In Re: STANDARDS AND                    )     ORDER AMENDING STANDARDS
GUIDELINES FOR DRAFTING BAR )            AND GUIDELINES
EXAMINATION QUESTIONS             )
_________________________________)

        The Idaho State Bar having amended the Standards and Guidelines for drafting Bar
Examination questions and the Court having approved the same;


        NOW THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED, that the Standards and Guidelines
for Drafting Bar Examination Questions are amended to read as follows:

The following are standards and guidelines for use by attorneys requested to draft bar
examination questions for the Idaho State Bar.  The Court specifically authorizes the use of the
Multistate Essay Exam prepared by the National Conference of Bar Examiners as a component of
the Idaho State Examination.

Standards and Guidelines for Bar Examination Questions:
1. Wording of the Question
The question should be in the form of a hypothetical fact problem requiring an essay answer.
Special effort should be made to phrase the question so as to be as definite and unambiguous as
possible so as not to mislead the examinee as to the parties, issues or substantive law.  It is
suggested that you use descriptive names for each of the parties involved, rather than proper
names (e.g., Buyer rather than Jones, Seller rather than Brown or other descriptive names such as
Lessor or Landlord, Lessee or Tenant, or merely P or D).  The question should be reviewed by
you to ascertain whether unnecessary time of the applicant will have to be used in order to
understand the facts of the question posed rather than analyzing the points of law raised by such
facts.

2. Call of the Question
The call of the question should solicit a specific response, sometimes referred to as the call of the
question.  The call of the question should be direct, concise and unambiguous, but at the same
time it should not by its wording identify the specific legal issues involved.  It is suggested that
you avoid such calls as Advise or Advise P.  If the call asks for the legal rights of the parties, make
the call specific such as "What are the rights of P against D?"

3. Topics of Law
A question should concern itself with an important area of the subject law covered, within the
approved topic areas attached hereto which are assigned to you, and the.  The question should be
broad enough to raise several issues of law.  A question may involve issues in more than one
topic area, such as a divorce question may raise issues of domestic relations and constitutional
law.  In drafting the question, consideration should be given to the fact that examinees are allotted
36 minutes time allotted to examinees for reading the question, making an analysis, and writing
the answer.  If questions are developed from bar examination questions used in other
jurisdictions, care should be taken to compare the length of time allotted in such other
jurisdictions for answering the question.  For example, examinees are allotted, on the average, 60
minutes per question in Florida and 52 minutes in California.  Therefore, if questions from these
jurisdictions are used as a basis for a question in Idaho, the question should be modified to
accommodate the shorter examination period.

4. Length of the Question
Because of the 36 minute time limit for answering each question, it is suggested that the length of
the question not exceed 150 words, and preferably from 100 to 150 words.  The time limit given
to examinees to answer each question should be considered in determining the length of a
question, and questions should be drafted so as to be direct, clear and succinct in posing the
question to the examinee.

5. Scope of the Question
Questions should be designed primarily for the purpose of testing the analytical ability and
knowledge of the general law of the topic covered by the question and should not require
knowledge of specific Idaho case or statutory law except in the area of Articles I, II, III and IX of
the U.C.C.,
 

Water Law, Wills and Intestate Succession Law (U.P.C.), Domestic Relations Family Law and
Community Property Law, which must be answered in accordance with Idaho law.  If a question
is drafted to test the examinee on specific Idaho law, the call of the question must specifically ask
for the Idaho law and be designed to bring out the variance between the Idaho law and the law
generally upon the subject matter, rather than require knowledge of a specific Idaho statute or
case decision.  Questions on civil procedure, ethics, and evidence should be framed so that they
may be answered
under either the Idaho or Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Idaho or ABA Model Rules of
Professional Conduct, or the Idaho or Federal Rules of Evidence, respectively, but the examinee
should be required to indicate which rules he or she is applying.  It is suggested that you avoid
using a single Idaho decision, or perhaps a matter of current litigation in which you were
involved, as the basis for the examination question as such reliance may tend to narrow the scope
and inquiry of the question.

6. Difficulty of the Question
Questions should be difficult enough to permit good students to display their superior knowledge
and analytical ability.  Simple "get well" questions which anticipate most students getting high
score should be avoided.  The examination will be compiled with the intent to provide all
questions of an approximate equal complexity and length in the various areas and topics of law
involved.

Standards and Guidelines for Drafting Analyses to Questions:
1. Scope of the Analysis
The author of each question is requested to draft his an analysis of the legal points and discussion
which are reasonably raised by the question.  The "analysis" is not a model or correct answer, but
an outline or survey of the issues and topics intended to be covered by the question and should be
drafted with the intent in mind of aiding the graders to understand the scope and purpose of the
question.  The length of the analysis is at the authors discretion, but it is suggested that it be
abbreviated to the primary points involved for easy identification by the graders.

2. Issue of the Question
The analysis should first list the issues which the author believes are reasonably raised by the question.  These issues should be framed in terms of general propositions of law rather than
probable outcome of the specific factual situation presented by the question.  For example, rather
than listing an issue "Is P entitled to an injunction against D?"  it may be more revealing to state
the issue "Is a plaintiff in a divorce action entitled to an injunction against the defendant from
removing the children of the parties from the state?"  The issues should be so framed as to advise the graders as to what general propositions of law are thought to be involved in the question, not merely the outcome of the dispute or litigation.

3. Analysis of the Issues
After listing each issue involved in a question, the issues should be separately identified and
followed by a brief analysis based on legal principles and theories of general application along
with pertinent citations.  The citations need not be exhaustive, but merely serve as a possible
reference to the graders in the event they desire to examine some authority to more fully
understand the question analysis before commencing their grading.

4. Conclusion
The analysis should announce a conclusion or take a position upon the questions asked by the
"call of the question."  However, if any alternative treatment or opinion upon an issue or the
ultimate question is feasible, the analysis should recognize such alternatives and make
appropriate statements as to how an examinee might properly arrive at such alternatives.

5. Weight of the Issues
The analysis need not reflect any suggested allocation of weight or importance to the various
issues involved in a question; however, the primary issues should be distinguished from
peripheral issues.  The final determination as to the relative weight and importance of the issues
is in the discretion of the graders after examining the question, the analysis, and the authority
cited.

Submission of Question and Analysis:
The question and analysis should be typed and double spaced and may be submitted on diskette in
Microsoft Word for Windows 2.0 or 6.0, Microsoft Word 4.x & 5.x for the Macintosh, Microsoft
Word 3.0 - 6.0 for MS-Dos, or Word Perfect 5.x for MS-Dos and Windows.  A hard copy must
accompany the diskette.  This question and analysis must be received by the Bar Exam
Preparation Committee of the Idaho State Bar sufficiently in advance of a bar examination so that
it can be processed through the necessary review procedures to insure compliance with these
standards.

        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that Section 5 of  the Bar Exam Grading Procedures and
Guidelines is amended to read as follows:

      5. REEVALUATION PROCEDURE.  There shall be a reevaluation of some of the         failing examination papers in accordance with the following guidelines and procedure:
 

        1. Each examinee's answers to all examination questions shall be reassembled in one exam package in numeric order before delivery to the Reevaluation Team, together with the grades assigned upon the initial grading.  The reviewer shall also receive and consider the score received by the applicant on the Multistate Bar Examination.
 
        2.   The reviewers of the Reevaluation Team shall read each question of the examination, the model or suggested answer, and the outline of the graders as to the issues and points of law sought to be raised by the question.
 
        3. No reviewer of the team shall form any opinion as to the merits of an examination paper until all of the answers have been read.  The reviewer shall then review and reevaluate the examination paper as a whole under all of the guidelines set forth in these instructions and make a single determination as to whether the entire examination, not any individual answer, merits a passing or failing grade.  In making the pass/fail determination, the reviewer shall apply the following criteria:  As a whole, whether the applicants answers demonstrate competence in response to the questions, including an adequate understanding of the facts, an adequate recognition of most of the issues and the law, and an adequate ability to reason to a conclusion.
 
         4.   The examination paper to be reviewed shall be read by one reviewer in total, that is
the answers to each of the questions shall be read consecutively from the beginning to the end of
the examination.  The reviewer shall then determine whether the examination paper merits a
passing or failing grade, applying the criteria set forth in subsection 3 above,  and shall indicate a
"pass" or "fail" decision on this reevaluation report together with any comments.

        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that this Order and these amendments shall be effective
on the 1st day of July, 1998.
 
        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the above designation of the striking of words from
the Standards and Guidelines for Bar Examination Questions and Bar Exam Grading Procedures
and Guidelines by lining through them, and the designation of the addition of new portions by underlining such new portion is for the purposes of information only as amended, and NO OTHER AMENDMENTS ARE INTENDED.  The lining through and underlining shall not be considered a part of the permanent Standards or Guidelines.


        IT IS FURTHER ORDERED, that the Clerk of the Court shall cause this Order to be
published in one issue of the Advocate. 


                DATED this _10th _ day of _____June_______, 1998.

                                                                               By Order of the Supreme Court
 

                                                                                ___________________________
                                                                                Linda Copple Trout, Chief Justice
 

ATTEST:  ______________________
                Frederick C. Lyon, Clerk