NextGen UBE Exam Content

The NextGen UBE is built around a defined set of Foundational Concepts and Principles and a parallel set of Foundational Skills. Together, these form the core of what the exam is designed to assess. The doctrinal foundation includes business associations, civil procedure, constitutional law, contract law, criminal law, evidence, real property, and torts. Beginning in July 2028, family law will join this list as an additional doctrinal subject. These subjects represent the legal areas most commonly encountered in early practice and provide the basis on which the exam’s skills-based tasks are constructed.

Alongside these doctrinal areas, the exam tests a series of Foundational Skills, each of which reflects an essential component of modern legal work. These skills include legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counselling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and client relationship and management. The NextGen UBE integrates these skills throughout all sections of the exam, emphasizing the ability to apply legal principles in realistic practice situations rather than simply recalling rules in isolation.

Although the Foundational Concepts and Principles form the core doctrinal content, the exam also draws on additional areas of law to support the context in which skills are tested. You are not expected to study or memorise these additional subjects. When the exam introduces such material, it provides all necessary legal authorities, including statutes, regulations, and case law. Between July 2026 and February 2028, family law and trusts and estates will appear regularly in these skills-focused questions, even though they are not part of the primary doctrinal list.

Professional responsibility also plays a meaningful role in the exam. Issues arising under the Model Rules of Professional Conduct often appear in scenarios involving client counselling, negotiation, or management of attorney-client relationships. The exam tests select Model Rules through recalled knowledge, so you are expected to know these rules without receiving them in the materials provided. These rules are specifically identified in the Foundational Concepts and Principles and the Foundational Skills and are treated as core knowledge that every new lawyer should be able to apply confidently.

The Foundational Concepts and Principles and the Foundational Skills include two types of topics: starred and unstarred. Starred topics must be answered entirely from recalled knowledge, without legal resources being provided. This category includes select Model Rules of Professional Conduct and certain fundamental doctrines from the primary subject areas. Unstarred topics may be tested with or without the provision of legal resources. When legal resources are not provided, you are expected to recognize the relevant issue based on your own recalled understanding, even if the scenario does not explicitly identify the rule. When resources are provided, the focus shifts toward the skills required to interpret, evaluate, and apply those materials within the context of a realistic legal task.