Document Type

Article

Publication Date

6-2024

Abstract

Set to debut in July 2026, the NextGen Bar Exam will test a broad range of foundational lawyering skills needed in today’s practice of law, including contract interpretation, drafting, and revising. According to the National Conference of Bar Examiners (“NCBE”), this exam is designed “to balance the skills and knowledge needed in litigation and transactional legal practice.” More specifically, the foundational skills that will be tested include drafting and revising contract provisions consistent with the facts, the law, and the client’s objectives, interests, and constraints. The NCBE has indicated that the examinees’ knowledge of the doctrinal subject matter topics, like Contracts, will be tested using these, and other, foundational skills. Bar takers will therefore be required to perform these lawyering skills as a way of proving their knowledge on topics such as contract formation, contract modification, interpretation, breach, and remedies. For the first time, in order to succeed on the bar exam, every law student will need to know how to draft and revise contract provisions.

This article discusses and dissects the content scope for the NextGen Bar Exam, outlining the areas of legal knowledge, practical skills, and abilities that will be covered. As this overview illustrates, law schools can no longer ignore contract drafting skills or relegate the teaching of contract drafting to an elective, upper-level legal writing course of 20 students or less. To facilitate incorporation of contract drafting skills into a range of courses, this article presents examples of a wide variety of in-class and out-of-class exercises and assignments along with possible assessment methods that law professors can integrate into their existing courses, whether that course is a first-year required course, an upper-level doctrinal subject-matter course, a skills course, or a clinic. This article will then present an in-depth analysis of simulated NextGen-style prompts and questions based upon a single hypothetical that allows students to complete a number of client-centered lawyering tasks. Transactional skills are finally getting the recognition they deserve. This article provides concrete guidance to ensure that law schools— and law students—are ready for it.

Download

Share

COinS