Law and Ethics Exams
In many ways, law and ethics exams serve a vital purpose, acting as the gatekeepers that ensure only those with a particularly deep and practical understanding of the law are able to move forward in a given profession. It should come as no surprise, then, that they are indexed in different ways depending on the particular field or sector. For instance, some professionals, like engineers, attorneys, architects and medical doctors are required to pass a law and ethics exam — frequently referred to as the Professional Engineers Multiple Choice Exam (PEMC), the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE), the Architect Registration Exam (ARE) and the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE), respectively — before they can even be considered for licensure in their state. On the other hand, professionals like land surveyors and landscape architects may not technically be required to pass a law and ethics exam before they can be licensed, but most jurisdictions include them as an important part of their licensure requirements . In terms of subject matter, law and ethics exams typically cover foundational legal concepts relevant to the specific examinations, such as patents and trademarks for exam candidates seeking to become patent attorneys or practicing patent agents. Such exams might also include more broadly applied concepts in commercial law, such as banking, contracts, sales, secured transactions and forms of business organization. Of course, law and ethics exams will also include questions related to the governing ethical codes of a given sector, touching on subjects like professional behavior, conflict of interest, confidentiality and rules of conduct. While the specific details of law and ethics exams may be somewhat different from one profession to another, there are a number of unifying factors that facilitate solid performance on each type of test, most of which revolve around adequate preparation. Determining where to begin your study process—and how to put together a thorough repertoire of resources for your exam requirements—is the key to passing your law and ethics exam.
Common Exam Content
Confidentiality and its Exceptions: This is one of the primary considerations in many law and ethics settings. Becoming one of the most hotly contested issues in modern case law, it has never been more important to understand the general rules surrounding the concept. The exceptions to confidentiality can be just as controversial. From mandated reporting to disclosures required by court order, the penalties for getting it wrong are serious.
Conflict of Interest: In continuous tension with the principle of confidentiality is its sibling concept, conflict of interest. As in confidentiality, there are some very tense and complicated rules in the law used to define conflict of interest. Failure to understand these concepts can lead to serious legal and professional ramifications. In the worst case, it can lead to disqualification from practice.
Professional Conduct: Includes both ethical and legal considerations. Conflicts of interest, confidentiality, competence, trust account issues, respect for the rights of others and avoidance of discriminatory conduct all fall within this category. Each of these can be the basis for professional discipline and/or civil liability if handled improperly. The consequences can be disastrous.
Legal Responsibilities: Determining what is allowed by law and when is a pillar of legal skills. While the specific laws may change, the necessity of understanding them does not. Often laws are in tension and need to be interpreted to understand exactly what they require. Failing to understand the law, whether it’s regarding confidentiality or any other area of practical or professional law, can lead to disastrous results.
How to Prepare for the Test
There are many effective methods to consider during your studies for a law and ethics exam. Reviewing past papers is a fantastic starting point as this will help you to become familiar with the layout of the exam and its content. Reviewing past papers will also help you to get a feel for the types of questions that come up on your specific law and ethics exam, as the content and structure will vary between law and ethics tests. Getting to grips with a professional code of conduct that applies to your profession is also recommended – that way, when faced with questions about law and ethics, you will be able to refer to how the code relates to your answer. When preparing for a law and ethics exam, it can be helpful to join a study group, otherwise known as a support group. Joining a support group can reduce stress and isolation and it will help you to achieve a sense of empowerment and success as you are helped by like-minded people. When attending a support group, it’s important to share knowledge and experiences so that everyone benefits. Support groups can also be beneficial after you have sat your law and ethics exam as once the exam is out of the way, support group members can support each other after the exam. Talking through any problems you may have experienced during the exam with other individuals who have done the same thing can help you to get over the hurdle of having to prepare for a test. Other study techniques to try to include in your studies is to schedule the exam date and then add the rest of your study plan around this. Try to choose times of day when you’re at your most productive for each session of study. As well as this, you should try not to take on too much studying at one time, especially if you’re trying to study different topics, as it can become confusing. If you are struggling to study on your own, you may wish to take an online course where you will be taught the relevant material and be tested on what you have learned, allowing for effective preparation and hopefully success when you come to sit your test. The more effective the courses are, the better you will do in your law and ethics exam, so make sure you do plenty of research beforehand.
Exam Time Management
Effectively managing your time in preparation for the law and ethics exam as well as during the exam itself is essential for success. Here are some ideas about how to structure your study time and plan your exam time:
Study Time
After you’ve studied the recommended content outline and highlighted the key takeaways. It’s time to develop a study schedule. To do this, make a schedule outlining the weeks between now and the date of the exam (or when you believe you will be taking the exam).
This will give you an idea of how many weeks you have to study and when you’ll fit studying into your busy schedule. I recommend that you put a schedule together that outlines what content you’ll study each week, as well as what practice questions you’ll be answering each week.
Exam Time
Managing your time during the law and ethics exam is critical. I recommend taking some practice exams to ensure you can complete them in the allotted time frame. I’ve heard that ASPPB is updating exam content, so no free practice exams may be available. That being said, you can take practice exams from old copy exam forms on Quizlet. These are an excellent way to prepare. You can find these FREE, CORRECTED quizzes here: https://quizlet.com/533049874/pharmacotherapy-practice-exams-flash-cards
Regardless of which practice test you take, I recommend allocating time for taking each exam. For example, for the law exam: 100 questions X 3:40 hours/60 minutes = 6 questions every 12 minutes. You can do the same math for the ethics exam where the topics are a bit different. 100 questions X 2:50 hours/60 minutes = 3.5 questions every 7 minutes. You will need to ensure you’re able to answer 3.5 ethics questions about every 7 minutes to finish the exam in time.
To do this, pay attention to how long your practice exams are taking (you can look in the upper right corner of the computer screen of any practice https://quizlet.com/533049874/pharmacotherapy-practice-exams-flash-cards).
After practicing, you can better allocate your time for the day of the actual exam. When you get frustrated with a question during the exam (and you will get frustrated during the actual exam), simply skip it. Read the next question and ask yourself the same question. Was it easy, hard or do you not know? If you know the answer and feel confident in it, answer it. If you remember something that relates to helping you answer that question, answer it. If you have no idea, skip it and move on to the next question. Once you’ve finished all the questions in the exam, go back and answer the ones you skipped. Don’t worry about how much time you think you spent on the exam, just move on to the next question as quickly as possible and complete the exam only after answering all questions.
Practice Tests
Beyond published NCBE study materials there are also many law exam study guides on the market. Speaking again from personal experience I would echo the sentiments of other bar prep companies that the value in these materials lies in practice multiple choice questions and performance test assignments. My experience with law or ethics multiple choice questions is that students who are passing by a country mile score between 60 and 80% on MT. This extra margin is important as students are typically interested in mastering law and ethics tests to as close to 100% as possible. Often it is the last 10% that is the hardest to achieve. For the jurisdictions where performance tests are still used for the Bar exam , practice PTs are a huge performance booster. In my experience people struggle with the timing aspect of PTs and practice exams may help with that even if for no other reason than getting used to the idea of a timed exercise. Additionally, when law students take practice tests they often isolate areas for additional study either law or ethics depending on the critical pass standards of their jurisdiction. I always think it is better to get a practice test back with "terminator" level feedback where students may be shocked into further study proactively, rather than have them work through a 300 page study guide in which they only really learn what they already know.
Dealing With Anxiety
Test anxiety—or feeling nervous before and during an exam—is perfectly normal, especially for law and ethics exams, which tend to be quite challenging. If you don’t manage test anxiety, it can affect your performance. To keep test anxiety in check, consider this: Stress is a reaction to not being in control of a situation. So when you’re preparing for any examination, take control. Implement a study plan that allows you to master the material over time and doesn’t force you to cram; well-planned, organized study sessions will help you avoid last-minute stress and anxiety. Also, read the book, The Relaxation and Stress Reduction Workbook by Martha Davis, Elizabeth Robbins Eshelman, and Matthew McKay. The book teaches you how to use visualization for relaxation and anxiety, and it also goes into more detail about the effects of stress, how the body responds, and how to reduce stress. Sleep can also have a huge impact on how you feel during the exam. Going into the test well-rested and staying calm through the exam is key to preventing failure. Study long enough and you’ll run into mental fatigue. Take a couple days off to review the material. Get lots of sleep—the day of the exam, you’ll want to get up early to allow time to relax and center yourself before the test. And don’t forget to eat—just make sure it’s not too heavy. If you expect the exam to last several hours, consider bringing a snack with you as well in case you feel hungry during the test. Lastly, use positive visualization techniques. Your mind "sees" what it believes. Decades of research has found that mental impressions impact how you face a challenge. Make sure you create the right mental picture.
Reviewing the Exam
Comparative to performance on the actual exam, a examinee often learns more from reviewing performance post-exam because this is the time to digest the manner in which responses were structured and why they were either scored lower or higher. Detailed review of multiple-choice questions are time well spent and a good investment of precious review time. Many examinees do not tend to review even if model answers are provided for most exam answers . However, the value of self-diagnostic feedback (even when its mostly negative) can give an examinee a better understanding of what did and did not work during the exam. In doing so, an examinee can learn how to amend their approach in the future and improve upon previously weak responses. Reviewing performance can serve multiple purposes but there is a general misconception that doing so is a "bad sign" that an examinee has not done well during the exam.