Illinois to Administer NextGen Bar Exam in 2028

NCBE Issues Additional Guidance on Family Law and Trusts and Estates

Media contact: NCBE: communications@ncbex.org 

MADISON, WISCONSIN, May 29, 2024—Illinois has announced that it will administer the NextGen bar exam beginning in 2028; 19 jurisdictions in total have now announced plans to adopt the new exam. Illinois has not yet finalized whether its first administration will be in February or July of 2028.

“The new bar exam places a greater emphasis on testing the foundational skills required to practice law instead of memorizing legal concepts and principles,” said Mary Jane Theis, Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court. “The NextGen exam represents a step forward in a continuing effort to ensure new attorneys possess the knowledge and lawyering skills to meet the legal needs here in Illinois.”

“With Illinois’s announcement, more than one-third of the jurisdictions that use NCBE’s current exams have committed to the NextGen exam,” said Judy Gundersen, NCBE President and CEO. “We thank the Supreme Court of Illinois and the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar for their confidence in the NextGen bar exam.”

NCBE also recently provided additional details about what examinees can expect to see during the first administrations of the NextGen exam in two areas of legal knowledge, family law and trusts and estates:

• Family Law: From July 2026 through February 2028, family law concepts will appear on every NextGen exam in a performance task and may also be included in integrated question sets. During this period, family law concepts will be tested with the provision of legal resources. Starting in July 2028, family law will be included in the foundational concepts and principles tested on the NextGen bar exam and will be tested in the same manner as the other foundational concepts and principles.
• Trusts and Estates: From July 2026 through at least February 2028, trusts and estates concepts will appear on every NextGen exam in a performance task and may also be included in integrated question sets. During this period, trusts and estates concepts will be tested with the provision of legal resources.

The new exam is being developed by the National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), which currently develops bar exam content for 54 of 56 US jurisdictions. In the US, the highest court in each jurisdiction has authority over the admission of attorneys to practice in its courts, aided by its own bar admissions agency. The NextGen bar exam will replace the Uniform Bar Examination (UBE) that Illinois currently uses and, like the UBE, will serve as the basis for score portability between participating jurisdictions. 

Designed to reflect the work performed by newly licensed attorneys, the NextGen bar exam will test nine areas of legal doctrine (civil procedure, contract law, evidence, torts, business associations, constitutional law, criminal law, real property, family law) and 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). Tenets of attorney ethics will also be tested in conjunction with other topics and skills.

The new exam will balance the skills and knowledge needed in litigation and transactional legal practice and will reflect many of the key changes that law schools are making to their own curricula, building on the successes of clinical legal education programs, alternative dispute resolution programs, legal research, and legal writing and analysis programs. Visit https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen/content-scope for detailed outlines of the legal doctrine and skills that will be tested on the exam.

The subjects and skills to be tested were developed through a multi-year, nationwide legal practice analysis focused on the most important knowledge and skills for newly licensed lawyers (defined as lawyers within their first three years in practice). 

Like the current bar exam, the NextGen bar exam will be administered, and the written portions graded, by the individual US jurisdictions. The exam will be administered over one and a half days, with six hours of testing time on day one and three hours on day two. The current bar exam is typically administered in 12 hours over two full days. 

# # # 

About the National Conference of Bar Examiners 

The National Conference of Bar Examiners (NCBE), headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin, is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1931. NCBE promotes fairness, integrity, and best practices in bar admissions for the benefit and protection of the public, in pursuit of its vision of a competent, ethical, and diverse legal profession. Best known for developing bar exam content used by 54 US jurisdictions, NCBE serves admission authorities, courts, the legal education community, and candidates by providing high-quality assessment products, services, and research; character investigations; and informational and educational resources and programs. In 2026, NCBE will launch the next generation of the bar examination, ensuring that the exam continues to test the knowledge, skills, and abilities required for competent entry-level legal practice in a changing profession. For more information, visit the NCBE website at https://www.ncbex.org. 

About the Next Generation of the Bar Exam 

Set to debut in July 2026, the NextGen bar exam will test a broad range of foundational lawyering skills, utilizing a focused set of clearly identified fundamental legal concepts and principles needed in today’s practice of law. The skills and concepts to be tested were developed through a multi-year, nationwide legal practice analysis, focused on the most important knowledge and skills for newly licensed lawyers. Designed to balance the skills and knowledge needed in litigation and transactional legal practice, the exam will reflect many of the key changes that law schools are making today. NCBE is committed to ensuring a systematic, transparent, and collaborative implementation process, informed by input from and participation by stakeholders, and guided by best practices and the professional standards for high-stakes testing. For more information, visit https://nextgenbarexam.ncbex.org/ or https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen.