ALABAMA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Alabama Bar Exam Distinctions long outline. Alabama is a UBE jurisdiction, so most tested material is national MBE/MEE doctrine; this sheet captures only the points where Alabama departs from the majority rules. Master the universal outlines first, then layer these distinctions on top.
1. EXAM FORMAT
UBE jurisdiction (adopted 2011) · components are the MBE (200 multiple-choice questions, weighted 50%), the MEE (six 30-minute essays, 30%), and the MPT (two 90-minute tasks, 20%) · minimum passing score 260 — among the lowest of any UBE state · transferred UBE scores from other jurisdictions accepted subject to a validity window and a score floor · no separate Alabama state-law essay component is layered on the UBE · essays test general, transferable doctrine, so you will not apply the Alabama Code by section number · admission professionalism requirements exist but are administrative, not examined.
2. TORTS — THE SIGNATURE DISTINCTION
PURE CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE — Alabama is one of only about five jurisdictions (with Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, and the District of Columbia) to retain it · ANY plaintiff fault, however slight, is a TOTAL bar to recovery (a plaintiff just 5% at fault recovers $0, even against a 95%-at-fault defendant) · the plaintiff's escape routes are last clear chance, the defendant's wanton or willful conduct (ordinary contributory negligence is not a defense to wantonness), and the plaintiff being a member of a class the safety statute was meant to protect · joint & several liability is generally retained, consistent with the refusal to apportion fault to a negligent plaintiff · statutory Dram Shop Act imposes liability for unlawfully selling or furnishing alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or a minor when the sale causes injury · wrongful-death damages are PUNITIVE ONLY — measured by the wrongfulness of the defendant's conduct, not the decedent's lost earnings or economic value · statutory punitive-damages caps exist but have been the subject of repeated constitutional litigation.
3. CIVIL PROCEDURE
Personal-injury and most torts SOL 2 years · contracts founded on a written instrument 6 years · open or unwritten accounts 3 years · fraud 2 years (subject to a discovery rule) · wrongful death 2 years (and remember the damages are punitive in character) · the Alabama Rules of Civil Procedure track the FRCP closely, including Rule 13 compulsory/permissive counterclaims, broad discovery, and federal-style summary judgment.
4. EVIDENCE
Alabama Rules of Evidence (effective 1996) are FRE clones with parallel numbering and structure · relevance, the bar on character-propensity evidence, hearsay and its exceptions, and authentication all track the FRE · a Daubert-style reliability standard governs expert testimony by statute · a few common-law privileges are retained, but the safe exam answer is the federal answer.
5. MARITAL / FAMILY LAW
Common-law title / equitable distribution stat