WHAT’S NEW?

1. Order of General Bar Essay Exam (Day 1)  (Effective February 26, 2013)

Day 1(Essay Day) of the Maryland General Bar Exam will be administered as follows:

• AM Session- MPT plus MD Essay Questions 1-3
• PM Session- MD Essay Questions 4-10

2. Additional Time Added to General Bar Essay Exam (Day 1)  (Effective February 28, 2012)

Day 1 (Essay Day) of The Maryland General Bar Exam will be extended to add five minutes of examination time in the AM session and fifteen minutes of examination time in the PM session.  Hence, both the AM and PM sessions for the Essay Day (Day 1) will be three hours each in duration.

Please note: The recommended time allocation per question remains unchanged: 25 minutes for each MD essay question and 90 minutes for the MPT question.  Applicants may use their discretion as to how much time they choose to allocate to any particular exam question.

3.  Board Rule 5(c)(iv) Changed for Weight of Multistate Performance Test (MPT) (Effective February 28, 2012)

The weight of the MPT will be 1.5 times the weight of a standard Maryland essay question.  The written test raw score equation will change to the following under Board Rule 5(c)(iv):

Written Test raw score = Sum of Board=s Essay test raw scores + (MPT raw score x 1.5)

Subsection (v) will remain unchanged which provides for the conversion of the raw score into a scaled score commensurate to the scale of measurement used on the MBE to adjust for possible differences in average question difficulty across administrations of the examination.

4.  Improvement for Mac Users with ExamSoft (Day 1: Laptop Use) (Effective: May 1, 2011)

CBT provider, Examsoft Worldwide, now offers a native Mac version of its laptop testing application, SofTest, starting with the July bar exam.  This means that Bootcamp and Windows will not be required for Mac users.  For more information, please visit www.examsoft.com.

5.  24 Month Application Rule for General Bar Exam (Effective: November 1, 2010)

For Applicants who have previously submitted an Application with the State Board of Law Examiners, a new Application shall be required every two (2) years accompanied by a $70 update fee.  This update is necessary to ensure that all information submitted to the State Board of Law Examiners and forwarded to the Character Committee is current.

6.  Part I Application Certification or Official Undergraduate Transcript Required (Effective: November 1, 2010)

Part I of the Application must be an original document containing the original signature of both the applicant and certifying authority including the school stamped seal.  Please note that many law schools will not certify your Part I on behalf of your undergraduate institution.  Thus, you will, in most cases, have to contact your undergraduate institution to complete the certification requirement. Our office does not accept faxes, emails, photocopies, and/or scan copies of the Part I.

If you are substituting an official transcript in lieu of Part I (F‑5), you must have the undergraduate institution mail directly to the State Board of Law Examiners Office an official transcript conferring your undergraduate degree.  You will be notified via eBar notification if our office receives your official transcript without your bar application.

CAUTION: You will not be able to file your application without a certified Part I and/or official transcript in our office. 

DEFINITIONS:  Applicants must meet the requirement for pre-legal education as mandated in Bar Admission Rule 3 (See also ABA Standard 502 and Interpretation 502-1AOfficial transcript@ means a transcript certified by the issuing school ...delivered ... in a sealed envelope with seal intact.)

7. Electronic Application for General Bar and Out of State Attorneys (Effective: Oct. 5, 2010)

The Maryland General Bar Exam application and petition (including retakes) and the Out-of-State Attorney petition are now on-line (AeBar@) for the February 2011 bar exam and all subsequent exams. You are required to complete and submit the on-line application and/or petition as well as submit hard copies to the Board's office with original signatures, notarization and supplemental documents as necessary.  The web address for eBar is https://jportal.mdcourts.gov/ebarapp/login.do?tmpl=g

The filing deadlines have not changed (December 20 for February exam and May 20 for July exam). Carefully follow the On-line Application Instructions as you complete your electronic application.  There are some fields in the application and petition which will need to be filled out by hand, as well as the need for original signatures and notarization.  Applicants will also still be required to submit supporting documentation with their application and petitions along with the required fees.

8.  Good Cause for Late Filers (Effective April 1, 2010)

Applicants should submit Applications and Petitions early.  This will give time for corrections to be made, if needed, before the deadline.  Applications and petitions are not Afiled@ until they are submitted and complete.  The Applications and Petitions must be received in the State Board of Law Examiners Office.  The deadline is not a postmark date. The filing deadlines are close of business (4:30 PM) on December 20 (for February exam) and May 20 (for July exam).

If an Applicant misses the deadline, a good cause request must be made to the Secretary of the State Board of Law Examiners.  The good cause request must address each of the four factors listed in Board Rule 2 and be signed by the Applicant.  Supporting documentation should be provided to support the assertions made in the good cause request.  Documents would include, but are not limited to, travel documents, health documents, employment documents, and affidavits from attesting witnesses.