Law Schools

Brand New Bar Exam Gets Some Pretty Mixed Reviews

Meh. No one is really impressed.

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day.

This new exam is much more evolutionary than revolutionary.

Mike Sims, president of bar exam prep company Barbri, in comments given to Reuters after seeing a preview of the “NextGen” bar exam, set to debut in 2026. Sims described said the new test was like the current bar exam “with a little bit of extra stuff added in.” Others, like bar exam reform advocate Marsha Griggs, a professor at Saint Louis University School of Law, had a more negative response. She expressed concerns and disappointment about the new test having a similar number of multiple-choice questions as the current one, saying, “It’s more of the same. I think that’s the wrong direction to go.”


Staci ZaretskyStaci Zaretsky is a senior editor at Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Twitter and Threads or connect with her on LinkedIn.