Subjects Tested on the California Bar Examination
The chart below indicates the subjects tested on the California Bar Examination along with the related courses in law school. We strongly recommend that you plan to take each of the Bar-related courses. To ensure that you are able to enroll in all of these important courses, you are discouraged from leaving any of them until your last semester. (Several of the courses are part of our required first-year curriculum, but many are upper-division electives. In the chart below, first-year courses are in italics.)
The Academic Associate Dean, Greg Keating, indicates that each of the Bar-related courses will be offered at least once each year. The following Bar-courses will be offered every semester: Constitutional Law II; Business Organizations; Criminal Procedure; Evidence; and Gifts, Wills and Trusts.
Once a student is placed on Restricted Enrollment, in order to graduate, that student must successfully complete all of the Bar-related courses. Students on Restricted Enrollment may not select the CR/D/F option for any Bar-related course.
Required first-year courses are listed below in italics.
| Topic Tested on California Bar Exam | Related Course(s) at USC Law |
|---|---|
| Business Associations | Business Organizations; Partnerships & LLCs |
| Civil Procedure | Procedure I |
| Community Property | Community Property |
| Constitutional Law | Constitutional Law I; Constitutional Law II |
| Contracts | Contracts |
| Criminal Law and Procedure | Criminal Law; Criminal Procedure |
| Evidence | Evidence |
| Professional Responsibility | Legal Profession |
| Real Property | Property |
| Remedies | Remedies |
| Torts | Torts I |
| Trusts | Gifts, Wills and Trusts |
| Uniform Commercial Code Articles 1 & 2 and those provisions of Article 9 concerning Fixtures | Contracts; Sales; Secured Transactions |
| Wills and Succession | Gifts, Wills and Trusts |
Business Associations
The subject titled "Business Associations" includes issues concerning Corporations, Sole Proprietorships, partnerships of all forms, Joint Ventures, limited liability entities, related agency principles and uniform acts
Civil Procedure
The scope of the subject titled "Civil Procedure" will include both the California Code of Civil Procedure and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
Evidence
The scope of the subject titled "Evidence" will include both the California Code of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Professional Responsibility
This subject will require knowledge of the California Rules of Professional Conduct, relevant sections of the California Business and Professions Code, and leading federal and state case law. Applicants will also be required to know the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct and the ABA Model Code of Professional Responsibility.
Wills and Succession
This subject will require familiarity with the following provisions of the California Probate Code and an understanding of California law in the specific areas noted:
Division 2. General Provisions
- Part 1. Effect of Death of Married Person on Community and Quasi-Community Property, Sections 100-103
- Part 3. Contractual Arrangements Relating to Rights at Death, Sections 140-147, 150
- Part 5. Simultaneous Death, Sections 220, 222-224
- Part 6. Distribution Among Heirs or Beneficiaries, Section 240
Division 6. Wills and Intestate Succession
- Part 1. Wills
- Chapter 1. General Provisions, Sections 6100, 6101, 6104, 6015
- Chapter 2. Execution of Wills, Sections 6110-6113
- Chapter 3. Revocation and Revival, Sections 6120, 6121, 6123
- Part 2. Intestate Succession, Sections 6400-6402
- Part 3. Family Protection
- Former Chapter 5. Spouse and Child Omitted from Will, Former Sections 6560-6562, 6570-6573 [for decedents dying prior to January 1, 1998]
Division 11. Construction of Wills, Trusts and Other Instruments
- Part 1. Rules of Interpretation of Instruments, Sections 21105, 21109, 21110, 21137
- Part 6. Family Protection: Omitted Spouses and Children [for decedents dying on or after January 1, 1998]
- Chapter 2. Omitted Spouses, Section 21610-21612
- Chapter 3. Omitted Children, Sections 21620-21623
