Dunesday: When Bar Essays Test Multiple Subjects

Some pop-culture moments don’t happen because a studio planned a crossover. They happen because the calendar accidentally creates one. And people can’t resist treating it like an event.

We saw that in Summer 2023 with “Barbenheimer”: Barbie and Oppenheimer opened on the same day (July 21, 2023) and audiences turned it into an unlikely double-feature phenomenon. Two completely different vibes. One shared release date. Suddenly, “which one are you seeing?” became “are you doing both?”

Now we’ve got a new version of that energy brewing, even though it’s still about 11 months away.

Dune: Part Three and Avengers: Doomsday are currently set to premiere on the same day: Dec. 18, 2026. And this time, the nickname didn’t originate as a pure internet invention. Recently, Robert Downey Jr., joking alongside Timothée Chalamet at a public event/Q&A, helped coin the label “Dunesday.”

Different films. Different fanbases. Same concept: two “big events” arriving together, turning the combination into part of the story.

Speaking of combinations, the Multistate Essay Examination portion of the Uniform Bar Exam may test a combination of multiple subjects in a single question. It’s rare—but real—and it’s exactly the kind of thing that can cost points if you walk into an essay with narrow vision and miss the “second blockbuster” hiding in the fact pattern. (Some non-UBE jurisdictions combine subjects even more routinely.)

There are some natural and predictable combinations of subjects on the MEE, like Agency and Partnership, or Criminal Procedure and Conflict of Laws, or Constitutional Law and Criminal Procedure, or Wills and Trusts.

Since 2008, these MEE essays below have tested multiple subjects in a single question. If you're familiar with how subjects might be combined, you won't be caught off guard on exam day. After all, you never want to be surprised on exam.

Agency

• July 2008 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2009 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2010 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2011 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2012 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2013 (combined with Torts)

• February 2014 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2015 (combined with Torts)

• February 2016 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2018 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2019 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2018 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2019 (Agency and Partnership)

• Early September 2020 (combined with Corporations)

• Late September 2020 and October 2020 Remote (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2021 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2022 (combined with Corporations)

• July 2023 (Agency, Partnership, and Corporations)

• February 2025 (Agency and Partnership)

Civil Procedure

• February 2009 (combined Conflict of Laws)

• February 2012 (combined Conflict of Laws)

• July 2017 (combined Conflict of Laws)

• July 2019 (combined Constitutional Law)

• Conflict of Laws (currently only tested alongside another subject)

• July 2008 (combined with Family Law)

• February 2009 (combined with Civil Procedure)

• July 2011 (combined with Family Law)

• February 2012 (combined with Civil Procedure)

• July 2012 (combined with Wills)

• February 2017 (combined with Family Law)

• July 2017 (combined with Civil Procedure)

• July 2019 (combined with Wills)

Constitutional Law

• July 2019 (combined with Civil Procedure)

• July 2020 (combined with Corporations)

Contracts and Sales

• July 2010 (combined with Negotiable Instruments) (Negotiable Instruments is no longer tested on the MEE)

Corporations

• July 2020 (combined with Constitutional Law)

• Early September 2020 (combined with Agency)

• July 2022 (combined with Agency)

Criminal Law

• July 2009 (Combined with Criminal Procedure)

• February 2014 (Combined with Criminal Procedure)

Criminal Procedure

• July 2009 (Combined with Criminal Law)

• February 2014 (Combined with Criminal Law)

• July 2016 (Combined with Evidence)

• July 2017 (Combined with Evidence)

Evidence

• July 2016 (Combined with Criminal Procedure)

• July 2017 (Combined with Criminal Procedure)

Family Law

• July 2008 (combined with Conflict of Laws)

• July 2011 (combined with Conflict of Laws)

• February 2017 (combined with Conflict of Laws)

Partnership

• July 2008 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2009(Agency and Partnership)

• July 2010 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2011 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2012 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2014 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2016 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2018 (Agency and Partnership)

• July 2018 (Agency and Partnership)

• February 2019 (Agency and Partnership)

• Late September 2020 and October 2020 Remote (Agency and Partnership)

Torts

• July 2013 (combined with Agency)

• February 2015 (combined with Agency)

• July 2017 (combined with Agency)

Trusts

• February 2013 (combined with Wills)

• February 2015 (combined with Wills)

• July 2020 (combined with Wills

• February 2025 (combined with Wills)

Wills

• July 2012 (combined with Conflict of Laws)

• February 2013 (combined with Trusts)

• February 2015 (combined with Trusts)

• July 2019 (combined with Conflict of Laws)

• July 2020 (combined with Trusts)

• February 2025 (combined with Trusts)

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The NextGen Uniform Bar Examination is set to debut in a limited number of U.S. jurisdictions in July 2026.

And NextGen is built to make “combos” more common, especially through Integrated Question Sets (IQSs). Think of an IQS as a mini case file: You get one common fact scenario, sometimes paired with legal resources (like statutes or judicial opinions) and/or supplemental documents (like a police report or deposition excerpt), followed by a mix of question types.

A single IQS may test more than one subject, so you’re not just answering “a Civ Pro set” or “an Evidence set.” You’re issue-spotting and applying law across several areas in one sitting.