Here is a detailed review of the Florida Bar Exam’s tested essay and multiple-choice subjects, including passing score requirements, and new subject areas. As you probably know, the General Florida Bar Examination consists of two parts: Part A and Part B, as detailed below.
Part A ~ Florida Bar Exam July 2013
Part A of the exam is tested on Tuesday. It consists of three essay questions in the morning and 100 multiple-choice questions in the afternoon. All questions on Part A are designed to test your knowledge of both general law and Florida law. To pass the Florida portion you must obtain an average essay score of 45 out of 100 and get 55% or more multiple-choice questions correct. You must have a scaled score of 136.
Pay close attention to the required passing score averages. To pass the essay section, you only need an average of 45 points per essay. There are three essay questions; each one is worth 100 points, for a total of 300 raw points. To pass the multiple-choice section, you need to get at least 55% of the questions correct.
Although there are 100 multiple-choice questions, the total raw score is 90 points. This is because 10 of the questions are deemed “experimental” and do not count toward your raw score.
What subjects are tested on Tuesday, Part A of the Florida Bar Exam?
We have broken down the subjects based on the general category of prior tested exams:
Essay Subjects (number of times tested)
1. Florida Constitutional Law (17)
2. Federal Constitutional Law (1)
3. Florida Professionalism / Ethics (21)
4. Real Property (11)
5. Family Law (13)
6. Contracts (16)
7. Torts (14)
8. Trusts (8)
9. UCC 2 (1)
Multiple-Choice Subjects
1. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure* (MC Required Subject)
2. Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure* (MC Required Subject)
3. Florida Rules of Judicial Administration* (MC Required Subjects)
4. Rules Regulating The Florida Bar, Chapters 4 & 5 (MC/Essay)
5. Florida Wills & Administration of Estates (MC)
6. Federal Constitutional Law (MC/Essay)
7. Florida Business Entities (MC)
8. Professionalism (MC/Essay)
9. Florida Criminal Law (MC)
10. Florida Evidence (MC)
* Note: As mandated by the Florida Supreme Court, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, the Florida Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Florida Rules of Judicial Administration sections 2.330, 2.420, 2.505, and 2.515, are all required subjects on the Florida Bar Exam. The bar examiners have consistently tested these three subjects in multiple-choice format. The remaining multiple-choice subjects vary at the discretion of the examiners. As you will notice, a few of the subjects are cross-overs, which means they might be tested on either (or both of) the multiple-choice or essay questions.
Variable/New Subjects
As of 2013, the following subjects were added to the list of possible tested areas. Take note that none of the new subjects appeared on the February 2013 Florida Bar Exam. The examiners might just throw-in one or more of these subjects on the July 2013 exam. Who knows, except for the examiners themselves!
1. Secured Transactions UCC 9 (possibly Essay format)
2. Negotiable Instruments UCC 3 (possibly Essay format)
3. Florida Dependency (part of Family Law) (possibly Essay format)
4. Florida Juvenile Delinquency (part of Criminal Law & Criminal Constitutional Procedure) (Essay or MC format)
Part B ~ MBE Multi-State July 2013
Because most bar exam review courses cover this portion of the exam in-depth, we will spend little time discussing it here. In short, however, Part B of the Florida Bar Exam, otherwise known as the MBE, is tested on Wednesday. It consists of three hours of 100 multiple-choice questions in the morning and three hours of 100 multiple-choice questions in the afternoon. To pass the MBE, you must get 65% or more multiple-choice questions correct. You must have a scaled score of 136.
Again, pay close attention to the required score. You only need to get 65% of 190 questions correct. Although there are 200 questions, only 190 questions count-10 of the questions are “experimental”.
What subjects are tested on Wednesday, Part B of the Florida Bar Exam?
We have broken down the subjects by the number of questions as they relate to the federal laws of:
1. Torts (34 Q)
2. Contracts / Sales UCC 2 (34 Q)
3. Criminal Law & Procedure (33 Q)
4. Constitutional Law (33 Q)
5. Real Property (33 Q)
6. Evidence (33 Q)
Supposedly, up to 60% of the MBE are repeat questions.
Related Posts:
1. Results FL Bar Exam July 2013
2. Florida Bar Exam Feb & July 2014
3. Florida Bar Exam Review Videos
4. Fourth Amendment Podcasts
5. Florida Dependency Law
Sources:
1. Florida Board of Bar Examiners
2. Florida Board of Bar Examiners Study Guide
3. Florida Bar February 2013 Essay Questions (PDF)
4. National Conference of Bar Examiners website (Multistate/MBE)
5. MBE July 2013 Study Book (PDF-very helpful, especially pp. 7-13)
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RE: The Florida Bar Exam July 2013 Tested Subjects
Well, we were 90% accurate with our statistical predictions for the Florida Bar Exam’s July 2013 tested essay subjects. We did not anticipate a Trusts question; however, we did anticipate a Florida Constitutional Law, Contracts, and Ethics question. We were somewhat surprised that there was not a Property question on the exam. Nevertheless, and irrespective of any essay subject predictions, we do hope everyone who took the exam did very well! We appreciate all of the examinees who emailed us with their questions and exam concerns. To see a list of the tested subjects, read our Florida Bar Exam page.
Blessings and kind regards to each one of you.
Kudos on your website. Very helpful information! Hope you post more Florida info in the future. There’s so little available on the web. Thanks for the info!
Hi Joshua,
Thank you kindly. We are pleased to know you found the information on our website to be helpful. We hope to post additional information in the upcoming months. If you are taking the exam tomorrow, we certainly hope the very best of success for you!
Blessings and Kind Regards
Any idea on what subjects may be tested as essay topics on July’s bar Exam?
Hi Carlos,
We apologize for the delayed response…. Admittedly, we were reluctant to answer your relatively simple, yet difficult, question.
At the outset, let us say this: The best approach to studying for the Florida Bar Essays is to study all of the previously tested essay subjects. Listed in order of tested frequency, those subjects are: (1) Ethics; (2) Florida Constitutional Law; (3) Torts; (4) Contracts-which now includes UCC 3 and UCC 9; (5) Family Law-which now includes Dependency Law; (6) Property; and (7) Trusts.
That being said, as we are sure you know, other than speculation, and maybe a few mathematical equations, there is really no way of knowing what subjects will be tested. However, using the following 9-year frequency chart as a guide for determining which subjects might be tested in July, let us look at the numbers to see if we can derive at any reasonable conclusions.
July 2003 - July 2012: Nine-Year Florida Bar Essay Subject Frequency Chart:
Note: The * indicates that this particular subject was tested on the February 2013 Bar Exam.
As you can hopefully see from the graph, there was a 78% chance that Florida Constitutional Law would be tested on the February 2013 Bar Exam, which it was. There was a 67% chance that Contracts would be tested, which it was. There was a 56% chance that Ethics and/or Torts would be tested, which they both were. There was only a 45% chance that Family Law and/or Property would be tested; the Bar Examiners chose Family Law.
Using this same approach for the July 2013 Bar Exam, there is a 67% chance that Ethics, Florida Constitutional Law, Contracts, and Property will be tested. There is a 56% chance that Torts and/or Family Law will be tested. Given that neither Family Law nor Torts were tested in July 2012, yet both subjects were tested on the February 2013 Exam, it is difficult to say which subject the Bar Examiners will choose. We surmise that it might be Family Law.
In conclusion, from a mathmatical viewpoint, the essay subjects that have the highest pertcentage of being tested on the July 2013 Exam are: Ethics, Florida Constitutional Law, Contracts, and Property. As for Torts and Family Law, we speculate that Family Law is the more likely subject to be tested. Furthermore, as for Trusts, given that this subject was tested on the July 2012 Exam, we are not of the opinion that it will be tested on the July 2013 Exam.
We realize that this method of speculation might not be the approach you were looking for; however, it is the best speculative answer we can provide. As an aside, hopefully now you understand why there was a delay in our response to your question….
Blessings and Best Regards!
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain this. I believe hard work pays off, and my goal is to study all FL subjects equally. But I will definitely keep in mind your approach, as statistically it makes a lot of sense. Thank you again for your response.
You are quite welcomed. And we agree, hard work does pay off. We hope the very best of success for you on the exam!
Thanks for posting this information. I’ve been looking for suggestions on how to prepare for the new subjects and how they might be tested. I also appreciate your Florida Dependency Law information. Very helpful! Thanks!
Hello FL Bar Examinee,
You are quite welcomed. We are pleased to know the info is helpful to you. Let us know if there is any other info you are interested in; maybe we can address it in a Post. Thanks again and blessings to you.
Any suggestions on how to prepare for the new subjects? Any indication how they will be tested MC vs. Essay?
Hello MT40,
General Suggestions on Preparing for the New Subjects:
As far as preparing for the new subjects, personally, we would study each new subject enough to have a basic knowledge and understanding of it. You could call it having “superficial knowledge” and “a superficial understanding” of the subject matter. This simply means that you have a general sense of the subject, but not necessarily an in-depth-knowledge of it. Other than Florida Juvenile Law, we would skip the minute, intricate, in-depth details of the subjects. An examinee does not need to know the fine points of every subject to pass the Bar Exam. Save the fine points for when you become a specialized practicing attorney or a law professor.
Secured Transactions UCC 9 & Negotiable Instruments UCC 3 (Essay):
As for the UCC Sections 3 and 9, these subjects can be considered specialized areas of Contract Law. The Florida Bar Examiners have tested Contract Law at least thirteen times on the Essay portion of the Exam. On the July 2005 Exam, the Examiners tested Section 2 of the UCC in Essay form. That particular Question was a sub-issue of Contract Law. As such, we are inclined to believe that Secured Transactions and Negotiable Instruments will be tested in Essay form. If you are interested in reading some UCC 3 and 9 Essay Questions and so-called “Model Analysis”, check out the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE) (see, e.,g., the 2007 Exam).
Florida Dependency Law (Essay):
We believe that Dependency Law would be tested in Essay format as opposed to Multiple-Choice format, given that Florida Dependency Law is a facet of Florida Family Law. Family Law has appeared at least ten times on the Essay portion of the Exam; to our knowledge, it has not been tested on the Multiple-Choice portion of the Exam. (Note: For what it is worth, Family Law was tested on the February 2013 Florida Bar Exam.)
Florida Juvenile Delinquency Law (Possibly MC, not sure):
As for Juvenile Delinquency Law, this subject is a facet of Florida Criminal Law and Procedure, and Constitutional Procedure. Quite frankly, we are not sure how to call that one. On the one hand, it seems to be an Essay subject; on the other hand, it seems to be a Multiple-Choice subject. For instance, we could see the Examiners making Juvenile Delinquency some type of sub-issue for Family Law, which would be an Essay subject. However, we could also see Juvenile Delinquency Law as a Multiple-Choice subject, given that Criminal Law/Procedure and Constitutional Procedure are generally Multiple-Choice subjects.
We hope you find this information helpful. Please understand that our response is solely based on our opinion, and is in no way intended to be construed as statements of fact.