Washington Lawyer - May/June 2024 - 32

FEATURE
Today's bar examination, first developed by NCBE in 1972, has seen many
transformations over the years. What began as a series of written essays
now includes multiple-choice questions, performance tests, and the
addition of a professional responsibility examination. The most notable
change was the administration of the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) beginning
in 2011, providing, for the first time, a standardized test that allowed
test takers to transfer scores across jurisdictions, known as score
portability.
Fast forward to January 2021, when NCBE completed a comprehensive
three-phase study to produce a new bar exam that would adequately
measure the competencies required for first-year attorneys to practice
law. The study included listening sessions with more than 400 stakeholders
from bar admission agencies and legal professionals, a survey
completed by more than 15,000 attorneys about skills needed in their
work, and committee meetings to assess the content areas to be tested.
WHAT'S CHANGING
The NextGen Bar Exam, which is replacing the UBE, will focus on civil
procedure, contract law, evidence, torts, business associations, constitutional
law, criminal law, and real property. Family law will be added starting
with the July 2028 test. The new exam will assess foundational skills
in legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation
and evaluation, client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute
resolution, and client relationship and management.
While the NextGen Bar Exam will still be administered over two days, it
will last 9 hours rather than 12 (six hours of testing on day one and three
hours on day two). Gundersen says the goal is to " test more efficiently -
get more information about a candidate's proficiency in a shorter
amount of time while maintaining the integrity of the bar examination. "
Another prominent change is the shift to a laptop-only exam, except for
test takers with approved accommodations. NCBE has contracted with a
technology firm to provide onsite tech support and to issue loaner laptops
if necessary.
WHAT'S STAYING THE SAME
While some components of the test are changing, " jurisdictions still have
an enormous amount of control with this exam, " says Marilyn Wellington,
NCBE chief strategy and operations officer.
Jurisdictions will continue to determine:
n Eligibility
n Accommodations
n Administration
n Grading (NCBE will grade the multiple-choice portion of the bar
exam, but jurisdictions are responsible for grading the essay and performance
test sections)
n Passing standards
n Customizations for state-specific testing
NCBE will follow the same schedule for administering the NextGen Bar
Exam, offering it on the last Tuesday and Wednesday in February and on
the last Tuesday and Wednesday in July. Until the UBE is completely
phased out in February 2028, NCBE will continue to administer both the
32 WASHINGTON LAWYER
* MAY/JUNE 2024
UBE and the NextGen Bar Exam concurrently in states that have opted to
adopt the latter.
Consistent with the UBE, the NextGen Bar Exam will be scored using a
scaled system to ensure fairness to all candidates by standardizing scores
based on the version of the exam taken. All scores will be fully portable
between jurisdictions that administer the UBE and the NextGen exam. The
overall theme is to " ensure fairness in testing ... and you do that by standardizing
scoring to resemble [the] individual exam taken, and that is a
true and accurate reflection of demonstrated proficiency, " says Gundersen.
OPTIMISM AMID UNCERTAINTY
Though NCBE has detailed many of the changes surrounding the new
exam, many questions remain. At the 2024 Association of American Law
Schools (AALS) Annual Meeting in early January, law school leaders were
still unclear on how much the new exam costs and when they can expect
additional practice materials.
NCBE has yet to announce a dollar amount for the exam, but says it is
committed to keeping costs reasonable. And while NCBE has released
some practice information, it is still in the process of approving materials
to be released.
" With the exam debut less than three years away, we know stakeholders
want as much information as possible to help examinees and law
schools prepare and to allow [c]ourts and [b]oards to make critical decisions, "
Gundersen wrote in the fall 2023 issue of Bar Examiner.
In the last quarter of 2024, NCBE is expected to issue a full-length prototype
exam to " a large and representative sample of students or recently
licensed lawyers for the purpose of generating performance data to support
the standard-setting process for jurisdictions. "
Meanwhile, law schools in the District are beginning to prepare their students
who will sit for the NextGen exam in Maryland. The Catholic University
of America Columbus School of Law, which did not participate in
the field-testing phase, has encouraged its students to take part in the
NCBE research. The university has also designed a unique summer program
that provides students studying for the bar one-on-one writing
assistance on sample essays and practice problem sets.
At the University of Baltimore, law students are preparing for the NextGen
Bar Exam through a rigorous course of study, practical experience at
legal clinics, and practice exams. The university has also implemented an
innovative bar stipend study program to alleviate financial pressures that
may impede students' ability to dedicate time to studying, according to
Weich. " The university found that almost all students who had financial
assistance passed the bar exam, " Weich says.
So far, news of the new bar exam has been met with mixed reactions
from current law school students and recent graduates. While many are
appreciative of improvements, they are also somewhat skeptical about
whether the NextGen Bar Exam will achieve its goal of effectively measuring
competency.
" I am glad that they noticed it can be better, but I am not sure if [NextGen]
will make it better. I trust that a lot of research has gone into the
changes, " says Catholic University law student Thelma Mbaezue-Daniel,
who plans to sit for the bar in February 2025. " My hope is that the NextGen
releases some of the stress of students taking the exam while keepcontinued
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