In any case , we all passed the exam that year , as I had expected . As I mentioned , we were all admitted on Friday morning . A few years later , a couple of people didn ’ t pass , and the way they found out that they hadn ’ t passed was that the clerk of the Court just called them out of line . It was not pleasant .
The bar exam has evolved so far since I took it that it ’ s hard to even measure the distance . The MBE and the MEE alone are miles away from the bar exam I took and represent a much better screening process .
2Let ’ s talk about the Uniform Bar Examination ( UBE ). North Dakota can be seen as a trailblazer , being the second jurisdiction to adopt the UBE , with its first UBE administration 10 years ago , in February 2011 . What motivated your Court and Board to make the change so early on , and what benefits were envisioned from bringing the UBE to North Dakota ? Were there any issues in implementing the UBE once the Court decided to adopt it ,
and did NCBE play a role in North Dakota ’ s adoption of the UBE ? Do you recall what conversations other state Supreme Courts or bar examiners were having about the UBE at the time ? Finally , the UBE has been adopted in 41 jurisdictions as of 2021 ; did you think 10 years ago that it was something that would catch on as much as it has ?
The transition to the UBE was a snap because we were already using all of NCBE ’ s tests . By that time , our Board had been smart enough to go from their own essay questions to the MEE , so they were using every product that NCBE offered , which made it an easy transition . Why not go to the UBE ? For those candidates who wanted to take the UBE in another state and transfer to North Dakota , or for those taking the UBE in North Dakota who wanted to transfer to another UBE state , it would be simple . It was such a natural move .
There were very few problems implementing the UBE , because we were just giving the tests as usual . As for NCBE ’ s role , NCBE was our go-to ; they are the ones we relied upon . They facilitated the UBE , as well as organizing meetings with states that had adopted or were interested in adopting the UBE , meetings that I remember very well . I remember thinking , why would you not want to go with the UBE ?
As for the number of UBE jurisdictions , I ’ m a little surprised at the number , and I also didn ’ t ever expect the big states to come on board . Occasionally , justices from other states would ask me about the UBE , particularly at the justices ’ roundtables at NCBE ’ s Annual Bar Admissions Conferences . I told them , if you ’ re already giving all of NCBE ’ s tests , then you won ’ t have any problem . Some were administering their own local essay questions , and I reminded them that they could still continue to do that .
3All jurisdictions define the educational standards a prospective lawyer must show before qualifying for admission , but those standards vary among
WINTER 2022 17