SC Bar Essay and Performance 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What percentage of the total UBE score in South Carolina comes from the written components (MEE plus MPT) combined?
- 50% (Correct answer)
- 25%
- 75%
- 30%
Correct answer: 50%
The MEE is weighted 30% and the MPT 20%, together making up half of the UBE score.
Question 2: An MEE question presents a will executed with only one witness. Which analytical framework should anchor the essay?
- Execution formalities for attested wills and possible curative doctrines (Correct answer)
- Federal estate tax computation
- The rule against perpetuities alone
- Intestate succession only, with no discussion of the will
Correct answer: Execution formalities for attested wills and possible curative doctrines
The essay should analyze attestation requirements and doctrines like substantial compliance or harmless error before considering intestacy.
Question 3: In the MPT File, a client interview transcript contains facts that contradict the client's affidavit. The best response in an objective memo is to:
- Flag the factual inconsistency and analyze both possibilities (Correct answer)
- Use only the facts favoring the client
- Assume the affidavit is false and disregard it
- Omit the facts to keep the memo concise
Correct answer: Flag the factual inconsistency and analyze both possibilities
Objective analysis requires identifying factual conflicts and assessing how each version affects the legal outcome.
Question 4: Which structural approach is generally most effective for an MEE answer?
- IRAC or CRAC organization with headings for each issue (Correct answer)
- A single unbroken narrative paragraph
- Bullet points listing rules with no application
- Restating the entire fact pattern before analysis
Correct answer: IRAC or CRAC organization with headings for each issue
Organized, issue-by-issue IRAC/CRAC structure helps graders award points for each scored element.
Question 5: An MPT task memo instructs the examinee to draft only the argument section of a brief, excluding the statement of facts. Writing a full brief anyway will likely:
- Waste time and earn no additional credit (Correct answer)
- Earn bonus points for thoroughness
- Be required for a passing score
- Cause automatic disqualification
Correct answer: Waste time and earn no additional credit
Following the task memo's instructions is itself a graded skill, and extra unrequested sections earn nothing.
Question 6: An MEE civil procedure essay asks whether a federal court has diversity jurisdiction. Which pair of requirements must the answer address?
- Complete diversity of citizenship and amount in controversy exceeding $75,000 (Correct answer)
- Personal jurisdiction and proper venue
- Federal question and supplemental jurisdiction
- Standing and ripeness
Correct answer: Complete diversity of citizenship and amount in controversy exceeding $75,000
Diversity jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1332 requires complete diversity and more than $75,000 in controversy.
Question 7: Since South Carolina adopted the UBE, essay answers are graded based on:
- Generally accepted fundamental legal principles, not South Carolina-specific law (Correct answer)
- South Carolina statutes exclusively
- The examinee's home-state law
- Federal law only
Correct answer: Generally accepted fundamental legal principles, not South Carolina-specific law
MEE questions are answered under general principles of law unless the question directs otherwise.
SC Bar Essay and Performance 3
What percentage of the total UBE score in South Carolina comes from the written components (MEE plus MPT) combined?