OHIO BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Ohio Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE jurisdiction (first administered Feb 2021) — MBE 50% / MEE 30% / MPT 20% · minimum passing UBE score 270 · portable score (transfers to/from other UBE states) · MPRE scaled 85 still required (higher than the typical 80) · the MEE/MPT test general/majority law unless a question names Ohio — so the Ohio rules below matter for practice and any state-named question, not because Ohio drafts its own essays · write general law on the UBE.
2. EVIDENCE
Ohio Rules of Evidence (1980, FRE-based, but with deliberate deviations — heavily tested) · FLAG: privileges are STATUTORY — R.C. 2317.02, not a "Rule 501" (the Rules defer to the statute for attorney-client, physician-patient, spousal, clergy, etc.) · distinct Rule 609 prior-conviction impeachment balancing (own 403-style test, special treatment of the accused) · spousal testimonial + confidential-communications privileges (statute + Rule 601) with crime-against-spouse/children exceptions · polygraph generally inadmissible absent stipulation · Rule 601 child-witness competency voir dire.
3. TORTS
FLAG: Modified comparative — 51% BAR ("not greater than", R.C. 2315.33): P recovers only if P's fault is not greater than the combined fault of all others — i.e., P recovers when ≤50% at fault and is barred only when fault exceeds 50%; P WINS the 50/50 tie (contrast ND's 50% bar where P loses the tie) · recovery reduced by P's % · FLAG: hybrid liability split (R.C. 2307.22-.23): for ECONOMIC damages, a D found >50% at fault is jointly & severally liable for all economic loss, while a D ≤50% is liable only severally (its share); for NONECONOMIC damages, every D is liable only severally regardless of percentage · caps: noneconomic capped (R.C. 2315.18) at greater of $250k or 3× economic, max $350k/plaintiff or $500k/occurrence, with a catastrophic-injury exception (permanent deformity, loss of limb/organ, or injury preventing independent living) · punitive capped at 2× compensatory; economic damages uncapped · dram shop narrow/pro-defendant (R.C. 4399.18) — generally only knowing off-premises sale to a noticeably intoxicated person or sale to a minor.
4. CIVIL PROCEDURE / SOL
Ohio Civil Rules parallel federal but cite by Ohio number (Civ.R. 8 notice pleading — Ohio has NOT fully adopted Twombly/Iqbal; Civ.R. 3 commencement = filing + service within a year; Civ.R. 56 summary judgment) · SOL: 1 yr legal & medical malpractice + defamation (common trap) · 2 yrs bodily injury, property damage, wrongful death · 4 yrs fraud · 6 yrs written and oral contracts (verify current figure) · med-mal also has a 4-yr repose · apply Ohio periods on Ohio essays.
5. WILLS / ESTATES
Own probate code (Title 21, NOT UPC) · will = writing, signed at the end by testator + two competent witnesses who saw the signing or heard the acknowledgment · NO holographic wills (unwitnessed handwritten wills invalid); nuncupative only in extremely narrow last-sickness cases · self-proving wills under R.C. 2107 · Elective share (R.C. 2106.01): dissatisfied spouse elects against the will and takes 1/2 of the net estate if no children or only one child, but only 1/3 if two or more children (fixed shares, NOT a sliding scale) + right to elect the mansion house (purchase the marital residence) · intestacy (R.C. 2105.06): spouse takes all if no descendants or all descendants mutual; if one non-spouse child, spouse gets first $20,000 + 1/2 balance; if two+ children with at least one non-spouse, spouse gets first $60,000 (or $20k if parent of none) + 1/3 balance · $40,000 support allowance + two autos + exempt property off the top.
6. REAL PROPERTY
Recording act: RACE-NOTICE (R.C. 5301.25) — unrecorded conveyance is fraudulent against a subsequent BFP who took without notice AND recorded first (both required) · adverse possession: 21 YEARS (one of the longest in the country); usual elements + tacking in privity allowed · FLAG: DOWER survives in Ohio (R.C. 2103.02) — surviving spouse's life estate in 1/3 of real property the other spouse owned during marriage; the non-titled spouse must join to release dower on any deed or mortgage of marital realty · foreclosure: judicial only (no general residential power-of-sale), through common pleas court with sheriff's sale + confirmation; limited redemption before confirmation.
7. CONTRACTS / UCC
UCC adopted (Title 13) + Restatement common law = national doctrine · SOF per R.C. 1335.05 (land, suretyship, one-year, consideration-of-marriage; goods $500+) · noncompetes enforceable if reasonable in time/geography/scope and supported by consideration · Ohio courts will REFORM (modify) an overbroad covenant to make it reasonable (Raimonde rule) — the opposite of NC's strict blue-pencil (which only strikes, never rewrites).
8. BUSINESS ENTITIES & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporations (Ch. 1701) / LLCs (Revised LLC Act, Ch. 1706, eff. 2022, contractarian/default-flexible) / partnerships — fiduciary duties and agency are national doctrine · veil-piercing = the Ohio Belvedere 3-prong test (control + fraud/wrong + injury) · Ohio Rules of Professional Conduct (eff. 2007) mirror ABA Model Rules — apply Model Rules; discipline via the Ohio Board of Professional Conduct + Supreme Court.
9. CRIMINAL
R.C. Title 29, MPC-influenced culpability (purposely/knowingly/recklessly/negligently) · aggravated murder = purposeful killing with prior calculation and design, or felony murder of enumerated felonies; plus murder — statutory definitions · death penalty retained for aggravated murder with specifications · FLAG: stand your ground (no duty to retreat anywhere lawfully present) · FLAG: once the defendant produces evidence of self-defense, the prosecution must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt · apply MBE/common-law doctrine on the MBE, Ohio definitions on Ohio essays.
KEY FLAGS
FLAG: UBE jurisdiction (Feb 2021; cut score 270; portable) — write general law on the MEE; MPRE 85 still required. FLAG: 51% bar — P wins the 50/50 tie (vs. ND 50%). FLAG: Economic vs. noneconomic J&S split. FLAG: No holographic wills; elective share 1/2 or 1/3. FLAG: RACE-NOTICE recording; 21-year adverse possession; DOWER survives. FLAG: Privileges statutory (R.C. 2317.02). FLAG: