The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE)
From the web site of the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE)
The purpose of the NCBE Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) is to measure the examinee's knowledge and understanding of established standards related to a lawyer's professional conduct; thus, the MPRE is not a test to determine an individual's personal ethical values. Lawyers serve in many capacities: for example, as judges, as advocates, counselors, and in other roles. The law governing the conduct of lawyers in these roles is applied in disciplinary and bar admission procedures, and by courts in dealing with issues of appearance, representation, privilege, disqualification, contempt or other censure, and in lawsuits seeking to establish liability for malpractice, and other civil or criminal wrongs committed by a lawyer while acting in a professional capacity.
The law governing the conduct of lawyers is based on the disciplinary rules of professional conduct currently articulated in the American Bar Association (ABA) Model Rules of Professional Conduct, and the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct, as well as controlling constitutional decisions and generally accepted principles established in leading federal and state cases and in procedural and evidentiary rules.
The MPRE consists of 60 multiple-choice test items. These test items are followed by 10 Test Center Review items that request the examinee's reactions to the testing conditions. The examination is two hours and five minutes in length.
● Test items covering judicial ethics measure applications of the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct (CJC).
● Other items will deal with discipline of lawyers by state disciplinary authorities; in these items, the correct answer will be governed by the current ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC).
● The remaining items, outside the disciplinary context, are designed to measure an understanding of the generally accepted rules, principles, and common law regulating the legal profession in the United States; in these items, the correct answer will be governed by the view reflected in a majority of cases, statutes, or regulations on the subject.
● To the extent that questions of professional responsibility arise in the context of procedural or evidentiary issues, such as the availability of litigation sanctions or the scope of the attorney-client evidentiary privilege, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Evidence will be assumed to apply, unless otherwise stated.
● As a general rule, particular local statutes or rules of court will not be tested in the MPRE. However, a specific test question may include the text of a local statute or rule that must be considered when answering that question.
● Amendments to the MRPC or CJC will be reflected in the examination no earlier than one year after the approval of the amendments by the American Bar Association.
MPRE Subject Matter Outline
The following subject matter outline indicates the examination's scope of coverage and the approximate percentage of items that are included in each major area. The outline is not intended to list every aspect of a topic mentioned. Although the test items for each MPRE are developed from these categories, each topic is not necessarily tested on each examination.
1. Regulation of the Legal Profession (8-12%)
1. Inherent Powers of Courts to Regulate Lawyers
2. Admission to the Profession
3. Regulation after Admission
4. Maintaining Professional Standards--Peer Responsibility
5. Unauthorized Practice of Law
6. Fee Division with a Non-Lawyer
7. Law Firm and Other Forms of Practice
8. Contractual Restrictions on Practice
2. The Client-Lawyer Relationship (10-14%)
1. Acceptance or Rejection of Clients
2. Scope, Objective, and Means of the Representation
3. Within the Bounds of the Law
4. Withdrawal
5. Client-Lawyer Contracts
6. Fees
3. Privilege and Confidentiality (6-10%)
1. Lawyer-Client Privilege and the Work Product Doctrine
2. Professional Obligation of Confidentiality
3. Client-Authorized Disclosure
4. Exceptions to Confidentiality
5. Special Problems
4. Independent Professional Judgment--Conflicts of Interest (12-16%)
1. As Affected by Lawyer's Personal Interest
2. Lawyer as Witness
3. Acquiring an Interest in Litigation
4. Entering into Business Transactions with Client
5. Conflicting Interests--Prospective Clients, Current Clients and Former Clients
6. Influence by Persons Other than Client
7. Imputed Disqualification
8. Lawyer's Service as Arbitrator, Mediator, or Judge
5. Competence, Legal Malpractice, and Other Civil Liability (8-12%)
1. Civil Liability, Including Malpractice
2. Maintaining Competence
3. Acceptance of Employment
4. Exercise of Diligence and Care
5. Limiting Liability for Malpractice
6. Litigation and Other Forms of Advocacy (12-16%)
1. Authority to Act for Client
2. Civility, Courtesy, and Decorum
3. Conduct in the Course of Litigation--Claims, Defenses, Testimony, and Evidence
4. Client Fraud and Perjury by a Client or Witness
5. Communications in Course of Representation
7. Different Roles of the Lawyer (4-8%)
1. Lawyer as Advisor
2. Lawyer as Evaluator
3. Lawyer as Negotiator
4. Lawyer as Arbitrator, Mediator, or Other Third-Party Neutral
5. Special Obligations of the Lawyer in Public Service
6. Appearances before Legislative Bodies
8. Safekeeping Property and Funds of Clients and Others (4-8%)
1. Lawyer as Trustee of Funds of Client or Third Persons
2. Lawyer as Custodian of Property of Client or Third Persons
3. Disputed Claims
9. Communication About Legal Services (6-10%)
1. Public Communications about Services
2. Referrals
3. Group Legal Services
4. Direct Contact With Prospective Clients (Solicitation)
5. Fields of Practice--Limitations of Practice and Specialization
10. Lawyers and the Legal System (2-6%)
1. Lawyer Activity in Improving the Legal System
2. Impropriety Incident to Public Service
11. Judicial Ethics (6-10%)
1. Duty to Uphold the Integrity and Independence of the Judiciary
2. Duty to Avoid Impropriety and the Appearance of Impropriety
3. Duties of Impartiality and Diligence
4. Activities to Improve the Legal System
5. Extra-Judicial Activities
6. Political Activity of Judges
7. Candidate for Judicial Office