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University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law
The urban public law school with a small liberal arts feel
Topics and Courses
Graduation from law school does not automatically confer a license to practice law in most states, including Missouri and Kansas. In order to become licensed to practice law in most jurisdictions, law school graduates must sit for and pass a comprehensive, two- or three-day battery of tests known as a "bar examination" in addition to undergoing a very detailed character and fitness screening.
Each applicant should obtain information on the character and fitness screening and other qualifications for admission to the bar in the state in which the applicant intends to practice. Information regarding law student registration and bar admissions in Missouri is made available to all first-year students. Detailed information regarding admission to the Missouri Bar is provided on the website of the Missouri
Board of Law Examiners. Additional materials can be found elsewhere on
this site.
Students interested in maximizing their chances of passing the Missouri -- or some other -- bar examination frequently enroll in elective courses that cover topics regularly tested on the bar examination. The table below lists the subject areas -- "Bar Exam Topics" -- routinely found on the Missouri and Kansas bar examinations, followed by the names of actual UMKC course offerings that address those subjects. Based on their review of both published questions from previous bar examinations and published subject matter outlines (see below), members of the Law School faculty have attached percentages to some of the course listings. These are simply rough estimates of the scope of specified "Bar Exam Topics" that are likely to be covered in a particular course. (Note: these are approximations, only. Coverage may vary substantially from one test to another.)
Missouri Bar Examination
The first six topics are addressed both in the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a 200-question multiple choice test written by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and in the Multistate Essay Exam (MEE), also written by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. The next thirteen topics typically are only tested as part of the essay component of the Bar Exam. Questions on the first ten topics may come from the MEE or may be drafted by the Missouri Board of Law Examiners. Additional essay questions on the next three topics are written by the Missouri Board of Law Examiners (designated "MO Essay"). The essay portion of the exam will contain the Multistate Performance Test (MPT) authored by the National Conference.
Subject matter outlines,
sample questions from past exams, and model answers for the six MBE and ten MEE topics, as well as the MPT, are available on the
NCBE website. The Missouri Board of Law Examiners does not release subject
matter outlines for its Missouri Essay questions, but it does publish sample questions and answers from past exams on the
MBLE website.
| Bar Exam Topics |
UMKC
Course Offerings |
Semester | | Contracts (MBE) |
Contracts I and II |
First year |
| Criminal
Law (MBE) |
Criminal Law |
First year |
| |
Criminal Procedure I |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Criminal Procedure II (25%) |
Spring |
| Constitutional Law (MBE) |
Con Law I (25%) |
Spring |
| |
Con Law II (45%) |
Spring
| |
|
Con Law III (1st Amend.) (30%) |
Fall |
| Evidence (MBE) |
Evidence |
Spring | |
Real Property (MBE) |
Property
I and II |
First year | | |
Real Estate Transactions |
Fall | | Torts (MBE) |
Torts |
First year | | |
Advanced Torts |
Spring | | Agency and Partnership (MEE) |
Business Organizations |
Fall |
| Commercial Paper (MEE) |
Commercial Transactions* |
Spring | | Conflict of Laws (MEE) |
Conflict of Laws |
Spring |
|
|
Civil Procedure II |
Second Year |
| Corporations (MEE) |
Business Organizations |
Fall | | Decedents' Estates (MEE) |
Estates and Trusts |
Fall/Winter | |
Family Law (MEE) |
Family Law |
Fall/Winter | | Federal Civil Procedure (MEE) |
Civil Procedure I and II |
First/Second Year | | |
Federal
Jurisdiction |
Spring |
| |
Complex Litigation |
Spring |
| Sales (MEE)
|
Sales and Leasing* |
Fall | | Secured Transactions (MEE) |
Secured Transactions* |
Fall/Spring |
| Trusts and
Future Interests (MEE) |
Property I and
II |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Estates and Trusts |
First Year | | Missouri Administrative Law (MO Essay) |
Administrative Law |
Fall/Spring |
| Remedies
(MO Essay) |
Remedies |
Spring | | Missouri Civil Procedure (MO Essay) |
Civil Procedure I and II |
First/Second Year |
| |
Missouri Civil Procedure |
Spring |
| Multistate Performance Test (MPT) |
Civil Procedure I and II |
First/Second Year |
| |
Advanced Legal Writing: Litigation Drafting |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Advanced Legal Writing: Practical Skills |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Advanced Legal Writing: Contract Drafting |
Fall/Spring |
| * While none of these three classes --
Commercial Transactions, Sales and Leasing, Secured Transactions -- is required by itself, one of the three must be taken
to satisfy the Law School's 'UCC' graduation requirement. |
Kansas Bar Examination
The first six topics are addressed both in the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), a 200-question multiple choice test written by the National Conference of Bar Examiners, and in the essay examination written by the Kansas Board of Law Examiners. The next thirteen topics typically are only tested as part of the essay component of the Bar Exam.
Subject matter outlines, sample questions from past exams, and model answers for the six MBE topics are available on the
NCBE website. The Kansas Board of Law Examiners does not release subject matter outlines for its essay questions.
| Bar Exam Topics |
UMKC
Course Offerings |
Semester | | Contracts/Sales (MBE) |
Contracts I and II |
First year |
| Criminal
Law (MBE) |
Criminal Law |
First year |
| |
Criminal Procedure I |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Criminal Procedure II (25%) |
Spring |
| Constitutional Law (MBE) |
Con Law I (25%) |
Spring |
| |
Con Law II (45%) |
Spring
| |
|
Con Law III (1st Amend.) (30%) |
Fall |
| Evidence (MBE) |
Evidence |
Spring | |
Real Property (MBE) |
Property
I and II |
First year | | |
Real Estate Transactions |
Fall | | Torts (MBE) |
Torts |
First year | | |
Advanced Torts |
Spring | | Personal Property (KS Essay) |
Property I and II |
First Year |
| Domestic Relations and Family Law (KS Essay) |
Family Law |
Fall/Spring |
| Noncorporate Business Organizations (KS Essay) |
Business Organizations |
Fall |
| Agency and Employment (KS Essay) |
Business Organizations |
Fall | | UCC and Commercial Transactions (KS Essay) |
Commercial Transactions* |
Fall/Spring |
| |
Sales
and Leasing* |
Fall/Spring |
|
|
Secured Transactions* |
Fall/Spring | | Legal Ethics (KS Essay) |
Professional Responsibility |
Fall/Spring | | Corporations (KS Essay) |
Business Organizations |
Fall |
| Kansas and Federal Civil
Procedure (KS Essay) |
Civil
Procedure I and II |
First/Second Year Fall/Spring |
| |
Federal Jurisdiction |
Spring |
| |
Complex Litigation |
Spring |
|
Wills (KS Essay) |
Estates and Trusts |
Fall/Spring | | Secured Transactions (MEE) |
Secured Transactions* |
Fall/Spring |
| Trusts and Administration (KS Essay) |
Property I and
II |
First Year |
| |
Estates and Trusts |
Fall/Spring | | Conflict of Laws (KS Essay) |
Conflict of Laws |
Spring |
| |
Civil Procedure II |
Second Year |
| * While none of these three classes --
Commercial Transactions, Sales and Leasing, Secured Transactions -- is required by itself, one of the three must be taken
to satisfy the Law School's 'UCC' graduation requirement. |
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