ABA Journal, NextGen UBE 'Blueprint' Welcome, But More Info on New Bar Exams Needed, Sources Say:
The National Conference of Bar Examiners’ “blueprint” for the NextGen UBE offers welcome info about how the new test will be different than the current Uniform Bar Exam, legal academics say. But they also say that critical pieces of information, such as a broader variety of sample questions and specific study materials, are still missing—and can’t come soon enough for law schools and bar candidates.
“[The] 2026 bar-takers deserved to have this information in 2023,” Marsha Griggs, an associate professor at the Saint Louis University School of Law and immediate past president of the Association of Academic Support Educators, wrote to the ABA Journal.
The NCBE began planning in 2018 for the new exam, which emphasizes skills new lawyers need over memorization, and its first administration is scheduled for July 2026. At press time, 41 jurisdictions have committed to the test that will cover eight areas of doctrine and evaluate seven foundational lawyering skills. The Uniform Bar Examination and its components—the Multistate Essay Examination, the Multistate Performance Test and the Multistate Bar Examination—will sunset in 2028. …
Sources contacted by the ABA Journal applaud the NCBE’s steady and thoughtful efforts to launch a new exam.
“We will not see a repeat in any way, shape or form, of what happened in California with the NCBE at the helm,” says Susannah Pollvogt, principal consultant for academics and curriculum for the Law School Admission Council’s Legal Education Consulting group.
While admirable, sources say, that deliberateness has a downside, slowing the release of information, which hamstrings law school educators’ and bar candidates’ abilities to thoroughly prep for the new exam.
One key resource that’s still missing is the “sourcebooks of law” aiming to eliminate the guesswork on which legal principles will be tested. Those will start rolling out in August, says Judith Gundersen, the NCBE president and chief operation officer. …
But that’s information that could be used right now, says Deborah Jones Merritt, a professor emerita at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law and a 2025 ABA Journal Legal Rebel. “I’m puzzled that NCBE hasn’t released these already,” she adds. “They would be very helpful for both candidates and faculty supporting them. And they might reduce some of the pressure to purchase commercial bar prep courses.”
Editor's Note: If you would like to receive a daily email with links to tax posts on TaxProf Blog, email me here.
