The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is a 120-minute, 60-question, multiple-choice examination designed to measure the knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct. It was developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and was first administered in 1980. It is a prerequisite or corequisite to the

bar examination A bar examination is an examination administered by the bar association of a jurisdiction that a lawyer must pass in order to be admitted to the bar of that jurisdiction. Australia Administering bar exams is the responsibility of the bar associat ...

for admission as an

attorney at law Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Unit ...

in 49 of the 50

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, as well as the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

Guam Guam ( ; ) is an island that is an Territories of the United States, organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. Guam's capital is Hagåtña, Guam, Hagåtña, and the most ...

, the

Northern Mariana Islands The Northern Mariana Islands, officially the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), is an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territory and Commonwealth (U.S. insular area), commonwealth of the United States consistin ...

, the

U.S. Virgin Islands The United States Virgin Islands, officially the Virgin Islands of the United States, are a group of Caribbean islands and a territory of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located ...

, and the

Republic of Palau Palau, officially the Republic of Palau, is an island country in the Micronesia subregion of Oceania in the western Pacific Ocean. The Republic of Palau consists of approximately 340 islands and is the western part of the Caroline Islands, w ...

. Of the 56 jurisdictions within the United States, only

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

, and

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

do not use the MPRE. However, these jurisdictions still incorporate local professional responsibility rules in their respective bar examinations.

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

waive the MPRE requirement for bar candidates who have earned a grade of "C" and "C−", respectively, or better in a law school course in professional responsibility.

Structure

As of the October 2012 administration, the test consists of 60 substantive questions. Only 50 are scored; the other 10 (randomly scattered throughout the exam) are used for experimental purposes. The raw score is converted to a "scaled score" based on the measured difficulty of the version of the test taken; the scaled score is used to determine passing scores. Scaled scores range between 50 and 150, with a median very close to 100. The questions are based on th
ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
and th

as well as controlling constitutional decisions and generally accepted principles established in leading federal and state cases and in procedural and evidentiary rules (courtesy American Bar Association website and National Conference of Bar Examiners MPRE website). State rules and laws which may or may not differ from the ABA rules are not tested.

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

uses the MPRE even though it is the only jurisdiction that has not adopted either of the two sets of professional responsibility rules proposed by the

American Bar Association The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...

– and California rules differ from the ABA rules in many ways. Despite California being the only state to not adopt the ABA's Model Rules of Professional Conduct or Judicial Conduct, it is one of the two states with the highest score requirement in the country. The MPRE differs from the remainder of the bar examination in two ways: * Virtually all states allow bar exam candidates to take the MPRE prior to graduation from law school, as opposed to the bar examination itself which, in the great majority of states, may only be taken after receipt of a J.D. or L.L.M. from an ABA-accredited law school. * A bar exam candidate's MPRE score is accepted in every jurisdiction that requires it, unlike the other components of the bar examination.

Passing score

The passing score varies between jurisdictions. The lowest score accepted by any jurisdiction is 75 (several). The highest required by any state is 86 (

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

and

). All states have a window either preceding or surrounding the bar exam outside of which MPRE scores are not recognized. Passing Scores (in 2021) by State: * Michigan increased to 85, starting with those individuals taking the July 2009 bar examination: https://web.archive.org/web/20091215134646/http://courts.michigan.gov/supremecourt/BdofLawExaminers/FAQ.htm * West Virginia increased a passing score to 80 effective January 1, 2013: http://www.courtswv.gov/legal-community/court-rules/Orders/2012/11-20-2012Admission-Prac-of-Law.pdf * Wyoming increased from 70 to 85, starting with those individuals taking the 2013 MPRE: https://web.archive.org/web/20120802160635/http://www.wyomingbar.org/pdf/admissions/Frequently_Asked_Admissions_Questions.pdf *Maryland began requiring the MPRE as of March 1, 2019: http://www.ncbex.org/exams/mpre/

References

External links

MPRE official Information
– National Conference of Bar Examiners

– ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct

– ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct {{Authority control Legal profession exams Standardized tests in the United States Legal ethics