March 26, 2007
NOTICE OF PALAU BAR EXAMINATION
The Palau Bar Examination will be administered in the Conference Room of
the Palau Supreme Court, Koror, Republic of Palau, on the following dates:
Wednesday, July 25, 2007 - Oregon-based Essay Examination - 8:00 a.m
Thursday, July 26, 2007 - Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) - 8:00 a.m
Friday, July 27, 2007 - Palauan-based Essay Examination - 8:00 a.m
Saturday, August 11, 2007 - Multistate Professional Professional
Responsibility Examination (MPRE) - 9:00 A.M. (This examination will be
administered at the Palau Community College, Main Entrance, Room
Assignment to be posted)
Requirements for Admission to the Palau Bar
To be admitted to the Palau Bar an applicant must: (1) provide a certificate of
good standing from jurisdiction(s) in which the applicant is admitted to practice
and, if not a member of any bar, a letter from the dean or dean’s designee of
the applicant’s law school attesting to the applicant’s good moral character;
(2) not have been convicted of a felony, or if convicted, the applicant must
have been granted a full pardon; (3) have graduated from an accredited law
school; and (4) take and pass the Palau Bar Examination.
Applicants who have taken and passed the MBE, the MPRE, or an essay
examination from a state or territorial jurisdiction of the United States within
the past 5 years are not required to retake that particular examination, but are
required to provide evidence of their passing score. All applicants are
required to take and pass the Palauan-based Essay Examination testing
issues specific to Palauan law, such as customary law and land law.
Applicants who have not taken and passed the MBE, the MPRE, or an essay
examination within the past 5 years may take that particular examination in
Palau as scheduled above or in any other jurisdiction in which those
examinations are administered.
Subject Matter of the Examination
MBE: The MBE is an objective six-hour examination containing 200 multiple
choice questions covering the following subjects: U.S. constitutional law,
contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts. The
questions are designed to be answered by applying fundamental legal
principles rather than local case or statutory law. A passing score in Palau is
a scaled score of 120.
MPRE: The MPRE contains 50 multiple choice questions on the law
governing the conduct of lawyers, including the disciplinary rules of
professional conduct as articulated in the ABA Model Rules of Professional
Conduct, the ABA Code of Judicial Conduct, and controlling constitutional
decisions, as well as generally accepted principles established in leading
federal and state cases and in the rules of procedure and evidence. A
passing score in Palau is a scaled score of 75.
Oregon-based Essay Examination: This portion of the examination is
designed to test an applicant’s legal knowledge and proficiency in writing and
reasoning. Questions may include contracts (and agency), civil litigation,
commercial transactions, property, constitutional law, criminal law, criminal
procedure, business organizations, torts, domestic relations, trusts, evidence,
and legal and equitable remedies. A passing score in Palau is a standardized
score of 65.
Palauan-based Essay Examination: This portion of the examination consists
of questions specifically on Palauan law. Questions may cover customary law,
land law, the Constitution, statutes, the Compact of Free Association, and
case law. A passing score in Palau is a score of 65.
Transfer of Scores
Transfer of MBE Score: To transfer your MBE score to Palau from another
jurisdiction, consult that jurisdiction. Contact information for many jurisdictions
can be accessed at www.ncbex.org/bar-admissions/offices/. The National
Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) will transfer scores on behalf of
jurisdictions that do not transfer scores. NCBE transfers scores on behalf of
AL, AZ, CA, CO, CT, DE (eff. 7/00), DC, FL,HI,IL, IN (eff. 2/01), KS, KY, MD,
MN, MO, MT, ND, NJ, NY, SD, UT, WY, (eff. 2/99), Guam (eff. 2/01), and the
Virgin Islands. To have the NCBE transfer a score from these jurisdictions,
mail a written request and a $25.00 check or money order payable to NCBE
to: MBE Score Transfer, National Conference of Bar Examiners, 402 West
Wilson Street, Madison, WI 53703-3614. The signed, written request must
include the exact name under which the applicant tested, the jurisdiction in
which the testing occurred, the month and year of the MBE, the applicant’s
Social Security Number, date of birth, and applicant or seat number (if
known). More information and online request forms may be found at: www.
ncbex.org.
Transfer of MPRE Score: Mail your request and a $15.00 check payable to
NCBE directly to: National Conference of Bar Examiners, MPRE Records
Department, 301 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 451, Iowa City, IA 52243-0451. The
request should include your name, address, Social Security Number, date of
birth, test date, signature, and the jurisdiction that you want to receive your
score. More information and online request forms may also be found at: www.
ncbex.org.
Transfer of Essay Score or Combined MBE/Essay Score: Request a score
transfer directly from the state or territorial jurisdiction where the Essay or
Combined MBE/Essay Examination was taken and have it sent to: Clerk of
Courts, Palau Supreme Court, P.O. Box 248, Koror, Palau 96940. Each
jurisdiction’s bar admission office address and phone number can be found
at: www.ncbex.org/bar-admissions/offices/.
Costs, Deadlines & Other Information
Costs of the Bar Examination: The application fee is $100.00. Checks should
be made payable to the Palau Bar Association and mailed to: Supreme Court
of Palau, P.O. Box 248, Koror, Palau 96940. This fee includes the cost for
purchasing, administering, and grading the MBE and Oregon-based Essay
Examination, copying, postage, and other administrative costs.
Please note that we have changed our application fee refund policy and an
applicant’s $100.00 fee will be forfeited if the applicant fails to take the exam.
In other words, an applicant who submits an application fee for the July
examination but fails to take that exam will not be permitted to apply the
application fee to the following July examination.
The fee to register for the MPRE is $55.00 made payable to the National
Conference of Bar Examiners, which is to be mailed with the MPRE application
directly to the National Conference of Bar Examiners: MPRE Application
Department, 101 ACT Drive, P.O. Box 4001, Iowa City, IA 52243-4001. For
MPRE application deadlines, late registration information, or online
registration using MasterCard or VISA visit http://www.ncbex.org/multistate-
tests/mpre or www.act.org/mpre
Application deadline for the Bar Examination in Palau: The deadline to apply
to take the MPRE and/or Essay Examination(s) in Palau is Monday, June 11,
2007. To receive an application form, send a letter and check for $5.00 on-
island, or $10.00 for off-island, payable to the Clerk of Courts to: Clerk of
Courts, Supreme Court of the Republic of Palau, P.O. Box 248, Koror, Palau
96940. Applications may also be obtained in person from the Clerk of Courts
for a fee of $5.00. After receiving the completed application and the $100.00
application fee payable to the Palau Bar Association, we will provide
applicants additional information to assist in preparing and studying the
examinations.
Information on Palau: The Palau Visitor’s Authority website at www.visit-palau.
com is a good source of information on Palau.
Further Information on the Palau Bar Examination: For further information or
questions regarding the Palau Bar Examination, you may contact the Court by
e-mail at: palaujudiciary@palaunet.com, by fax at (680) 488-1597, or by
phone at (680) 488-2607 or (680) 488-4979. A list of frequently asked
questions regarding the Palau Bar Examination also is available here.
