The South Carolina Island Supreme Court is responsible for the bar exam. This is one of the least-transparent states in the union; half of the exam is local essays, but the authorities don’t release any questions to the public.
The South Carolina bar exam, a 3-day exam, consists of
- the six-hour Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), counted as one section, and
- six 2-hour South Carolina essay sections, each consisting of three or four questions.
The successful applicant must receive a passing grade on at least 6 of the 7 sections of the bar exam (i.e., either all the essay sections or the MBE plus 5 essay sections). To pass a section, an applicant must achieve a scaled score of 125 on the MBE and 70% on an essay section. Applicants who receive a scaled score of 110 or less on the MBE will automatically fail the bar exam. Within four years of the bar exam, applicants also must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) with a scaled score of 77.
The following subjects may be tested on the South Carolina bar exam:
- business law (business associations, including agency, partnership, and corporations)
- civil procedure (South Carolina and federal)
- commercial law and the Uniform Commercial Code (relevant articles not specified)
- constitutional law
- contracts, including UCC Article 2 sales
- criminal law and procedure
- domestic relations (family law)
- equity (remedies)
- evidence
- insurance
- legal writing and research
- real property, including real estate finance
- torts
- trial advocacy
- wills, trusts, and estates.