Passing the Texas Bar Exam is most certainly a noteworthy feat. It's a
way to show that you're a distinguished practice of Texas law, and is something
that many prospective clients look for when hiring a lawyer. Texas lawyers like
Marshall
Davis Brown, Jr. and his partner John C. Pavlas have both passed
this bar, but any lawyer will tell you it's an extremely long and taxing
process. Here's a brief overview.
On Day
One… you'll have to take the Texas Procedure and Evidence exam and the
Multistate Practice Test. The Procedure and Evidence exam will cover both civil
and criminal procedure and evidence. The MPT will provide realistic courtroom
situations and is meant to determine your skills as a beginning lawyer by
asking you to do several things: deciding relevant from irrelevant materials
and facts; analyzing cases, statutes, and materials for the purpose of law;
apply the law to resolve an issue; professionally resolve ethical issues if
necessary; demonstrate writing skills as a means of communication. These are
two ninety-minute exams to be taken back-to-back, and comprise 20% of your
final grade.
On Day
Two... you'll take the actual Multistate Bar Exam. This is a significant part of
the test, and is worth 40% of your total grade. Taking this test, you'll start
in the early morning and answer 100 questions over the course of three hours.
You'll then be given a 90 minute break, after which you'll resume test-taking
for another three hours and 100 questions.
And day
three… many consider this the most stressful day, but, of course, it's entirely
dependent on your test-taking and essay writing skills. The third day is set
aside entirely for the Texas law essays, which are another 40% of your total
grade. It's a similar schedule to day two, but rather than 100 questions in
each three-hour session, you'll write 6 essays prior to lunch and 6 essays
after for a total of 12.