Good news!  HLS has been approved as a test center for the April MPRE.

If you haven’t already registered, you can do so now, following all of the detail in the last email.

If you already registered for a different site, you can switch to HLS (LSAC is waiving the change fee).  To change centers, please email mpreinfo@lsac.org.  Tell them that you would like to request a center change to Center # 2682.  Please provide your NCBE number, name and phone number.

If you have problems locating your center by putting in the zip code please call Candidate Services ­ 215 968-1001 ­ there will be someone there to help until 7:00 pm every day.

Hi-

I wanted to let you know about a few bar exam information sessions:

On Tuesday March 12^th at noon the President of the Massachusetts Board of Law Examiners (Geoffrey Bok ¹87) and the Executive Director, Marilyn Wellington, will provide insight into the Character & Fitness process from the Board¹s perspective.  Since many states ask similar questions, you will find this session to be useful regardless of the state.  The session will be hold in WCC-2019 Milstein West AB and lunch will be served.

In addition, each year the Dean of Students Office co-sponsors a number of other information sessions on the Bar exam with some of the major Bar Prep Courses.  I discuss the application process and the Character & Fitness process and the Bar Review company discusses the structure of the Bar Exam itself.  These sessions will be held as follows:

BarBri- February 27^th 12-1pm, multiple locations (?)

Kaplan-March 7^th 12-1pm WCC-2019 Milstein West A

Themis- TBD

None of these sessions will be taped.  If you miss the sessions, you can drop by the tables in the Hark when the Bar Review companies are on site.  The Bar Review Company Tabling Schedule is as follows:

BarBri: 2/13, 2/27, 3/6, 3/27, 4/10, 4/17

Kaplan: 2/12, 2/26, 3/12, 3/26, 4/9, 4/23

Themis- 2/11, 2/25, 3/11, 3/25, 4/1, 4/15

MPRE

The administration of the MPRE has just moved to a new company and in the process, HLS was dropped as a testing location.  We have contacted them and offered space for the April exam and they are willing to work with us so as soon as we confirm details, I will send information.  The deadline to apply is February 12, 2013.  The deadline for late registration is February 28, 2013.  If you wish to apply before the late registration fee is added, you can.  We understand that candidates have called NCBE requesting specific sites.    Otherwise, you can wait for the testing site designation (which should happen shortly) and apply at that time.

For your convenience, I have pasted the September email below which gives you all of the links and contacts for Bar related info.

From: Ellen Cosgrove
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2012 12:24 PM
To: ‘law2013@lists.law.harvard.edu’
Subject: Bar Exam

Hi-

I know that you have been inundated with information about the Bar Exam in the past week but I want to be sure you know how to get Bar information on the Law School¹s website.

Information about the Bar Application process can be found here.  Our site links to the relevant section of the Registrar¹s Site.

You apply for admission through your state Board of Bar Examiners. Deadlines, forms, and requirements differ from state to state. To get a sense of the structure of the Bar Exam as well as the deadlines and requirements for your state, go to www.ncbex.org/bar-admissions/

Most deadlines are in the winter and spring but some states have fall deadlines so check now.

Because the processes varies so much by state, you will not receive emails from us about upcoming deadlines so it is really important to bookmark your state Bar page. You should check your state Bar page often as deadlines and requirements can change throughout the year and the state committees are not flexible about waiving requirements.

MPRE

The MPRE is required for admission to the bars of most US jurisdictions. The MPRE is based on the law governing the conduct of lawyers. It consists of 50 multiple-choice questions and takes two hours.

The examination is administered three times per year:

November 3, 2012 (Regular Application Receipt Deadline: September 18, 2012 (11:59pm) Late Application Receipt Deadline: October 4, 2012)

April 6, 2013 (Deadlines TBD)

August 17, 2013 (Deadlines TBD)

Most HLS students sit for the MPRE in the fall and spring.  You can sit for the MPRE before taking your professional responsibility course at HLS. Most students take a prep course offered by the various Bar Review companies or rely on the free practice material available at the MPRE website. HLS is an MPRE test administration site.

BAR EXAM

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) a six-hour, two-hundred question multiple-choice examination covering contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, and real property.

The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) a three-hour, six-question essay examination covering agency and partnership, commercial paper, conflict of laws, corporations, decedents’ estates, family law, federal civil procedure, sales, secured transactions, and trusts and future interests.

The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) three 90-minute skills questions covering legal analysis, fact analysis, problem solving, resolution of ethical dilemmas, organization and management of a lawyering task, and communication.

CHARACTER & FITNESS PROCESS

In addition to the examinations, each applicant is required to produce evidence that s/he is a person of honest demeanor and good moral character and possesses the requisite fitness to perform the obligations and responsibilities of a practicing attorney at law.

Be prepared to list specifics of every place you have lived since you turned 18, every job you have held (with contacts to confirm employment), every speeding ticket, any disciplinary action in school, any arrest or criminal charge along with full details of the incident. When in doubt, disclose. Please start assembling the documents now because this process can be time consuming. If you are concerned about having to disclose something from your past, you can see me or you can contact Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers LCL is a lawyers assistance program funded by bar dues.

FAQs:

Where do I send my Dean¹s Certification form and my handwriting sample?

Registrar’s Office.

How do I get fingerprints?

Through the Harvard University Police Department

Who can I use as a reference?

You can ask friends (including college roommates and law school friends), former colleagues, family friends, anyone who knows you well. Unless specified, they need not have worked with you and they need not be an attorney.

If my state requires an attorney as a reference and I don¹t know any attorneys well enough to ask, what should I do?

Keep in mind that last year¹s 3Ls are this year¹s attorneys so you can ask them, you can ask a member of the faculty or staff who is a member of the bar. I am always happy to serve as an attorney reference if you need one.

What do I do if I can¹t figure out how to confirm my previous employment?

If you don¹t know anyone who works there anymore – Contact Human Resources. They can provide the information.

If the organization merged ­ Contact Human Resources at the successor organization

What do I have to disclose about disciplinary conduct from college or law school?

HLS discloses disciplinary matters that were sent to the Administrative Board. If you have any questions about this, see me.

You should check with your college to see what their disclosure policies are.

Generally, something that generated a written record or something that carried a sanction of some sort should be reported.

What do I have to disclose about any previous interaction with the criminal system?

The Law School asks about felony and misdemeanor convictions only so you may have to disclose something to the Bar that you didn¹t disclose to us (including juvenile criminal conduct and convictions that were expunged). The questions generally require that you disclose any interaction you have had with the criminal system, regardless of the timing or the outcome.

What do I have to disclose about mental illness or substance abuse?

For the majority of states, you only have to disclose an incapacity due to mental illness or substance abuse. If you have specific questions, you can contact Lawyers Concerns for Lawyers or see me.

Do parking tickets really matter?

Unpaid tickets must reported. If you do not remember where you have tickets, contact likely states. Unpaid parking tickets are generally available through the Department of Motor Vehicles websites.

What about speeding tickets and other moving violations?

Generally, those must be disclosed regardless of whether they are paid. You can request your history through the DMV or the Secretary of State¹s office. Check states where a violation occurred as well as states where your car was registered.

What if I cannot find the information to answer a question?

Make a good faith effort and document that. Explain what you did to track down the information and then provide as detailed an answer as you can.

What if I have to disclose something to the Bar that I didn¹t disclose to HLS?

The Bar often looks for inconsistencies between your HLS application and your Bar application.

Request a copy of your application from the Registrar.

If you should have disclosed something to Harvard and you didn¹t, make an appointment to see me.

If you were not required to disclose it to Harvard, make a note of that in your answer to the Bar.

BAR REVIEW CLASSES

Reps from various Bar Review Courses will be in the Hark during the school year. The Law School doesn¹t endorse any particular company but we encourage you to speak with recent grads and employers to get recommendations

INFORMATION SESSIONS

We co-host an info session with the Mass Board of Bar Examiners this fall.  The information is sufficiently general to be useful for other jurisdictions.  We also co-host Bar info sessions with some Bar Review companies in the spring.  In addition, I¹m always happy to meet if you have any additional questions. Thanks.

Hi-

I know that you have been inundated with information about the Bar Exam in the past week but I want to be sure you know how to get Bar information on the Law School¹s website.

Information about the Bar Application process can be found here.  Our site links to the relevant section of the Registrar¹s Site.

You apply for admission through your state Board of Bar Examiners. Deadlines, forms, and requirements differ from state to state. To get a sense of the structure of the Bar Exam as well as the deadlines and requirements for your state, go to www.ncbex.org/bar-admissions/

Most deadlines are in the winter and spring but some states have fall deadlines so check now.

Because the processes varies so much by state, you will not receive emails from us about upcoming deadlines so it is really important to bookmark your state Bar page. You should check your state Bar page often as deadlines and requirements can change throughout the year and the state committees are not flexible about waiving requirements.

MPRE

The MPRE is required for admission to the bars of most US jurisdictions. The MPRE is based on the law governing the conduct of lawyers. It consists of 50 multiple-choice questions and takes two hours.

The examination is administered three times per year:

November 3, 2012 (Regular Application Receipt Deadline: September 18, 2012 (11:59pm) Late Application Receipt Deadline: October 4, 2012)

April 6, 2013 (Deadlines TBD)

August 17, 2013 (Deadlines TBD)

Most HLS students sit for the MPRE in the fall and spring.  You can sit for the MPRE before taking your professional responsibility course at HLS. Most students take a prep course offered by the various Bar Review companies or rely on the free practice material available at the MPRE website. HLS is an MPRE test administration site.

BAR EXAM

The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) a six-hour, two-hundred question multiple-choice examination covering contracts, torts, constitutional law, criminal law, evidence, and real property.

The Multistate Essay Examination (MEE) a three-hour, six-question essay examination covering agency and partnership, commercial paper, conflict of laws, corporations, decedents’ estates, family law, federal civil procedure, sales, secured transactions, and trusts and future interests.

The Multistate Performance Test (MPT) three 90-minute skills questions covering legal analysis, fact analysis, problem solving, resolution of ethical dilemmas, organization and management of a lawyering task, and communication.

CHARACTER & FITNESS PROCESS

In addition to the examinations, each applicant is required to produce evidence that s/he is a person of honest demeanor and good moral character and possesses the requisite fitness to perform the obligations and responsibilities of a practicing attorney at law.

Be prepared to list specifics of every place you have lived since you turned 18, every job you have held (with contacts to confirm employment), every speeding ticket, any disciplinary action in school, any arrest or criminal charge along with full details of the incident. When in doubt, disclose. Please start assembling the documents now because this process can be time consuming. If you are concerned about having to disclose something from your past, you can see me or you can contact Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers LCL is a lawyers assistance program funded by bar dues.

FAQs:

Where do I send my Dean¹s Certification form and my handwriting sample?

Registrar’s Office.

How do I get fingerprints?

Through the Harvard University Police Department

Who can I use as a reference?

You can ask friends (including college roommates and law school friends), former colleagues, family friends, anyone who knows you well. Unless specified, they need not have worked with you and they need not be an attorney.

If my state requires an attorney as a reference and I don¹t know any attorneys well enough to ask, what should I do?

Keep in mind that last year¹s 3Ls are this year¹s attorneys so you can ask them, you can ask a member of the faculty or staff who is a member of the bar. I am always happy to serve as an attorney reference if you need one.

What do I do if I can¹t figure out how to confirm my previous employment?

If you don¹t know anyone who works there anymore – Contact Human Resources. They can provide the information.

If the organization merged ­ Contact Human Resources at the successor organization

What do I have to disclose about disciplinary conduct from college or law school?

HLS discloses disciplinary matters that were sent to the Administrative Board. If you have any questions about this, see me.

You should check with your college to see what their disclosure policies are.

Generally, something that generated a written record or something that carried a sanction of some sort should be reported.

What do I have to disclose about any previous interaction with the criminal system?

The Law School asks about felony and misdemeanor convictions only so you may have to disclose something to the Bar that you didn¹t disclose to us (including juvenile criminal conduct and convictions that were expunged). The questions generally require that you disclose any interaction you have had with the criminal system, regardless of the timing or the outcome.

What do I have to disclose about mental illness or substance abuse?

For the majority of states, you only have to disclose an incapacity due to mental illness or substance abuse. If you have specific questions, you can contact Lawyers Concerns for Lawyers or see me.

Do parking tickets really matter?

Unpaid tickets must reported. If you do not remember where you have tickets, contact likely states. Unpaid parking tickets are generally available through the Department of Motor Vehicles websites.

What about speeding tickets and other moving violations?

Generally, those must be disclosed regardless of whether they are paid. You can request your history through the DMV or the Secretary of State¹s office. Check states where a violation occurred as well as states where your car was registered.

What if I cannot find the information to answer a question?

Make a good faith effort and document that. Explain what you did to track down the information and then provide as detailed an answer as you can.

What if I have to disclose something to the Bar that I didn¹t disclose to HLS?

The Bar often looks for inconsistencies between your HLS application and your Bar application.

Request a copy of your application from the Registrar.

If you should have disclosed something to Harvard and you didn¹t, make an appointment to see me.

If you were not required to disclose it to Harvard, make a note of that in your answer to the Bar.

BAR REVIEW CLASSES

Reps from various Bar Review Courses will be in the Hark during the school year. The Law School doesn¹t endorse any particular company but we encourage you to speak with recent grads and employers to get recommendations

INFORMATION SESSIONS

We co-host an info session with the Mass Board of Bar Examiners this fall.  The information is sufficiently general to be useful for other jurisdictions.  We also co-host Bar info sessions with some Bar Review companies in the spring.  In addition, I¹m always happy to meet if you have any additional questions. Thanks.

FROM BSA

Dear Second-Year Students,

Welcome back to HLS. I hope you all enjoyed your summer and are looking forward to your second year of law school.

As second year students, you have the opportunity to compete in the Upper Level Ames Moot Court Competition, which is administered by the Board of Student Advisers. The Ames Competition is one of the most prestigious competitions for appellate brief writing and advocacy in the country. Past Ames Competition winners include Professor Cass Sunstein, Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, Judge Henry Friendly and Justice Harry Blackmun. We hope that you join the illustrious ranks of Ames Participants.

Included below are further details regarding the Upper Level Moot Court:

1.       Structure of the Competition

2.       Assembling Your Team

3.       How to Register

4.       Important Dates

I encourage you to join this unique academic tradition by participating in the competition. Please send any questions or concerns to ameshls@gmail.com. We will also be holding an information meeting on September 12 in Langdell North to provide you more information. I look forward to seeing all of you there.

Best regards,

Jeffery Habenicht

Vice President, Ames Moot Court Program

Board of Student Advisers

Harvard Law School

1. Structure of the Competition

The Upper Level Ames Moot Court Competition consists of three rounds. The first round is known as the Qualifying Round or “Q-Round.” Each Q-Round team consists of four (4) team members who will write an Appellant brief. If the team advances to the second phase, the four team members will then write two Appellee briefs. Teams advancing to the second phase will also participate in oral arguments.

For oral arguments, teams will divide themselves into two pairs. One pair will represent the Appellant and the other pair will represent the Appellee. Each pair will argue twice: each Appellant pair against two Appellee pairs and each Appellee pair against two Appellant pairs. Q-Round scores will be based on points assigned to each team’s Appellant brief, Appellee briefs, and Oral Arguments. The four highest-scoring teams in the Q-Round will advance to the Semi-Final Round.

The Semi-Final Round presents the unique opportunity for students to brief and argue an appellate case for a panel of distinguished jurists in front of the Harvard Law School community. In 2011 the Semi-Final Round judges included, among others, Judge Kermit Lipez of the First Circuit, Judge Joseph A. Greenaway, Jr. of the Third Circuit, Judge Kiyo Matsumoto of the Eastern District of New York, and Judge Nancy Gertner of the District of Massachusetts.

The winning team in each Semi-Final Round argument will advance to the Final Round of the Ames Competition. In the past, the Final Round has been judged by Supreme Court Justices and other distinguished jurists from appellate circuits and state supreme courts. Last year the Final Round judges were Chief Justice John Roberts, Judge Diana Murphy of the Eighth Circuit, and Judge Julia Smith-Gibbons of the Sixth Circuit.

2. Assembling Your Team

The first step in the Ames process is assembling a team of four students. Team members must be second-year law students or joint-degree students currently enrolled in their first year of post-1L law school classes at HLS.

Feel free to create your team in any way you see fit: talking to friends, emailing section makes, or chatting up complete strangers at Starbucks. Students who wish to participate, but who do not have a team or who only have a partial team can also use the Q-Round Ames online forum to form a group. The forum can be accessed HERE. This forum is intended to allow 2Ls (both individuals and partial teams) to connect with other interested participants.

3. How to Register for the Competition

Students who are interested in the Competition should plan to attend an INFORMATIONAL MEETING on Wednesday, September 12th, at 12:00 PM in Langdell North. The meeting will discuss how to register for Q-Round, the logistics of competing in Q-Round, and will provide an opportunity for potential participants to ask any remaining questions they may have. The BSA will also distribute registration forms and copies of the official rules at this meeting. Students who cannot attend the informational meeting may instead ask a potential team member to attend, or may access the registration form and the official rules online at:

http://www3.law.harvard.edu/orgs/bsa/files/2012/09/2012_Q_Round_Rules.pdf

Registration forms listing complete teams of four (4) students must be submitted to the BSA Office via hardcopy by 5:00 pm on Monday, September 17th. Teams must also register online at http://hlsorgs.com/bsa/all-about-ames/ by the registration deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances.

4. Important Dates for Registered Teams

The case record will be distributed to registered teams on Tuesday, September 18th at noon. Appellant briefs will be due on Friday, October 19th by 5:00 pm. A team will not be permitted to withdraw from the Competition once it has submitted its Appellant brief.

On Monday, October 22nd, teams will told whether they have advanced to the second phase of Q-Round. Those teams that advance to the second phase of Q-Round must submit their two Appellee briefs by Monday, October 29th. Advancing teams will participate in oral arguments on Tuesday, November 13th and Wednesday, November 14th. Judges for the Q-Round oral arguments include esteemed judges and practitioners from around the Boston area, as well as HLS faculty.

I encourage you to join this unique academic tradition by participating in the competition. Please send any questions or concerns to ameshls@gmail.com. I look forward to meeting you at the informational meeting on September 12th.