Ohio Bar Exam (Uniform Bar Examination) — Questions and Answers

Question 1: Under Ohio Civ. R. 11, an attorney's signature on a pleading, motion, or other document certifies that:

The document is not filed for improper purposes and the claims are warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument (Correct answer)
All facts alleged are supported by sworn testimony
The attorney is licensed to practice in Ohio
The attorney has personally investigated all factual allegations

Correct answer: The document is not filed for improper purposes and the claims are warranted by existing law or a nonfrivolous argument

Ohio Civ. R. 11 requires that a signing attorney certify the document is not filed for improper purposes (harassment, delay, cost), the legal contentions are warranted by law or a good-faith argument, and factual allegations have evidentiary support.

Question 2: Which constitutional doctrine limits federal courts to deciding only actual 'cases or controversies,' requiring parties to have standing?

Article III Justiciability (Correct answer)
Preemption Doctrine
Political Question Doctrine
Abstention Doctrine

Correct answer: Article III Justiciability

Article III of the Constitution restricts federal judicial power to actual cases or controversies, meaning a plaintiff must demonstrate injury in fact, causation, and redressability to have standing to sue.

Question 3: In Ohio, when does a child support obligation generally terminate?

When the child moves out of the residential parent's home
Automatically at age 21 in all cases
Only upon court order after a termination hearing in every case
When the child turns 18, or upon high school graduation if still attending, but no later than age 19 (Correct answer)

Correct answer: When the child turns 18, or upon high school graduation if still attending, but no later than age 19

Ohio child support generally ends at age 18 but continues while the child attends high school full time, up to a maximum of age 19, absent disability or agreement otherwise.

Question 4: Owner promises to pay a builder upon the architect's certificate of completion. The architect unjustifiably and in bad faith withholds the certificate although the work is complete. What result?

The contract is void for failure of condition
The builder cannot recover until a certificate issues
The builder may recover only in quantum meruit from the architect
The condition is excused and the owner must pay (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The condition is excused and the owner must pay

A condition is excused when its nonoccurrence results from bad faith or wrongful prevention, so the owner's payment duty becomes due.

Question 5: Under substantive due process, what level of scrutiny applies to government interference with a fundamental right?

Intermediate scrutiny
Strict scrutiny (Correct answer)
Deferential review
Rational basis

Correct answer: Strict scrutiny

When a law burdens a fundamental right—such as voting, travel, or privacy interests—courts apply strict scrutiny, requiring the law to be narrowly tailored to achieve a compelling government interest.

Question 6: What is specific performance as a contract remedy?

A performance evaluation of contract compliance
A court order requiring the breaching party to perform their contractual obligations (Correct answer)
A penalty clause in the contract
A monetary payment calculated at a specific rate

Correct answer: A court order requiring the breaching party to perform their contractual obligations

Specific performance is an equitable remedy ordering the breaching party to actually perform their obligations, typically available when monetary damages are inadequate and the subject matter is unique.

Question 7: A seller contracts to deliver 100 chairs by June 1. On May 15, the seller delivers 100 chairs, 10 of which are scratched. Under the UCC perfect tender rule, what may the buyer do?

Reject the whole, accept the whole, or accept any commercial units and reject the rest (Correct answer)
Only reject the entire shipment
Only accept the shipment and sue for damages
Nothing, because the defect is not material

Correct answer: Reject the whole, accept the whole, or accept any commercial units and reject the rest

Under UCC 2-601, if goods fail in any respect to conform, the buyer may reject all, accept all, or accept any commercial units and reject the rest.

Question 8: The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits government from doing which of the following?

Making laws respecting an establishment of religion (Correct answer)
Preventing religious groups from participating in public life
Requiring clergy to obtain a government license
Funding any religious institution under any circumstances

Correct answer: Making laws respecting an establishment of religion

The Establishment Clause prohibits Congress (and through incorporation, the states) from making any law respecting an establishment of religion, preventing government from officially endorsing or coercing religious belief.

Question 9: Under Ohio's speedy trial statute, a person charged with a felony must generally be brought to trial within:

270 days of arrest, with each day in jail solely on the pending charge counting as three days (Correct answer)
180 days of indictment with no triple-count provision
90 days of arrest regardless of custody status
One year of arraignment

Correct answer: 270 days of arrest, with each day in jail solely on the pending charge counting as three days

R.C. 2945.71 requires felony trial within 270 days, and the triple-count provision credits three days for each day held in jail solely on the pending charge.

Question 10: A buyer and seller sign a fully integrated written contract for the sale of land. The buyer seeks to introduce evidence of a prior oral agreement that the seller would also remove an old barn. Is the evidence admissible?

No, because the parol evidence rule bars prior agreements that contradict or supplement a fully integrated writing (Correct answer)
No, because the Statute of Frauds bars all oral evidence about land
Yes, because oral agreements are always admissible to explain a writing
Yes, because the parol evidence rule applies only to sales of goods

Correct answer: No, because the parol evidence rule bars prior agreements that contradict or supplement a fully integrated writing

When a writing is a complete integration, the parol evidence rule bars evidence of prior or contemporaneous agreements offered to add to or vary its terms.

Question 11: A plaintiff offers a properly authenticated photocopy of a signed contract. The defendant objects, demanding the original under the best evidence rule. No genuine question exists about the original's authenticity. Should the copy be admitted?

Yes, but only if the original is proven destroyed
No, because the best evidence rule always requires the original
No, because contracts must be proved by originals
Yes, because a duplicate is admissible to the same extent as the original absent a genuine authenticity question (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Yes, because a duplicate is admissible to the same extent as the original absent a genuine authenticity question

Rule 1003 makes duplicates admissible to the same extent as originals unless there is a genuine question about the original's authenticity or admitting the duplicate would be unfair.

Question 12: In Ohio, the doctrine of collateral estoppel (issue preclusion) prevents relitigation of an issue when:

The new claim arises from the same facts as the prior action
The issue was actually litigated, necessarily decided, and the party against whom it is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate it (Correct answer)
The same parties are involved in a new lawsuit
The prior judgment was entered by consent of the parties

Correct answer: The issue was actually litigated, necessarily decided, and the party against whom it is asserted had a full and fair opportunity to litigate it

Ohio issue preclusion requires that the issue was actually litigated and necessarily determined in the prior proceeding and that the party against whom preclusion is sought had a full and fair opportunity to contest it.

Question 13: During jury selection, the prosecutor uses peremptory strikes to remove the only three Black venire members. The defense objects under Batson. The correct procedure is:

The prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt the strikes were race-neutral
Defense makes a prima facie showing, the prosecutor offers a race-neutral reason, and the court decides whether purposeful discrimination occurred (Correct answer)
The court must seat the struck jurors immediately
The strikes are automatically reversed because all members of one race were removed

Correct answer: Defense makes a prima facie showing, the prosecutor offers a race-neutral reason, and the court decides whether purposeful discrimination occurred

Batson establishes a three-step burden-shifting framework ending with the trial court's determination of purposeful discrimination.

Question 14: What is arbitrary and capricious review?

A review available only for criminal administrative proceedings
A standard that applies only to agency budget decisions
A type of review that gives complete deference to agencies
A standard where courts overturn agency actions taken without rational basis or adequate consideration of relevant factors (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A standard where courts overturn agency actions taken without rational basis or adequate consideration of relevant factors

Under arbitrary and capricious review, courts assess whether the agency considered relevant factors, made a clear error of judgment, or acted in a manner not based on rational analysis of the evidence.

Question 15: A fixture dispute arises when a commercial tenant removes built-in refrigeration units it installed, patching the walls afterward, before the lease ends. Was removal proper?

Yes, trade fixtures may be removed by the tenant before lease expiration if damage is repaired (Correct answer)
No, because commercial tenants have fewer rights than residential tenants
No, all attached items become the landlord's property immediately
Yes, but only with the landlord's written consent

Correct answer: Yes, trade fixtures may be removed by the tenant before lease expiration if damage is repaired

The trade-fixture doctrine lets a business tenant remove fixtures it installed for its trade before the lease term ends, provided it repairs any damage.

Question 16: An Ohio defendant sentenced to prison for a fourth-degree felony appeals, arguing his sentence is contrary to law. The appellate court reviews the sentence under R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) and may modify or vacate it only if:

The sentence exceeds the jointly recommended term
It finds any abuse of discretion in sentencing
It clearly and convincingly finds the record does not support required findings or the sentence is otherwise contrary to law (Correct answer)
It disagrees with the trial court's weighing of seriousness and recidivism factors

Correct answer: It clearly and convincingly finds the record does not support required findings or the sentence is otherwise contrary to law

R.C. 2953.08(G)(2) permits appellate modification or vacatur only upon clear and convincing evidence that the record does not support statutory findings or the sentence is contrary to law, not mere abuse-of-discretion review.

Question 17: A contract requires a builder to construct a house "to the owner's personal satisfaction." The builder completes the work competently, but the owner honestly claims dissatisfaction. For aesthetic-taste contracts, what standard applies to the owner's rejection?

An objective reasonable-person standard in all cases
Satisfaction clauses are unenforceable as illusory
The owner must accept if performance is substantial
A subjective good-faith standard, so honest dissatisfaction defeats recovery on the contract (Correct answer)

Correct answer: A subjective good-faith standard, so honest dissatisfaction defeats recovery on the contract

For contracts involving personal taste or judgment, satisfaction clauses are measured by honest, good-faith subjective dissatisfaction.

Question 18: A buyer signs a contract to purchase a home, and the house burns down before closing through no fault of either party. Under the majority doctrine of equitable conversion, who bears the loss?

The seller, because legal title had not yet passed
The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing (Correct answer)
Neither — the contract is void for impossibility
The parties split the loss equally

Correct answer: The buyer, because equitable title passed at contract signing

Under equitable conversion, the buyer holds equitable title from the moment of contracting and therefore bears the risk of loss before closing in majority jurisdictions.

Question 19: A store patron slips on spilled juice that had been on the floor for two hours. To recover against the Ohio store owner, the patron must generally show:

The owner had actual or constructive notice of the hazard (Correct answer)
Another customer caused the spill
The store lacked a written inspection policy
The hazard existed, regardless of the owner's knowledge

Correct answer: The owner had actual or constructive notice of the hazard

Premises liability for invitees requires actual or constructive notice of the hazard, which a two-hour duration can establish constructively.

Question 20: In a personal injury case, the defendant offers evidence that the plaintiff carries health insurance to suggest the plaintiff suffered no real financial loss. Is this evidence admissible?

Yes, because it is relevant to damages
Yes, because insurance evidence is only barred when offered against defendants
No, because insurance records are hearsay
No, because evidence of liability insurance rules and relevance principles bar it, and the collateral source is unfairly prejudicial (Correct answer)

Correct answer: No, because evidence of liability insurance rules and relevance principles bar it, and the collateral source is unfairly prejudicial

Evidence of a plaintiff's insurance is generally excluded as irrelevant to liability and unfairly prejudicial under Rule 403 and collateral source principles.

Question 21: Under the First Amendment, what is the primary test applied to content-neutral restrictions on speech in a public forum?

Strict scrutiny
Intermediate scrutiny (time, place, manner) (Correct answer)
Rational basis
Undue burden

Correct answer: Intermediate scrutiny (time, place, manner)

Content-neutral regulations of speech in public forums are subject to intermediate scrutiny, requiring the regulation to be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest and leave open alternative channels of communication.

Question 22: The doctrine of res judicata in Ohio bars relitigation of claims that:

Were actually litigated and decided in the prior action
Arise from the same transaction or occurrence as the prior action, whether raised or not (Correct answer)
Involve the same parties but different legal theories
Were dismissed without prejudice in a prior action

Correct answer: Arise from the same transaction or occurrence as the prior action, whether raised or not

Ohio's claim preclusion (res judicata) bars all claims arising from the same transaction or occurrence that were or could have been raised in the prior proceeding, not just those that were actually litigated.

Question 23: A joint tenant secretly conveys her interest to a third party. What is the effect on the joint tenancy in a lien-theory state like Ohio?

The conveyance is void without the co-tenant's consent
The entire joint tenancy converts to a tenancy by the entirety
The right of survivorship follows the transferred share
The conveyance severs the joint tenancy as to that share, creating a tenancy in common with the buyer (Correct answer)

Correct answer: The conveyance severs the joint tenancy as to that share, creating a tenancy in common with the buyer

An inter vivos conveyance by one joint tenant severs the joint tenancy as to that interest, leaving the grantee as a tenant in common.

Question 24: A defense witness's testimony is attacked as a recent fabrication motivated by a bribe allegedly paid last month. The defense offers the witness's consistent statement made a year before the alleged bribe. Is the prior consistent statement admissible?

No, because the statement was not made under oath
No, because prior consistent statements are always inadmissible hearsay
Yes, but only to rehabilitate, never as substantive evidence
Yes, because it predates the alleged motive to fabricate and rebuts the charge of recent fabrication (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Yes, because it predates the alleged motive to fabricate and rebuts the charge of recent fabrication

Under Rule 801(d)(1)(B), a prior consistent statement made before the alleged motive to fabricate arose is admissible both to rehabilitate and as substantive evidence.

Question 25: A party offers a business ledger through the company bookkeeper, who testifies the entries were made at or near the time of each transaction by employees with knowledge, as a regular practice. The opponent objects that the bookkeeper did not personally make the entries. Should the ledger be admitted?

Yes, but only entries the bookkeeper personally made
No, because only the person who made the entries can lay the foundation
Yes, because the foundation witness need not have made the entries personally (Correct answer)
No, because ledgers are summaries requiring the underlying documents

Correct answer: Yes, because the foundation witness need not have made the entries personally

Rule 803(6) requires foundation from the custodian or another qualified witness familiar with the record-keeping practice, not the person who made each entry.

Question 26: Officers interrogate an un-Mirandized suspect who confesses, then give Miranda warnings and have him repeat the confession as part of a deliberate two-step strategy. Under Missouri v. Seibert, the second confession is:

Inadmissible only if physical coercion was used
Admissible, because it followed valid Miranda warnings
Admissible under Oregon v. Elstad in all circumstances
Inadmissible, because midstream warnings following a deliberate question-first tactic are ineffective (Correct answer)

Correct answer: Inadmissible, because midstream warnings following a deliberate question-first tactic are ineffective

Seibert condemns the deliberate two-step interrogation technique, holding midstream warnings ineffective where they cannot reasonably convey the suspect's true choice.

Question 27: In a criminal trial, the court admits a co-defendant's confession implicating the defendant, and the co-defendant does not testify. The defendant objects. What constitutional problem does this raise?

No problem, if the jury is instructed to consider it only against the co-defendant
A Due Process violation of the presumption of innocence
A Confrontation Clause violation under Bruton because the defendant cannot cross-examine the confessing co-defendant (Correct answer)
A Fifth Amendment violation of the co-defendant's rights

Correct answer: A Confrontation Clause violation under Bruton because the defendant cannot cross-examine the confessing co-defendant

Under Bruton, admitting a non-testifying co-defendant's confession that implicates the defendant violates the Confrontation Clause even with a limiting instruction.

Question 28: Two adjacent Ohio landowners share a driveway easement created by an unrecorded written agreement. One sells to a purchaser who sees the shared paved driveway during inspection. Is the purchaser bound?

Yes, but only if she signed an assumption agreement
No, because the agreement was never recorded
Yes, because the visible use put her on inquiry notice (Correct answer)
No, because easements cannot bind bona fide purchasers

Correct answer: Yes, because the visible use put her on inquiry notice

Open and visible use of a servitude places a purchaser on inquiry notice, defeating bona fide purchaser status even without recording.

Question 29: Under Ohio Civ. R. 41(A), a plaintiff may voluntarily dismiss an action without a court order when dismissal is filed:

At any time before verdict
Only with the consent of all parties
Before the opposing party serves an answer or a motion for summary judgment, whichever is earlier (Correct answer)
Within 30 days after the complaint is filed

Correct answer: Before the opposing party serves an answer or a motion for summary judgment, whichever is earlier

Ohio Civ. R. 41(A)(1) permits a plaintiff to voluntarily dismiss without a court order by filing a notice before the opposing party serves an answer or a motion for summary judgment, whichever is earlier.

Question 30: A buyer sends a purchase order for 1,000 bolts. The seller's acknowledgment form accepts but adds an arbitration clause. Both parties are merchants and the buyer does not object. Under UCC 2-207, is the arbitration clause part of the contract?

Always, because the buyer failed to object within a reasonable time
Never, because additional terms are always mere proposals
No contract is formed because the forms do not match
It becomes part of the contract unless it materially alters the deal, the offer limits acceptance to its terms, or the buyer objects (Correct answer)

Correct answer: It becomes part of the contract unless it materially alters the deal, the offer limits acceptance to its terms, or the buyer objects

Between merchants, additional terms become part of the contract under UCC 2-207(2) unless they materially alter it, the offer limits acceptance, or objection is made; arbitration clauses often count as material alterations.

Ohio Bar Exam (Uniform Bar Examination)

The Ohio Bar Exam uses the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE), a standardized test that includes the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) with 200 multiple-choice questions spanning seven core legal subjects. Ohio requires a minimum UBE score of 266 out of 400 for admission to the bar.

Questions

35 min

Time Limit

67%

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