How Law Schools Are Adapting to the NextGen UBE: Four Research-Backed Strategies

This blog post was co-written by Joel Chanvisanuruk and Teya Franks.

Key Takeaways:

• Legal educators are increasingly aligning entire curricula with NextGen UBE competencies.
• Legal research is emerging as a higher-priority instructional area.
• Scholars recommend more practice-based assessments and performance tasks.
• Bar preparation may be most effective when integrated throughout law school rather than concentrated after graduation.

As the NextGen UBE debuts across adopting jurisdictions, legal educators and institutions are revisiting how they prepare students for bar passage and legal practice. The efficacy of these approaches remains uncertain as only preliminary studies of the results from the first NextGen UBE administration are just materializing. Recent scholarship, however, identifies several emerging strategies.

This article synthesizes research and commentary on four approaches to institutional adoption: curriculum integration, assessment redesign, expanded legal research instruction, and broader bar readiness initiatives.

Integrate NextGen UBE Skills Across the Curriculum

Embedding lawyering skills across the curriculum is often cited as an effective method for preparing students for the NextGen UBE. Scholars note that skills are currently siloed within legal writing or experiential programs. Most doctrinal courses focus on legal theory and analysis instead of skill application, reflecting a misalignment with the NextGen UBE’s focus on practical competencies like client counseling and negotiation (Jackson, 2025).

To combat this, authors propose a curriculum-wide integration of NextGen UBE-tested skills. Rather than engaging in resource-intensive activities, such as creating or increasing the offerings of stand-alone skills courses, scholars advise professors to embed NextGen UBE foundational lawyering skills into existing coursework, allowing all faculty to share the responsibility of fostering NextGen UBE skills (Rollins, 2025).

As the NextGen UBE seeks to assess skills and knowledge through application, scholars have called for greater emphasis on skills training and gratitude for the faculty who deliver these courses (Salinas, 2023).

Expand Legal Research Instruction for NextGen UBE Success

The NextGen UBE introduces legal research as a standalone skills category, with nine specific testable skills on the exam. In response, scholars highlight the need for increased curricular emphasis on research instruction, as legal research is not only critical for the NextGen UBE, but also teaches law students analytical skills, critical thinking, and information literacy – all necessary competencies for legal practice (Johnson, 2025).

Creed (2025) specifically proposes a required standalone first-year legal research course focused on research strategy, analysis, and problem-solving rather than database mechanics. Other authors argue that legal research should be reinforced throughout law school through repeated practice, formative assessment, and integration into doctrinal courses (Johnson, 2025).

Scholars also consider how law librarians and academic support professionals can further this initiative by developing instructional materials and legal research exercises, and by supporting doctrinal faculty as they integrate such materials into their curricula (Armstrong & Altmeyer, 2023). Moreover, experts posit revisions to legal research instruction itself, proposing that critical thinking and analysis be prioritized over database navigation and source-finding (Drake & Watson, 2024).

Redesign Assessments to Reflect NextGen UBE Testing

A third emerging trend involves redesigning assessments to measure practical lawyering skills and professional judgment rather than relying primarily on traditional issue-spotting examinations. Assessments should mirror the NextGen UBE by incorporating performance tasks, integrated question sets, and practical problem-solving tasks, balancing the emphasis between knowledge and professional skills (Jackson, 2025).

Scholars stress the importance of assessing the writing process along with the final written product by grading case briefs, outlines, and annotated sources throughout stages of the drafting process (Williams, 2024). In addition, they emphasize that law schools should prepare students for the online NextGen UBE by requiring more online assessments, giving students opportunities to practice navigating digital materials and online testing platforms (Sherowski, 2024).

Although experts may approach implementation differently, the literature suggests a broad recognition that traditional assessment practices may not align with the skills emphasized by the NextGen UBE.

Build Bar Readiness Throughout the J.D. Program

Many scholars suggest a greater need to supplement post-graduation bar review during the J.D. program. Shultz (2021) contends that reliance on summer bar preparation programs alone may be insufficient to impart the research, analysis, and practice-based skills emphasized on the NextGen UBE. Bar preparation should be intentionally integrated across all three years of law school rather than treated as a last-minute intervention (Jackson, 2025).

For law schools that have yet to formalize the role and associated duties, scholars propose creating positions such as Director of Bar Success as a resource to support students, assist faculty in curriculum and assessment design, and coordinate the NextGen UBE transition with commercial bar prep providers (DeFabritiis, 2024).

The emerging recommendation is not simply more bar preparation, but a broader definition of bar readiness that begins earlier in law school and involves a wider range of institutional support. Legal educators can take advantage of the Building Bar Skills Initiative from AccessLex Institute^®, which provides ready-to-go NextGen UBE preparation Modules created by legal experts.

Conclusion

As data on NextGen UBE performance and early-career outcomes emerge in the coming years, additional research will be necessary to determine which approaches most effectively improve student learning, bar success, and practice readiness. Current scholarship points to:

• Greater integration of professional skills throughout the curriculum;
• Expanded attention to legal research;
• Increased use of practice-oriented assessments; and
• More comprehensive approaches to bar preparation and intra-institutional collaboration.

With the NextGen UBE more intentionally assessing the skills necessary for early legal practice, future analyses may examine whether early-career attorneys who took the exam demonstrate greater skills competencies compared to peers who passed the legacy UBE. 

Stay informed about NextGen UBE updates and emerging bar exam research with Raising the Bar, a free quarterly newsletter from AccessLex featuring bar exam news and research.

References

Armstrong, A. M., & Altmeyer, S. (2023). How collaboration between ASPs & law librarians on legal research lessons can prepare students for success on the NextGen bar exam: Key partnership-building and action steps academic success programs (ASPs) and law librarians need to take right now. AALL Spectrum, 28(1), 28-31.

Creed, A. (2025). The NextGen bar examination: How a dedicated legal research course in the first year can strengthen the profession. Legal Reference Services Quarterly, 44(2), 98-143.

DeFabritiis, S. (2024). The NextGen bar exam: Inspiring change in legal education. Boston Bar Journal, 68(3), 25-27. Drake, A., & Watson, A. (2024). Legal research instruction in the NextGen era. Buffalo Law Review, 72(4), 1309-1380. 

Jackson, T. M. (2025). Reimagining legal education: Aligning curriculum and pedagogy with the NextGen bar exam. Lincoln Memorial University Law Review, 13(1), 97-139.

Johnson, A. G. (2025). Preparing students for legal research on the NextGen UBE bar exam. Law Library Journal, 117(4), 388-415.

Rollins, C. (2025). Integration of mediation skills as required by the NextGen bar exam. Saint Louis University Law Journal, 69(3), 473-498.

Salinas, O. J. (2023). Secondary courses taught by secondary faculty: A (personal) call to fully integrate skills faculty and skills courses into the law school curriculum ahead of the NextGen bar exam. Minnesota Law Review, 107(6), 2663-2696.

Sherowski, E. (2024). Gen Z meets NextGen: Using Generation Z pedagogy to prepare students for the NextGen bar exam. University of Detroit Mercy Law Review, 101(3), 333-356.

Shultz, M. B. (2021). Professor, please help me pass the bar exam: #NextGenBar2026. Journal of Legal Education, 71(1), 141-185.

Williams, C. V. (2024). Bracing for impact: Revising legal writing assessments ahead of the collision of generative AI and the NextGen bar exam. Legal Writing, 28, 1-35.