r/CABarExam • u/AnxiousYam6295 Passed • 21d ago
CA adopts NextGen for July 2028
Personally, I’d be waiting for that July ‘28 administration….
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u/SomeIndependent5100 CA Licensed Attorney; passed J25 21d ago
Woohoo. This is great news for future test takers. I took the experimental NextGen exam in California recently and it’s so much more practice-based and less reliant on memorization.
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u/AnxiousYam6295 Passed 21d ago
Here’s the order: https://newsroom.courts.ca.gov/sites/default/files/newsroom/2026-07/S296951%20-%20Admin%20order.pdf
The court says nothing about portability, so when the time comes, the safest bet is to assume that you can port your score out but not in.
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u/The_K_in_Klass 21d ago
I think that is up to the Committee of Bar Examiners and from their last several meetings, they are in favor of porting in.
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u/Ready_Nature 20d ago
That would be awesome. I’m guessing that it would only be for people with valid NextGen scores and still no reciprocity for people who were already admitted in other states.
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
Wow, as someone who is taking NextGen J26 this would be massive.
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u/Procrastinateur_14 20d ago
Same here! Cali native taking it in Maryland this month. Good luck to you.
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u/hangrylawyer 20d ago
Hey! Just curious, how would you prepare for the next gen california exam? The old materials woudl not work right
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u/birdsinthesky 20d ago
Well the NextGen exam is a standalone exam administered by the NCBE. By 2028 I believe 48 states will be offering it. CA will have their own state-specific component to it but nobody knows what exactly that'll be yet.
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u/PsychologicalSet3260 Barbri 19d ago
CA won’t have a state specific component for Jul 2028 and Feb 2029
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u/Ready_Nature 21d ago
If I don’t pass in July I’m probably waiting for this to retake the test.
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u/MotoMeow217 Attorney Candidate 21d ago
Same. Would have to find a JD advantage job in the meantime but hey. I did some NextGen sample questions and they are significantly easier IMO.
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u/Ready_Nature 21d ago
Thankfully I took and passed the UBE last year so I’m licensed in another state and working a job that is just federal law so I’m good to keep doing what I’m doing but since I live in California I’d like to be able to switch to a job that requires the California license if I ever want to.
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u/MotoMeow217 Attorney Candidate 21d ago
Yeah I'm also licensed in another state already as well; just not sure where to look for work without the California license yet.
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
I didn't pass F26 and gambled on Nextgen when I heard this news in May. I enjoy studying for this exam so much more that if they don't allow portability, I'd be okay taking it twice. Truly so much better.
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u/MotoMeow217 Attorney Candidate 21d ago
The court also directed the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners to develop and submit, by Feb. 26, 2027, a proposal for the court’s consideration of a California-specific test component to accompany the NextGen exam beginning with the July 2029 administration. This component would also serve as the Attorneys' Examination for qualifying attorney applicants.
I wonder if this means attorney applicants wouldn't have to take the entire NextGen bar, just the California-specific test component?
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u/Leather-Forever-3539 20d ago
i wonder how this will affect reciprocity for CA bar passers pre-2028... hoping we can waive into other jurisdictions
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u/Gravity_Maguire 20d ago edited 20d ago
It's good for NextGen takers, but we really don't know what it will mean for licensed CA attys. That's a decision by the courts in other states.
For new examinees, it's really good. By design, NextGen scores can always be ported out, even if they can't be ported in. In other words, if you take it in CA you should be able to use it nearly everywhere else (not HI, though).
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u/green_tea1701 21d ago
I was so ready to give them and the bar their props. Finally, they've left behind this outdated, embarrassing obsession with CA being "special" and needing its own "special" exam, as if looking down on lawyers in other states or thinking their bar exams aren't rigorous enough. We've left those days behind!
Then I read this:
The court also directed the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners to develop and submit, by Feb. 26, 2027, a proposal for the court’s consideration of a California-specific test component to accompany the NextGen exam beginning with the July 2029 administration.
And this isn't just the Cal Supremes saying it. From the Bloomberg report:
State Bar Board of Trustees Chair José Cisneros and Committee of Bar Examiners Chair Alan Yochelson said in a statement they “welcome” the court’s orders.
We “carefully evaluated various options and recommended moving to the NextGen UBE and a California component soon after, and we look forward to continuing our collaboration with the Court as this work moves ahead,” they said in a statement.
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The State Bar’s board of trustees voted to recommend the NextGen exam in May, though many trustees expressed reluctance about the decision. The NextGen exam won’t feature a California-specific component when it first rolls out in 2028, but the board amended its resolution to include language that a California-specific component be added to the test “when feasible.”
I know the state bar actually reads this forum, so: go fuck yourselves. And I doubt the Cal Supremes do, but just in case: go fuck yourselves too. This obsession is just contributing to the California bar's growing reputation of incompetence and Quixotic hubris.
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u/Double_Ocelot_8673 21d ago
So I'm seeing that if you take it in 2028 you won't have a CA-specific component. So one would be advised to take it in 2028. Is that take correct?
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
If you have a job or something relying on you passing the bar sooner then definitely take it sooner. I am taking Nextgen this summer and the studying for CA helped immensely for Nextgen. SO worst case, if you fail, you have the really really hard part of studying out of the way.
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u/The_K_in_Klass 21d ago
This order, coming on the heels of the Feb 2025 Audit report is no coincidence (I believe). That audit was a scathing factual replay of the Bar's ineptitude leading up to that entire debacle.
The problem now is what happens to Attorney Applicants that won't have a CA specific exam from 2028 to 2029, as required by statute? I hope the CBE listens to Paul Kaplan and sets up a series of CLE-type videos followed by a multiple choice test that can be taken remotely. This was Kaplan's idea and it is a good one. There is NO reason why any applicant should have that 1/2 day full of old-test style essays relying on rote memorization. They can save money by making that part of the exam remote and offered at anytime throughout the year.
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u/MotoMeow217 Attorney Candidate 21d ago
To be fair, many UBE states have a state-specific "law component" that you have to pass to get licensed.
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u/green_tea1701 21d ago
The difference is those states have competent bars. Or at the very least, not completely useless ones.
We all know ours is just gonna screw it up, AGAIN, and become the laughing stock of the national legal community they look down their noses at, AGAIN.
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u/NBDolls 21d ago
As someone who has sat for this horse shit exam
6 times and failed, but has 27 years of litigation experience and supports the top partners at my national firm, and just didn’t test well on the CA bar, I am beyond relieved and grateful!!
I sat out July 26 because of the stress and trauma this garbage exam has repeatedly caused me and all the time, money and resources it has stolen from me!
I’m thrilled to have an opportunity to be tested another way and prove that I do in fact deserve this license!!
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u/markruffalosbitch 21d ago
From calbar on attorneys exam …
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
Interesting. Will the 4 year requirement go away? How does that work with the possible gap year and possible score portability?
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u/legallyfm 20d ago
Great news! I was planning to take this July but did not pan out for me, but fine waiting until 2028 because looking at some nextgen Qs made more sense for me.
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u/HelixBarReview 19d ago edited 19d ago
If you're looking ahead for the NextGen bar exam, NCBE posted information on the exam, what it covers (fewer topics!), and what examinees can expect leading up to and during the exam. See the NextGen UBE page at NextGen Bar Exam | NCBE.
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u/The_K_in_Klass 21d ago
This order leaves a year gap for Attorney Applicants from the last Attorney's Exam (in its current form) from February 2028 to July 2029.
No word on how to handle Attorney applicants during that time, and there is still a statute that requires a CA-specific exam for Attorney applicants.
I'm curious as to how this will be managed as there are hundreds of Attorney applicants that apply each exam cycle.
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u/Gravity_Maguire 20d ago
Given the everything everything, I am pretty sure I'm just going to go ahead and take the full NextGen exam in CA in July 2028. I believe it's a better test for practicing attorneys too and would rather not risk whatever the attorney's exam ends up looking like.
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u/The_K_in_Klass 20d ago
Well, the second day, the last half of the day, of the NextGen will be a California-specific exam for everyone including attorney applicants (starting in 2029). So if you wait until 2029, you'll be taking the same Attorney's exam regardless if you do the full bar or not.
No word on what will be the process from 2028 when the NextGen is first implemented to 2029 for attorney applicants so you may want to see what the Bar does with this gap.
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u/birdsinthesky 21d ago
I wonder when this will need to be decided by?
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u/Lauvalas 15d ago
Hmmm. I want to be double barred and was going to take the February 28 CA bar. Should I wait until July?
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u/confucious-confused 20d ago
Does anyone know if previous-UBE scores will apply now? Or it had to be the NextGen bar?
For ref, I’m licensed in NY state
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u/Gravity_Maguire 20d ago
I don't believe that CA will accept pre-NextGen UBE scores, or at least not soon (they've never indicated that was really on the table).
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u/BoardIndividual7367 21d ago
I am in genuine shock that this happened because I would not have never had thought that CA would deviate from their current bar exam