News

In June 2005, in an attempt to debunk rumors that had been circulating throughout the law schools, the Minnesota Board of Law Examiners posted a message on its Web site clarifying the scoring and importance of the essay portion of the Minnesota State Bar Examination: "Students have recently asked whether an examinee who achieves a high Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) score on the Minnesota Bar Exam will automatically pass the entire exam without regard to his or her essay and MPT scores. The answer is 'no.' No matter how high a score an examinee achieves on the MBE, the examinee will not pass unless the examinee achieves enough points on the essays and performance question portion of the exam so that the combined total score meets or exceeds 260. Because Minnesota uses a 'compensatory' method for combining scores, a relatively low score achieved on one part of the exam can be compensated for by achieving a higher score on the other part of the exam. However, an examinee must take both portions of the exam and must score points on both the MBE and the essay portions of the exam in order to meet or exceed a score of 260 and pass the examination." (see http://www.ble.state.mn.us/)