Rule III Board of Bar Examiners and Examination Requirements

A. Composition and Appointment The Board is appointed by the Montana Supreme Court and consists of seven members. Each member serves until a successor is appointed. B. Duties

The Board: 1. administers the Montana Uniform Bar Examination. The Uniform Bar Examination consists of: a. the Multistate Essay Examination (MEE), a three-hour essay examination consisting of questions developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners; b. the Multistate Performance Test (MPT), a three-hour examination consisting of two questions designed to test the applicant’s ability to use fundamental lawyering skills in a realistic situation; and c. the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), a six-hour multiple-choice examination developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. 2. grades the MEE and MPT. The Board may engage the services of active members of the State Bar of Montana to augment the grading performed by members of the Board if necessary. The MBE is graded by the National Conference of Bar Examiners in accordance with its established rules and procedures; 3. determines which applicants have passed the Uniform Bar Examination as provided in the Montana Board of Bar Examiners’ Rules; and 4. administers the Montana Law Seminar as provided in Rule VIII. C. Admission by Examination Requirements All applicants by examination must: 1. be certified or conditionally certified by the Commission on Character and Fitness; 2. sit for and pass all components of the Montana Uniform Bar Examination in a single examination administration;

3. pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination as provided in Rule VII; and 4. complete in-person attendance at the Montana Law Seminar as provided in Rule VIII. D. Date of Examinations The Uniform Bar Examination is administered twice annually on the dates and in the locations directed by the Board as provided in the Montana Board of Bar Examiners’ Rules. E. Deadlines for Filing Applications for Examination The application filing deadline for the July administration of the Montana Uniform Bar Examination is March 15 preceding the administration. The application filing deadline for the February administration is the preceding October 1. Applications must be postmarked or hand-delivered to the Bar Admissions Administrator on or before the applicable deadline. Late applications will not be accepted without leave from the Montana Supreme Court. If the Montana Supreme Court grants a petition for late application, a late filing fee will be charged in addition to the application fee. F. Registration Prior to administration of the Uniform Bar Examination, the Bar Admissions Administrator shall assign each applicant a number that will uniquely identify the applicant throughout the examination process. The assigned identification numbers are confidential. An identification number may not be provided to anyone other than the Bar Admissions Administrator’s authorized staff prior to the Board of Bar Examiners’ final pass/fail determination and report to the Montana Supreme Court. G. Notification of Results 1. The Board of Bar Examiners shall file a report of the Uniform Bar Examination results with the Bar Admissions Administrator. The Bar Admissions Administrator shall notify the applicants of the results by first class mail and by other means as the Board determines to be appropriate.

2. Five days following written notification to the applicants, the Bar Admissions Administrator shall file the Board of Bar Examiners’ report of the Uniform Bar Examination results with the Clerk of the Supreme Court. 3. Upon completion of the entire examination process, including the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination, the Bar Admissions Administrator shall notify the Clerk of the Supreme Court in writing of the names and addresses of the applicants to be admitted. H. Post-Examination Review The Board of Bar Examiners’ pass/fail decisions are final and not subject to additional substantive review once the report is filed with the Bar Admissions Administrator. Successful applicants may not review their examination results. Access to the MEE, MPT, and MBE examinations, point sheets and/or analysis is governed by the policies set by the National Conference of Bar Examiners and the Montana Board of Bar Examiners. In the event an unsuccessful applicant requests to review the applicant’s own Uniform Bar Examination results for purposes of preparing for reexamination, the review must be scheduled within sixty days after the date of the Administrator’s mailed notice of the results to applicants. I. Limitation on Examinations An applicant who has been unsuccessful in three attempts at the Uniform Bar Examination must petition and be given permission by the Montana Supreme Court before sitting for the examination again. The petition to the Court must include a study plan and an explanation of the steps taken and to be taken by the applicant to improve the likelihood of the applicant’s successful completion of the examination. J. Reexamination and Deferral 1. An applicant’s failure to appear for examination without first requesting a deferral in writing will result in the application being dismissed. The applicant must file a new application and pay the application filing fee for any subsequent application.

2. An applicant who, after filing an application for admission, finds that the applicant is unable to take the examination on the prescribed date or continue with the process in a timely manner may submit to the Bar Admissions Administrator a written request for deferral to the next examination. 3. An applicant applying for deferral shall file an Addendum to Application no later than twenty days prior to the deferred examination, unless an emergency circumstance warranting the deferral occurs between the deferral filing deadline and the relevant Uniform Bar Examination administration, and the late deferral application is approved by the Bar Admissions Administrator. An applicant applying for deferral shall pay a deferral fee as provided in Rule I.G.4. 4. An applicant applying for reexamination shall file an Addendum to Application no later than twenty days prior to the Uniform Bar Examination administration in which the applicant seeks reexamination. An applicant applying for reexamination shall pay all regular examination fees as provided in Rule I.G. 5. If an applicant, after requesting a deferral or failing the examination, fails to timely file an Addendum to Application, the application will be dismissed by the Bar Admissions Administrator. The Administrator shall provide written notice of the dismissal to the applicant. The applicant must file a new application and pay the application filing fee for any subsequent application. 6. After three deferrals or requests for reexamination, an applicant must submit a new application and pay the application filing fee in addition to regular examination fees provided in Rule I.G. K. Transferring Scores Obtained on Earlier Examinations 1. Beginning with the July 2013 Montana Uniform Bar Examination, a Montana applicant’s score on the Uniform Bar Examination earned in

another jurisdiction may be accepted and considered valid for a period of three years from the administration of the exam in which the score was earned as provided in Rule IV. Uniform Bar Examination scores must be certified by the National Conference of Bar Examiners to the Montana Bar Admissions Administrator with a minimum passing combined scaled score of 266. Examinees who wish to have their certified Uniform Bar Examination scores transferred to other jurisdictions must submit a request to the National Conference of Bar Examiners for an official score transcript and meet all other requirements set forth in Rule IV. 2. All components of the Uniform Bar Examination must be administered in a single exam cycle. Scores from any one component of the Uniform Bar Examination may not be transferred from another jurisdiction or carried forward to any subsequent examination. An applicant must sit for all components of the Uniform Bar Examination in the same administration to gain admission to the State Bar of Montana.