The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) is a collection of 30-minute essay questions and is administered by participating jurisdictions on the Tuesday before the last Wednesday in February and July of each year. The MEE offers nine questions per examination, with most jurisdictions selecting six questions from the nine.

Applicants should contact the jurisdiction where admission is being sought to ascertain whether the MEE is part of the jurisdiction’s examination. A regularly updated list of contact information for the jurisdictions appears on the Bar Admission Offices page. 

The MEE is but one of a number of measures that a board of bar examiners may use in determining competence to practice. Each jurisdiction determines its own policy with regard to the relative weight given to the MEE and other scores. Grading of the MEE is the exclusive responsibility of the jurisdiction administering the exam. Any questions about scoring procedures should be directed to the jurisdiction, not to NCBE.

New test specifications for the MEE were introduced in 2007. Nine questions are available from which jurisdictions select several to administer. Applicants should check with the jurisdiction in which they will be testing to find out whether the jurisdiction administers the MEE, and, if so, how many MEE questions are administered.

Areas of law that may be covered on the MEE include the following: Business Associations (Agency and Partnership; Corporations and Limited Liability Companies), Conflict of Laws, Constitutional Law, Contracts, Criminal Law and Procedure, Evidence, Family Law, Federal Civil Procedure, Real Property, Torts, Trusts and Estates (Decedents’ Estates; Trusts and Future Interests), and Uniform Commercial Code (Negotiable Instruments (Commercial Paper); Secured Transactions). Some questions may include issues in more than one area of law.