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3L here. So I didn't get the score required to pass the MPRE for the Texas bar (85)

Question: I've heard that you have up to two years from when you take the bar to pass the MPRE in Texas - Is this correct? Does this mean that if I pass the Texas bar in July, I can still practice without having passed the MPRE yet? Can I wait to take the MPRE next year and still practice law before then?

Can’t answer your question(s) since I don’t know anyone who failed the MPRE. What the hell happened?

You have to pass the MPRE before you can be licensed to practice law in Texas, and you can take the MPRE after you take the Texas bar. This is in contrast to Massachusetts where you must pass the MPRE before you can attempt to take the bar. So if you were a 3L in MA, you'd be up shit creek right now. As it stands, take the MPRE in August, so you don't have your formal admittance to the Texas bar delayed.


Source: http://www.ble.state.tx.us/Rules/NewRules/Rule05.pdf

The Rules governing admission to the Bar for Texas (Rule V: PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY EXAMINATION REQUIREMENT) "No person, whether an Applicant under Rule IX or under Rule XIII, shall be issued a license to practice law in Texas until such Applicant has furnished to the Board evidence that (s)he has passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scaled score of 85. A passing MPRE score is valid for five years from the date the MPRE is taken." --> see here: http://attorneys.uslegal.com/admission- ... sion-laws/

Baylor's site, http://www.baylor.edu/law/cs/index.php?id=74692, confirms that: "Applicants for the Texas bar must pass the MPRE before they are eligible to be licensed."

But this site gives a conflicting report (http://www.lawyeredu.org/texas.html) which says "you must pass the MPRE no later than two years after you pass the Texas Bar Exam or you will not be allowed to practice law in Texas." So you may need to do some further digging on the issue to confirm.

As to passing that blasted test, I'd recommend retaking it in July. You won't be any less busy when you start practicing. Just take all the practice tests on Kaplan/Barbri etc (should take less than 1 week). If you can get 70%+ on those, you'll pass easily on the MPRE.

ETA: Scooped, but now that I read the other post, I realize that you have 2 years after passing the bar to take the MPRE (and that score can last 5 years), but you still have to take it BEFORE you can get licensed.

Dafaq wrote:Can’t answer your question(s) since I don’t know anyone who failed the MPRE. What the hell happened?

No clue. Got a B+ in PR last year, watched Barbi lectures, and did okay on Barbi practice exams. Needed an 85 and got an 82. Sucks.

retake

patogordo wrote:retake

I feel your pain . . . got an 84. Didn't study so only myself to blame. It will be fun to take one week after the bar. Definitely going to take this more serious next time and take the bar very serious out of paranoia.

If it makes you feel better, I got an 84 my first try when I needed an 85 and it really sucked, mainly because of the "nobody can fail the MPRE" jerk making me feel guilty. Honestly I think my natural demeanor is to be chill, so if someone tells me not to worry about something, I end up not worrying/trying hard enough at all. Idk. But my second try, I skipped lectures, skimmed a Kaplan outline, and drilled 300-400 practice questions (all 3 BarBri practice tests and about 100-200 Themis questions after that), watching patterns, analyzing what I got wrong. And during the actual test I worked as slowly as possible and stayed the full 2 hours. At the end of the day it's about how well you can recognize tricky multiple choice scenarios, so just practice that and you're golden.

texaslawstudent111 wrote:3L here. So I didn't get the score required to pass the MPRE for the Texas bar (85)

Question: I've heard that you have up to two years from when you take the bar to pass the MPRE in Texas - Is this correct? Does this mean that if I pass the Texas bar in July, I can still practice without having passed the MPRE yet? Can I wait to take the MPRE next year and still practice law before then?

You need to take the August '14 MPRE. there's absolutely no way you can practice law in Texas without passing the MPRE.