For anyone who took, is about to take, or thinking of taking the Maryland Bar, take note that on Sept. 6 at 2:00 pm in the Court of Appeals conference room there will be a public hearing on whether the state should include the Multi-State Performance Test as a component of the Maryland Bar exam. I, personally, think its crazy, especially after reading what the MPT is. It seems like its just another racket. The exam will cost more, will be more difficult, and will still not determine if you will suck as a lawyer. The MPT purports to be like ‘real’ law. You are given a file that contains, well, information you might find in a real file. You will be given a ‘library’ of relevant material. But, here’s the clincher, you will not be given an actual supervising attorney of whom to ask questions. You will have no colleagues that you will be able to turn to and say “hey, there is conflicting testimony here, what do you think?” and there will be no sleeping on the ethical issue to really know if you are doing the right thing or not.
My opinion, its bullshit. Yes, when you practice as a public defender or a lowly prosecutor, you are frequently thrown directly into the fiery pits of hell on your first day. But, at the same time, you are expected to learn from your mistakes, to come through on the other end a stronger attorney. If you screw up on the MPT, you will FAIL the bar and not be able to practice law because, well, you made a mistake on a fake file.
Did I mention that I thought it was bullshit?
