I send this roadmap to my Florida students, and I thought it might help the readers on here as well! There are three components to this exam, and each component has some unique nuances:
1: The MBE Component
The key here is to focus on two things: the subject you're working on in a given week, and the subjects you've already worked on. Of course, at some point (after you've worked through 7 MBE subjects) you're only left with subjects you've already worked on.
The best preparation for the MBE once you've taken a bit of time to learn the subject by reading the outline, watching videos, or etc., is to work through practice questions. Practicing questions teaches you the skills you'll be using when taking the test. Every time you answer a question incorrectly, note the rule statement that had it been known you would have answered the question correctly. The MBE, essentially, tests the same rules over and over again, but they hide those rules in different fact patterns. So the idea here is to get a question wrong, note the rule statement, and then later apply that same rule statement, this time correctly, to a new fact pattern. This is the crux at improving at this component of the exam. The more questions you get through, the better!
2: The Essay Component
This component of the test is a bit more focused on substance than skills, though skills still do play a role. A large majority of the subjects tested on the essay component are the same subjects tested on the MBE. For example, on the essays you could see Contracts, Property, Torts, and Constitutional Criminal Procedure (to a lesser extent Criminal Law). It's far less likely you'll see Civ Pro or Evidence on the essays since the Florida versions of these subjects are tested on the Florida Multiple Choice component, and if you see Constitutional Law it's likely to have a heavier focus on Florida Constitutional Law. When you do get an MBE subject tested on the essays, it's helpful to add in any Florida distinctions that apply.
In addition to the MBE subjects, you might get an essay on Family Law, and a small part of one of the essays will focus on Florida Professionalism (essentially, the Model Code of Conduct, but specific to Florida).
The best way to prepare for this section of the exam is to know well your outlines in these subjects (the fine details aren't as important as they are when taking a multiple choice exam). In addition to studying the outlines, it's helpful to look over old essays which provide model answers that the graders have chosen to release. I often recommend to students to read an essay question and outline the issues that you would have spotted if that had been your essay. Then review the model answer to see how many issues you spotted.
Along with practicing spotting legal issues, it helps to write a couple answers as well to practice the IRAC format. Writing answers for a bar exam is very formulaic. I think of it almost like a math formula. Better not to be too creative here.
All the old Florida essays are available to review @ https://www.
3: The Florida Multiple Choice Component:
This component of the test includes the following subjects: Florida Civil Procedure (which will include a few questions on Florida Rules of Judicial Administration); Florida Criminal Procedure; Florida Wills; Florida Trusts; Business Entities ( Corporations, Partnerships, and Agency); UCC 3 (Commercial Paper); UCC 9 (Secured Transactions); and Florida Evidence. Not all of these will be tested: every test includes Florida Civil Procedure/Florida Criminal Procedure, and then a few others are chosen from the remaining testable subjects.
Many find this to be the trickiest part of the test to prepare for, but it's common wisdom that it's not as beneficial to practice for this section in the same way that one should practice for the MBE. These questions, rather than cleverly setting out to trick the test taker, are instead just testing fine nuances of the law. And the nuances can get very fine. So, studying the outlines in the specific subjects listed above with an eye for remembering as many details as possible will allow you to score high on this section.
I hope that helps some!
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