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How I passed the July 2025 Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) in Chicago, IL ➲ Study Strategy
This article outlines how I (an Attorney with no formal USA legal education) passed the July 2025 UBE with a score high enough for admittance in any UBE jurisdiction. After passing the CA Bar exam in 2022, in late 2024 I ended up in the mid-west! Fortunately, given my decade+ experience as an attorney in Australia, I was able to become eligible to sit the Illinois Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) under Illinois Supreme Court Rule 715. You might think that passing the UBE would be easy enough (after passing the CA Bar). However, speaking from experience I can advise that it isn't that simple. In important ways (content tested, timing, structure and scoring), the first day of both bar exams are completely different. This means that if you don't adapt your strategy accordingly, you could end up failing the UBE!
After moving to the mid-west in late 2024, I researched the possibility of admission under local Illinois Supreme Court Rules.
Fortunately, I found a path toward obtaining eligibility to sit the IL Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) via Illinois Supreme Court Rule 715.
Compliance with Rule 715 involves many administrative obstacles (there is a lot of paperwork required).
As Illinois has adopted the UBE, passing the IL UBE enables admission to both the IL bar as well as the NY bar which has the same cut-off score of 266.
Depending on the UBE score attained, there is potential for admission to a small number of other US State bars as well (without the need for additional study), and potentially many more [38 State Bars have adopted the UBE + DC], if additional study is undertaken before the UBE score expires.
As a rule, the majority of US States require all applicants for admission to have a minimum J.D. or an L.L.M. from an ABA accredited university. Other paths to admission, such as Admission by Motion do exist (I will not deal with these here: You will need to conduct your own research). Admission by Motion generally requires a minimum period of legal practice as an Attorney in the USA.
In sum, I do feel a great level of appreciation and gratitude that this path for foreign lawyer admission exists in IL.
The Future of the Legal Profession: A Blue Ocean Perspective
In sum, back in 2018 I predicted that multi-disciplinary, legal tech savvy, multi-jurisdictional lawyers will thrive and be able to deliver more for less.
My vision is to deliver accessible and affordable digital legal services across multiple jurisdictions.
The only way to be able to do this properly (without breaching Unauthorized Practice of Law rules & regulations) is to gain admission to the legal profession in as many jurisdictions as possible. Where admission is not possible, I will seek to partner with attorneys in these jurisdictions who share my vision.
What are the key differences between the California Bar and the UBE?
Due to the higher cut-off score in California, many might assume that the bar exam in California is much more difficult than the UBE.
To some extent this is true, as so many examinees can miss out on passing by a few points.
However, it is important to understand that the first day of the 2 exams are different in important ways such as the content tested, timing, structure and scoring. Therefore, I do not recommended the strategy I used to pass the California Bar be used to attempt to pass the UBE.
These differences dictate the need for a change in strategy!
California: Five Essays (1 hour each)
v. the UBE MEE's: Six Essays (30 minutes each)
Whilst the subjects tested in California cover a wider range, and include California law, the essays are much more forgiving and open-ended inviting the examinee to go deep and take time to identify and explore issues in detail. There is more room and time for showcasing your legal knowledge and skill.
Essays on the UBE involve a much higher degree of precision.
There is no time or room to do anything other than answering the very specific legal questions being asked.
If you stray off-topic, you waste time and will receive zero points for your efforts.
California: (One 1.5 hour MPT - 10%) during the 3.5 hour PM session
v. UBE: (Two 1.5 hour MPTs - 20%) during the 3 hour AM session
In my view, the entire UBE is either failed or set up toward passing in these first 3 hours.
If you have not properly prepared or are not adequately rested, then get ready for a major shock.
Just because all of the information you need is contained within the MPT, does not mean that you can skip or shortcut on MPT practice during your bar exam preparation.
By contrast, in California you can start the exam on familiar ground with essays.
All the rules you have memorized (or even partly memorized) can help you.
Even if you are tired, your memory will kick you into gear and propel your performance.
When I sat the CA Bar, I decided to do the MPT first thing after the lunch break, instead of completing it after the 2 essays.
It took me 2 hours to complete the MPT (14%).
This left me with 1.5 hours to complete the last remaining 2 essays (circa 7% each).
Each essay on the CA bar exam is designed to be completed within 1 hour.
Due to the extra time I needed to spend on the MPT to complete it to a reasonable standard, I was left with only 45 minutes to complete the 2 essays.
I don't recommend my approach, however it did work for me, as I was able to get enough essay points earned in the reduced time to pass the overall exam.
My CA MPT/Essay Strategy will not work on the UBE
For the UBE, if you do what I did in the CA exam and take 2 hours to complete the first MPT in the AM session, you would only have 1 hour to complete the second MPT.
This is simply not enough time.
It can take 45 minutes to grasp the MPT material and task. With only 15 minutes remaining, you are highly likely not to finish the second MPT, or if you do finish it would likely be such a rushed effort that key points are missed.
On the UBE each MPT represents 10% of your final score, whereas each essay is worth 5%.
My Revised MPT Strategy for the UBE
Therefore, your revised strategy MUST include completing 2 MPT's (back to back) under timed conditions.
This means that you need to print out the MPT's (your are provided with hard copies on exam day - do the same when you practice).
Sit down to take the exam in the same way you will on exam day (Start the clock!).
Stop writing the 2 MPTs after 3 hours!.
When I did this, at first my results scared me.
I struggled to speed up my MPT performance.
Practicing in this way is painful.
It hurts your brain (at least I assume it would, as it hurt mine alot!).
The upside is that you get a reality check.
You will determine how ready you really are to tackle the 1-2 MPT combo (the first thing you will face on day 1 of the actual UBE).
WARNING: Don't assume ...
"I've done these kinds of practical tasks before at law school (all of the information is provided on the day) so I can focus on the MBE and Essays where I need to memorize the rules, etc."
My Initial Approach to Study for the Bar ➲ Barbri
Advice from a colleague who had passed the New York Bar at the beginning of his career when he was working at a New York law firm was to use a major bar review provider such as Barbri (as he did successfully).
I started out by watching the Barbri lectures. Whilst much of the advice I have subsequently seen advises bar takers to skip the lectures as you already attended them when you earned your law degree, as a foreign lawyer I needed the learn the basics.
For that reason I found the lectures much more interesting than I assume anyone else would. The lectures are very long. However when the sheer volume of content that needs to be covered is considered I think that it is what it is and the length is actually reasonable.
Of course if you have already studied in the US then I totally understand the need to urgently move on to the next stage of study.
Where I struggled with Barbri …
Everything you need is provided with Barbri and to my mind in hindsight this is part of the problem.
There is so much material to cover it is simply overwhelming ...
All my attempts at condensing the material down to just “the essentials” resulted in frustration and an inability to extract the key points such that I could be confident I had exactly what I needed, no more, no less.
Enter Brian Hahn, founder of MTYLT ➲ Magicsheets and Approsheets (UBE Edition)
When I cast the net wider and began searching for a better way, coming across Brian’s products were like discovering gold.
It was all there in a few pages. This was something I could work with. The time and frustration the Magicsheets and Approsheets saved me was substantial. I printed & bound hard copies and loaded the PDF’s into my Notability App on my Apple iPad so I could highlight both the hardcopies and digital copies as I used them.
Whilst the process of creating your own succinct summaries is an extremely valuable exercise that I would not normally circumvent, in the case of the CA Bar and UBE, I think that an exception applies.
These are no ordinary exams, and the sheer amount of material dictates some creativity in your approach.
Whilst I may have been able to create a summary, how was I to know how good the summary was, and whether or not I had left out something important?
Finally, I could just focus on practising for the exams.
MTYLT ➲ Passer’s Playbook 2.0
To maximise my efforts I also purchased Brian Hahn’s Passer’s Playbook 2.0 which when followed turned out to deliver exactly what it promises.
My thinking was that if the MBE is 100% on paper, I should practice primarily on paper.
Both these books provide ample questions to thoroughly practice on…. I did one question at a time (with no time limit) and immediately assessed all the answer choice explanations for quick feedback… I sought to understand the reason why I answered rightly or wrongly.
Whilst waiting for the hardcopy to arrive via international post, I got started with what I could obtain access to quickly (the AdaptiBar Free Trial, and the Kindle edition of MBE 2).
Having access to these digitally was also useful as a backup when I didn’t have the Strategies & Tactics MBE 8th edition hardcopy with me (it is a bulky and heavy tome).
The 8th edition includes a short (usually only a few pages) MBE tactics section at the front of each MBE subject chapter.
The MBE tactics sections offer helpful examples and tips about the typical MBE questions that are used to test each MBE subject.
My aim was to seek understanding for every MBE question. As Brian says “Quality, not quantity”.
One MBE question had me stumped. After reading the answer explanations, I could not make sense of the answer and why it was correct. I reached out to Brian … he was responsive and helped me through my mental blockage. After seeing how I had struggled, to clarify this point he ended up making amendments to his Magicsheets to reduce confusion for others in future.
“I believe this iterative process of engaging with students and tweaking the material has made the outlines better than others on the market. But I'm biased.” Brian Hahn
Later, I started timing my responses by setting the timer on my apple watch using siri before I started each question… If I needed more time I took it.
The consistent repeated 1:42 (1 minute 42 seconds) and later 1:30 (1 minute 30 seconds) with my apple watch set to vibrate on my wrist + ring to tell me I was out of time.
This constant repetition helped me to develop a real internal sense of when the time limit was about to be reached…
That is, I either finished early (well before my watch alerted) or literally started to anticipate the alarm a few seconds before it started to alert.
This is an extremely important sense to develop especially for more difficult MBE questions as once your internal alarm rings you know you are overtime and have to make the best call you can on the answer.
Getting caught up on a difficult question and spending way too much time on it is in my view the #1 most costly mistake you can make on the MBE.
When I started to be able to consistently answer most of the MBE questions correctly within 1:30 (1 minute 30 seconds) this helped me to significantly increase my confidence levels.
Breaking Down Barriers ➲ Recommended Nike Run Club (Mindfulness Run in collaboration with Headpsace)
This recommendation is a personal one that I think has the potential to assist with your mindset.
You can download the Nike Run Club App on your smart phone or watch for FREE.
The extensive library of free coached runs include a range of mindfulness runs produced in collaboration with Headspace.
One specific mindfulness 31 minute run/walk that I highly recommend to anyone taking on the Bar Exam or any other major barrier or hurdle in life is called “Breaking Through Barriers”.
Nike Run Club App ➲ Mindfulness Series
Law Dojo (developed by Margaret Hagan of Stanford d.school)
Margaret Hagan is a lawyer & a designer who is currently based at Stanford University. She is the Executive Director of the Legal Design Lab, at Stanford Law School. She is also a lecturer at the Stanford d.school.
Whilst some may consider the Law Dojo series of games not serious enough for Bar Review Study, and that it probably correct (there is an MPRE game but nothing specifically designed for Bar Review). I recommend the app as a low cost and fun way for foreign lawyers to test their grasp of the basics, and to help sharpen up their speed when dealing with USA legal concepts.
Final Preparations in the Lead Up Week
Dedicated (uninterrupted) time in the lead-up week of the exam (hotel room) is essential as well as being really comfortable with traveling to and navigating your way around the exam room.
To break up the days in the lead-up week, I attended the site of the exam every day and studied in the adjacent hotel lobby where others were also studying.
By the time the exam sitting days arrived, I was exceedingly calm and relaxed in the exam room and surroundings.
See You at the IL Bar
I hope my notes have been helpful and you are able to takeaway something that will help you tip the balance in your favor on exam day.
I hope that you take away this thought:
“If some Australian lawyer who started from scratch and was way out of his depth having never formally studied US law can pass both the CA Bar and the UBE, then I should be able to pass as well. It's just a matter of being flexible enough to adapt my approach to find what works for me!”
What the Finish Line looks like ...
File Note dated Wednesday 5 November, 2025:
I attended the 1st District of the Supreme Court of Illinois' Admission Ceremony at the UIC Dorin Forum in Chicago.
A few days after the ceremony, I completed the Attorney registration process and was assigned my State of Illinois ARDC Bar Number.
You can search for my active Illinois Attorney Licensure Status using my full name James Douglas Ford via the ARDC Lawyer Search page.
Credits: This blog article was written by James D. Ford Esq., GAICD CIPP/US CC | Principal Solicitor, Blue Ocean Law Group℠.
Important Notice:
This blog article is intended for general interest + information only.
To the extent this article is deemed advertising or solicitation, it is hereby identified as such.
It is not intended to constitute legal advice; the statements made are opinions about general situations, and they are not a substitute for advice as to any specific matter.
We recommend you always consult a lawyer for legal advice specifically tailored to your needs & circumstances.
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