choice section.[6]
D. What Subjects are Tested on the Florida Portion?
As mandated by the Florida Supreme Court,
“Part A consists of 6 one-hour segments. One segment includes the Florida Rules of Civil and Criminal Procedure and the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration 2.330, 2.420, 2.505 and 2.515. The remaining 5 segments, each of which includes no more than 3 subjects, are tested from the following subjects: (a) Florida constitutional law; (b) federal constitutional law; (c) business entities; (d) wills and administration of estates; (e) trusts; (f) real property; (g) evidence; (h) torts; (i) criminal law, constitutional criminal procedure, and juvenile delinquency; (j) contracts; (k) Articles 3 and 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code; (l) family law and dependency; (m) Chapter 4, Rules of Professional Conduct of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar; (n) Chapter 5, Rules Regulating Trust Accounts of the Rules Regulating The Florida Bar; and (o) professionalism.”[7]
Notice that the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and Florida Rules of Judicial Administration §§ 2.330, 2.420, 2.505, and 2.515 are required subjects on every bar exam. It is a good idea to know these three subjects because, rest-assured, they will be on the exam.
The tested format of the above required subjects varies at the discretion of the bar examiners. We have broken-down the subjects based on the general category of prior tested exams. For instance, we set forth which subjects are most commonly tested as essay questions and which ones are tested as multiple-choice questions. You will see that a few of the subjects are cross-overs, which means they might be tested on either, or both of, the essays or the multiple-choice questions (e.g., professionalism [ethics]). It goes without saying, but just as a reminder, you must know the law in order to pass the exam!
The number in parenthesis indicates how many times the examiners have tested that particular subject in essay format from July 2003 through February 2014.[8]
a. Florida Constitutional Law (17)*
b. Federal Constitutional Law (1)
c. Professionalism [Ethics] (19)*
d. Real Property (11)*
e. Family Law (13)*
f. Contracts (14)
g. Torts (14)
h. Trusts (7)
i. UCC 2 Sales (1)
j. UCC 9 Secured Transactions (1)
k. Criminal Law (sub-topic Feb 2012 Q1)
* Subject was tested on the February 2014 exam
As previously stated, there are three subjects that must be tested on every exam—the †Florida Rules of Civil and †Criminal Procedure and the †Florida Rules of Judicial Administration. The bar examiners have consistently tested these three subjects in multiple-choice format, along with two additional subjects from the following areas:
a. Wills & Administration of Estates^*
b. Business Entities^
c. Evidence^*
d. Professionalism [Ethics] (MC/Essay)
e. Rules of Professional Conduct, Chapter 4 (MC/Essay)
f. Rules Regulating Trust Accounts, Chapter 5 (MC/Essay)
† Required Subjects on every exam
^ Heavily and consistently tested in MC format
* Subject was tested on the February 2014 exam
In February 2013, four new areas were added to the list of tested subjects. Although none of the new subjects were tested on the February 2013 Florida Bar Exam, UCC Article 9 was tested on the July 2013 exam. There is a high probability that one of the new subjects will be tested on the 2014 exam.
a. Secured Transactions UCC 9 (essay format)
b. Negotiable Instruments UCC 3 (probably essay format)
c. Dependency Law—part of Family Law (probably essay format)
d. Juvenile Delinquency—part of Criminal Law & Criminal Constitutional Procedure (MC or essay format)
III. Part B—The MBE
A. Purpose of the MBE
According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), “the purpose of the MBE is to assess the extent to which an examinee can apply fundamental legal principles and legal reasoning to analyze given fact patterns.”[9] In other words, the purpose of the MBE is to test your knowledge of the black-letter law, your ability to analyze a given fact pattern, and your ability to apply the black-letter law to the given fact pattern.
B. How is Part B Tested?
Part B is tested on Wednesday, February 26, 2014. It consists of three hours answering 100 multiple-choice questions in the morning and three hours answering 100 multiple-choice questions in the afternoon.
C. Time Allotment and Raw Points
There are a total of 200 MBE questions, giving you 1.8 minutes to answer each question. Since the MBE tests your knowledge of federal law, when you are taking the MBE, forget everything you know about the Florida law distinctions and answer all questions pursuant to federal law.
Only 190 of the 200 questions count toward your total raw score. This is because 10 questions are “experimental.” To pass the MBE, you need to correctly answer at least 65% of the 190 scored questions.
D. What Subjects are Tested on the MBE?
The MBE contains six main subjects. The number in parenthesis indicates the number of scored questions for each particular subject.
1. Torts (33 Q)
2. Contracts (33 Q)
3. Criminal Law & Procedure (31 Q)
4. Constitutional Law (31 Q)
5. Real Property (31 Q)
6. Evidence (31 Q)
The NCBE provides examinees with an excellent subject matter outline that details the above tested subjects and their respective subtopics. Many examinees mistakenly overlook the value of the NCBE’s outline, but, if you really want to hone-in on the tested MBE subjects, do yourself a favor and take time to read pages 7-13 of the MBE Information Booklet.
IV. Florida Bar Exam Passing Score Requirements
To pass the General Florida Bar Exam, you “must attain a minimum scaled score of 136 points or above on both Parts A and B under the individual method, and an average scaled score of 136 or above under the overall method.”[10]
When we were preparing our July 2013 Florida Bar Exam information, the Florida Board of Bar Examiners website stated that to pass Part A, an applicant must have an average essay score of at least 45 points and correctly answer at least 55% of the multiple-choice questions.[11] However, for the February and July 2014 exam, the bar examiners simply state that “an average scaled score of 136 or better” is required to pass the exam (“Overall Method”).[12]
V. Additional Resources
The Florida Board of Bar Examiners published a “Virtual Tour” of the exam in hopes of making your 2014 bar exam experience less stressful. They also published a “Study Guide” containing past essay questions and sample multiple-choice questions. As previously stated, the NCBE published a “Multistate 2014 Exam Information Booklet” which gives examinees valuable MBE information. We also posted a Florida court jurisdiction flowchart page in case you need it.
Posts You Might Like:
1. FL Bar Exam Feb & July 2015
2. Florida Statutes and Rules
3. Dependency Law Nutshell
4. FL Bar Exam Review Videos
5. Fourth Amendment Podcasts
6. New Subject Added to the 2015 MBE
7. Questions and Selected Answers 2003-2013
8. Note of Encouragement (includes prominent people who failed the bar exam)
Sources:
1. Article V, Section 15 of the Constitution of the State of Florida [back to text]
2. See Rule 1-13, Rules of the Florida Supreme Court [back to text]
3. The Florida Bar [back to text]
4. Supra, Rule 4-21 [back to text]
5. Florida Board of Bar Examiners (“Exam Information”) [back to text]
6. See, e.g., Raw Scores February 2013 [back to text]
7. Supra, Rule 4-22 [back to text]
8. See, e.g., Florida Bar Exam Essays 10-Year Graph [back to text]
9. Multistate 2014 MBE Information Booklet [back to text]
10. Supra, Rule 4-26.2 [back to text]
11. See July 2013 Florida Bar Exam [back to text]
12. Supra, “Exam Information” [back to text]
Copyright © 2014 Aplus eBooks Publications - All Rights Reserved
Permalink: http://www.aplusebooks.com/florida-bar-exam-february-july-2014/
{54}
Essay 1: K/UCC 3/Ethics (predominate)
Essay 2: K (predominate)/Torts/Ethics
Essay 3: Trusts
MC: Evidence, Bus, FL procedure
Brutal.
Edit: UCC 3 was the predominate essay, not ethics
Hi Lynn,
Thank you kindly for taking the time to share this information with us. And yes, as we understand it, the July 2014 exam was “brutal”. We certainly didn’t anticipate two Contracts questions; one question okay, but definitely not two. We hope you fared well! If nothing else, at least it’s finished for now.
Thank you again, and please remain in communication. Let us know if we can be of assistance in the future. We hope you’re well-pleased on September 22nd when the results are released.
Blessings and best regards to you!
Hi,
You have a lot of helpful info. here! Do you guys have predictions for the FL July 2014 bar exam as to the essays and MC? I hope this will help to calm my nerves! LOL!
Thank you
Anne
Good day to you Anne,
We posted some exam predictions below. For the MC, we’re leaning toward Wills & Administration of Estates, Business Entities, and Procedure (Crim Pro, Civ Pro, Judicial Admin). For the essays, we’re leaning toward Torts, Contracts, Property, Ethics, and possibly Trusts? We believe there is a good possibility that one of the new subjects will be tested-maybe the UCC in conjunction with Contracts; possibly Family Law in conjunction with Dependency Law?
Just food for thought here. … Aside from knowing the black letter law, the bar exam is about reading comprehension. An applicant who knows the law can enter the exam room in an exhausted state of being and come out failing it due to poor reading comprehension. Contrariwise, an applicant who doesn’t know the black letter law as well, but whose mind is fresh for the battle, can come out passing the exam due to his or her clear mind and sharp reading comprehension. So, for your sake, be sure to rest your mind between now and Tuesday morning (technically, Monday night). Do something to take your mind off of the exam for a little while. Breathe. Relax. Exercise. Watch movies. Go to dinner. Listen to music. Do whatever it is that you enjoy doing so you can go into the exam room with a fresh mind and clear eyes.
We hope the very best for you on Tuesday and Wednesday! If you have time, let us hear from you after the exam and/or after the results are released.
Blessings and best regards!
Thanks!! I will send you guys an update! =)
This is the right website for everyone who hopes to find info about the FL Bar Exam. You realize a whole lot, it’s almost hard to argue with you (not that I would actually want to…. HaHa). You certainly put a brand new spin on a topic that has been written about by many others. Excellent stuff, just great! Thanks for all the info!
Hi Frank,
Thank you kindly. We are glad you found the information helpful. If you’re taking the exam next week, we hope the very best for you!
Do you have any updated information on the July 2014 Essay subjects and MCs?
Thank you
July 2014 Exam Predictions
Multiple-Choice Subjects
As for the Florida multiple-choice subjects, we are inclined to believe that Wills & Administration of Estates, Business Entities (Corps), and Procedure (Crim Pro, Civ Pro, and Judicial Admin) will be tested on the July 2014 exam.
Essay Subjects
As for the essay subjects, we are taking two different approaches-a personal one and a statistical one.
From a personal perspective, we tend to believe that Contracts, Property, Torts, and Trusts will be tested in essay format, along with Ethics. It is very possible that homestead law will appear as a sub-topic. It is somewhat possible that the examiners might test Dependency Law in conjunction with Family Law, or UCC in conjunction with Contracts. It seems that one of the newly added subjects would be on the July 2014 exam, but who knows? If so, we would lean toward Contracts and a UCC question as opposed to a Family Law and Dependency question. …
Statistically speaking, there is 64% chance that Contracts, Family Law, and Florida Constitutional Law will appear as essay subjects. There is a 91% chance that Ethics will be tested, a 55% chance that Property and Torts will be tested, and a 36% chance that Trusts will be tested. These numbers are based solely on statistical datum as seen from the following eleven-year chart.
July 2003 - Feb 2014: Eleven-Year Essay Chart:
Note: We removed the Chart for aesthetical mobile device purposes.
Caveat
As we say with every exam prediction, be advised that our predictions are just that-predictions. Please be sure you know the black letter law for all testable subjects. The Florida Board of Bar Examiners have the right to change-up the exam format at their discretion. The only three subjects that are required on every exam are Criminal and Civil Procedure and the Rules of Judicial Administration. The remaining tested subjects vary at the examiners discretion.
We hope this information proves helpful.
Blessings and best regards to each one of you!
Looking to hearing your thoughts on 2014 topics!
Thanks for all the great advice, as an out of state student, this blog has been extremely helpful! Looking forward to your predictions for the July 2014 Bar Exam!
Hi Lynn,
Thank you kindly for your comment. We are vey glad to know our blog/website has proven helpful for you! 🙂 We hope to post more detailed predictions following the July 4th weekend. At a bare minimum, for your sake, please be sure to know the black letter law for Florida Criminal & Civil Procedure and the Rules of Judicial Admin. Those three subjects will most assuredly be on the Florida MC portion of the July 2014 Florida Bar Exam. Combined, those three subjects account for 30% of your Florida MC points.
Thank you again. Blessings and Best Regards.
Your predictions have been excellent. I apologize for the inconvenience, but is there any way you might throw out a couple of predictions as to what will be tested on the july 2014 exam? Thank you in advance.
Best,
Jill
Hi Jill,
Thank you kindly, and your question posed no inconvenience.
Statiscally speaking, we are inclined to believe that Wills & Administration of Estates and Business Entities will appear as the July 2014 MC subjects (in addition to the required subjects of Procedure and Judicial Administration).
Preliminarily speaking, we are inclined to believe that Torts, Family Law, and Ethics will be tested in essay format. However, we need to do some more stats before we can comfortably answer your question as to the essay portion of the exam. …
We hope this helps for the time being?
P.S. As a caveat, please know that any exam predictions we make are purely speculative. The best method for preparing for the exam is to study all of the subjects, but no doubt you already know that. 🙂
Blessings and Best Regards
Nice post. Very helpful. Excellent predictions. Thanks.
Hi hopeipassed,
Thank you kindly for your comment, and we also certainly hope you passed. Kind Regards.
Thank you for the posts. They are very helpful. Do you have any predictions for the Feb 2014 FL Bar exam as to the Essays and FL MC questions. I noticed you made some very accurate predictions for the July 2013 Bar exam.
Thank you in advance,
Alex
Hi Alex,
You are quite welcomed, and thank you also. Please give us a few days and we will do some number crunching. In the interim, we know that Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Judicial Administration will be on the Florida multiple-choice section. Combined, those three subjects equate to 30% (30 points) of your multiple-choice score.
Kind Regards
February 2014 Florida Bar Exam Predictions
Thank you for your patience Alex. Here is what we concluded in response to your question:
Essays
At the outset, and for what it is worth, we want to mention one thing. After looking at all of the exams from July 2003 through July 2013, we noted that the examiners tend to test Constitutional Law and Family Law more steadily on the February bar exam than they do on the July bar exam. Contracts,
Family Law, Property, and Trusts seem to be more steadily tested on the July bar exam than on the February bar exam….Now, to try to answer your question from a mathematical perspective. As you can see from the following ten-year essay chart, there is an 80% chance that Ethics, Florida Constitutional Law, and Torts will be tested, a 70% chance that Contracts will be tested, a 50% chance that Family Law will be tested, a 40% chance that Property will be tested, and a 30% chance that Trusts will be tested.
From a personal perspective, we tend to believe that the February 2014 essay subjects will be Torts, Family Law, Dependency, Property, and Ethics. We believe it is highly possible that Constitutional Law will be mixed with one of those subjects (e.g., Property?). It is, of course, possible that there will be an additional subject which will either be Trusts or Contracts/UCC.
Graph removed for mobile device readability
Multiple-Choice
As for the Florida multiple-choice section, we believe the subjects will be Criminal Procedure, Civil Procedure, Judicial Administration, Wills and Administration of Estates, and Evidence. Statistically, it makes sense that Business Entities would be tested; however, we are climbing out on a limb to say that it will not be a multiple-choice subject this February. We could also see the examiners throwing-in Criminal Law and Juvenile Delinquency as potential multiple-choice subjects at some point in time, but hopefully not just yet.
Remember, as a caveat, any exam predictions we make are purely speculative. We hope we are correct, but one never knows. Also, like we said in July, the best method for preparing for the bar exam is to study all of the subjects equally—but, we are sure you already know that :). We hope this has helped to answer your question, and we certainly hope the very best of success for you on the exam.
Blessings and best regards.