The state of Ohio uses a 3 day exam format that consists of the Multistate Performance Test (“MPT”), Ohio Essays and the Multistate Bar Exam (“MBE”). State law is tested.
Ohio Essays
The Ohio bar exam consists of 12 state essays. The state essay topics are as follows and should be completed within 30 minutes: (you can find some samples here)
- Business Associations (Agency, Partnership, Corporations)
- Civil Procedure
- Commercial Transactions (Commercial Paper/Secured Transactions)
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts
- Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure
- Evidence
- Legal Ethics
- Property
- Torts
- Wills
MPT (Multi-State Performance Test)
Ohio Bar Exam also includes two (2) MPT performance tests which occur in the second half of the first day of the exam after an afternoon lunch period which follows the essay testing.
MBE (Multiple Choice Bar Exam)
Ohio Bar Exam tests (MBE) is conducted on the second day of the two-day test and consists of a 6-hour time period. Each time period is divided in half so you have 100 questions to answer in the first three hours, followed by a lunch break and then 3 more hours to complete the second 100 questions for a total of 200 questions. The Ohio bar exam test 7 subjects:
- Civil Procedure
- Constitutional Law
- Contracts (Common Law, Sales/UCC Art. 2)
- Criminal Law & Procedure
- Evidence
- Real Property
- Torts
Bar Exam Testing Schedule
Day 1
- First three hours = 6 Ohio Essays
- Lunch Break
- Second 3 hours = 2 MPTs
Day 2
- Morning first 3 hours – MBE Part 1 (100 questions)
- Lunch Break
- Afternoon second 3 hours – MBE Part 2 (100 questions)
Day 3
- 3 hours = 6 Ohio Essays
Grading
Ohio bar exam final scores are based on a scalable score. The minimum score to pass is 405. Essays and MPTs are graded on scale of 0-7. The written portion of the bar exam is scaled to the MBE. The essays are nearly twice the weight of the MBE. Passage rates can be found here.
Exam Date Results
Feb. 21-22, 20XX May. 11, 20XX
July 24-25, 20XX Oct. 13, 20XX
Illinois Bar Exam Weighted Scores
| MPT | 13% |
| Ohio Essays | 53% |
| MBE | 33.3% |