VERMONT BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Vermont Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE state · MBE/MEE/MPT weighted 50/30/20 · minimum passing score 270 · score transferable to/from other UBE jurisdictions · plus MPRE + character/fitness · mandatory mentorship (transition-to-practice) for new admittees · historic law-office-study (apprenticeship) path · essays graded on national majority law.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE
Tort/personal-injury SOL 3 years (12 V.S.A. §512) · general civil/contract SOL 6 years (§511) governs ordinary written and oral contracts · defamation 3 years · assault/battery 3 years · childhood-sexual-abuse limitations eliminated · Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure track the Federal Rules · unified Superior Court with civil, criminal, family, probate, and environmental divisions · long-arm (§913) reaches nonresidents to the full limits of due process · venue proper where a party resides or the cause of action arose.
3. EVIDENCE
Own Vermont Rules of Evidence, patterned on the FRE and largely parallel · Daubert reliability standard for experts under VRE 702 · statutory physician-patient privilege with no FRE analog; spousal, clergy, attorney-client also recognized · brief objections under Vermont rules and precedent.
4. FAMILY LAW
No-fault divorce (living separate and apart 6 consecutive months with resumption not reasonably probable); fault grounds retained as alternatives · first state to enact civil unions (2000); early same-sex marriage (2009); existing civil unions still carry marital incidents · no common-law marriage · equitable distribution with the ALL-PROPERTY / hotchpot rule (15 V.S.A. §751)—the court may divide all property owned by either or both parties, however and whenever acquired, including premarital, separate, and inherited assets, subject to statutory factors; a client cannot assume inherited property is automatically shielded · maintenance on need-and-ability factors.
5. WILLS / TRUSTS / ESTATES
Title 14 probate code · attested will = signature + 2 witnesses (reduced from the historic 3) signing in the testator's presence · NO holographic wills—a handwritten unwitnessed document will not be probated · fixed one-half elective share for the surviving spouse (Vermont has not adopted the UPC sliding scale) · intestacy—spouse takes all if all descendants are also the spouse's, else a statutory share with the balance to descendants by representation · statutory homestead exemption (27 V.S.A. §101) protecting the residence from creditors and a deceased spouse's claims, plus probate allowances for spouse and minor children.
6. REAL PROPERTY
Notice/notice-oriented recording (27 V.S.A. §342)—an unrecorded conveyance is void as against a subsequent purchaser for value without notice, and recording priority is given effect · land records are kept and recorded in the TOWN CLERK'S office of each town (not a county recorder)—a practice trap for attorneys from county-recorder states · adverse possession 15 years (12 V.S.A. §501)—open, notorious, hostile, exclusive, continuous · judicial foreclosure including continued use of STRICT FORECLOSURE—the court sets a redemption period, and if the mortgagor fails to redeem, title vests in the mortgagee without a public sale; confirm the redemption period before advising a borrower.
7. TORTS
Modified comparative negligence — 51% bar (12 V.S.A. §1036): plaintiff recovers only if fault is NOT GREATER than the defendant(s) against whom recovery is sought—recovers at 50%, barred at 51% · joint-and-several liability generally RETAINED for concurrent tortfeasors causing an indivisible injury, with contribution among them · NO general or med-mal damages cap—a notable contrast with reform states, raising exposure and settlement value · Dram Shop Act (7 V.S.A. §501)—licensed vendor liable for unlawfully or negligently furnishing alcohol to an apparently-intoxicated person or a minor who then causes injury.
8. CONTRACTS / UCC
UCC adopted (9A V.S.A.)—Article 2 sales, negotiable instruments, and Article 9 secured transactions follow the uniform text · standard Statute of Frauds, including the UCC goods threshold of $500 or more · the 6-year general civil SOL governs contract actions; confirm the filing office for Article 9 work · otherwise apply national/Restatement and UCC rules straight, as Vermont offers essentially no substantive contract departures.