January 09 2025, By Pieper Bar Review
Updated January 09 2025. Originally published January 08 2025
On January 8, 2025, the New York State Court of Appeals revealed its plans to adopt the NextGen Bar Exam starting in July 2028. New York is now the 30th jurisdiction to transition to the NextGen exam. Seven jurisdictions will begin administering the exam next year, followed by thirteen more in 2027, and the remaining ten, including New York, in 2028.
The NextGen Bar Exam will replace the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) currently in use, continuing to offer score portability among participating jurisdictions, but in the form of an exam that aims to better align with the skills required for new attorneys.
New York and other states have needed to commit to a plan going forward as key components of the UBE, including the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), will not be licensed to states by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE) after February 2028. New York’s Announcement provides time for law schools to adjust the ways they introduce the bar exam to their students. Current first-year students in their second semester will be the first graduates to take the NextGen Bar Exam in New York.
The New York Law Exam Stays, but may be Fortified
New York will retain its New York Law Course (NYLC) and New York Law Exam (NYLE) as state-specific components required for bar admission. The combination is less of a “mini-New York Bar” Exam than a robust CLE for prospective members of the New York bar. The NYLC is an online series of video lectures totaling approximately 15 hours, covering various aspects of New York-specific law. Its completion is a perquisite to taking the NYLE, which is not proctored and open book.
A committee has been tasked with exploring options for a robust, New York-focused eligibility requirement, potentially including an in-person component. That committee will likely find that the NextGen Bar Exam, in combination with the NYLC and NYLE, has the same deficiencies that were raised in the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on the New York Bar Examination April 2020 report evaluating the state’s adoption of the UBE and its impact on legal practice readiness. The findings and recommendations from that report which will likely persist are:
- Insufficient Focus on New York Law: The UBE’s emphasis on general principles was found to inadequately assess knowledge of specific New York legal doctrines (most lawyers admitted before 2016 are still shocked that the CPLR is no longer tested on the bar exam).
- Perceived Ineffectiveness of the New York Law Exam (NYLE): The NYLE, intended to address state-specific knowledge gaps, was criticized for its open-book format and perceived lack of rigor, leading to it being taken less seriously by examinees.
- Call for a Rigorous New York Law Component: The Task Force recommended replacing the NYLE with a more stringent examination focused on New York law to ensure that newly admitted attorneys possess the necessary competence to practice effectively within the state.
- Alternative Pathways to Admission: The Task Force suggested exploring additional routes to bar admission, such as a New York Law Certification program for law students who complete a specified number of credits in New York law courses, and supervised practice programs during law school as potential alternatives to traditional bar examination methods. These alternate pathways are becoming more common in other states.
Understanding the NextGen Bar Exam
Purpose of the NextGen Bar Exam
By focusing on practical skills and foundational knowledge, the NextGen exam aims to better prepare attorneys for real-world challenges.
25% Shorter Format Exam
The NextGen bar exam will span one and a half days, compared to the current two-day format. It will feature:
- Day 1: Six hours of testing
- Day 2: Three hours of testing
This streamlined format reduces the overall testing time from 12 to 9 hours, aiming to ease the burden on examinees while maintaining rigorous assessment standards.
Question Types
The NextGen bar exam will include a variety of question types to evaluate both legal knowledge and lawyering skills:
- Multiple-choice questions
- Short-answer questions
- Integrated performance tasks (testing applied skills in realistic scenarios)
You can access sample questions here.
Subjects Tested
The exam will assess nine areas of legal doctrine:
- Civil Procedure
- Contract Law
- Evidence
- Torts
- Business Associations
- Constitutional Law
- Criminal Law
- Real Property
- Family Law
The exam will no longer cover:
- UCC Article 9 Secured Transactions
- Conflict of Laws
- Trusts and Estates
While Trusts and Estates is not listed among the foundational concepts and principles to be tested, the exam includes performance tasks that may feature areas of doctrinal law beyond the primary subjects, like Trusts and Estates (in fact, Trusts and Estates will appear on every NextGen exam in a performance task and may also be included in integrated question sets. Similarly, Family Law will be a foundational concept from July 2028 onward, but prior to that will appear on every NextGen exam in a performance task and may also be included in integrated question sets. You can access Content Scope Outlines here.
In addition, the exam will test seven foundational lawyering skills:
- Legal Research
- Legal Writing
- Issue Spotting and Analysis
- Investigation and Evaluation
- Client Counseling and Advising
- Negotiation and Dispute Resolution
- Client Relationship and Management
Ethics principles will also be integrated into the exam.
Differences from the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE)
The NextGen Exam aims to improve upon the UBE by integrating skills-based tasks alongside traditional knowledge-based assessments. It aligns more closely with the practical demands of modern legal practice, reflecting advancements in legal education and the growing emphasis on experiential learning.
States Adopting the NextGen Exam
As of January 2025, the following jurisdictions have announced their adoption of the NextGen Bar Exam, along with their planned initial administration dates:
July 2026:
- Connecticut
- Guam
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Northern Mariana Islands
- Oregon
- Washington
July 2027:
- Arizona
- Iowa
- Kentucky
- Minnesota
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Vermont
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
July 2028:
- Alaska
- Colorado
- Florida
- Georgia
- Indiana
- Illinois*
- Kansas
- Utah
- Virginia
*Illinois has announced its intent to adopt the NextGen Bar Exam in 2028, with the specific administration date to be determined.
Phone Credit: David Iglesias
Recent Posts
Why Study with a UBE Tutor?
The California State Bar Considered Breaking Away from the NCBE's Exams as a way to Cut Costs, but Those Plans are on Hold
Everything You Need to Know About Taking the Bar Exam in New York
Illinois Becomes 19th State to Announce Its Adoption of the NextGen Bar Exam Starting in 2028
The Challenges of Retaking the Bar Exam While Working
Contact Info
Courses
The Pieper Guarantee
Pass the first time or the next course is FREE!
Pieper Bar
Pieper Bar Review teaches students the legal concepts and exam skills necessary for success on the bar exam, and reinforces students’ knowledge through thought-provoking examples and bar exam questions. Pieper’s courses do more than teach the material to students. They enable students to master concepts as they are tested so that students can excel within the time constraints of the exam. The proof that the Pieper teaching method works is found in the success of our former students—now present-day attorneys. Ask them, and you’ll learn why Pieper People Pass.