Nevada green-lights three-pronged plan to licensure
Nevada will move forward on its proposal for a unique three-stage assessment for bar licensure that does not include using the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen bar exam. (Image from Shutterstock)
Nevada will move forward on its proposal for a unique three-stage assessment for bar licensure that does not include using the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ new NextGen bar exam—but might include the test being developed by Kaplan Exam Services for the State Bar of California.
“The chief justice called me to let me know the members of the court wanted to proceed with the staged implementation of the Nevada Plan,” Richard M. Trachok II, chair of the Nevada Board of Bar Examiners, wrote to the ABA Journal.
A joint report submitted in April from the Foundational Subject Requirement and Performance Test Implementation Task Force and the Supervised Practice Task Force was passed without change, Trachok says. The Nevada test could first be administered in “a year or so,” he wrote.
Currently, Nevada’s bar exam consists of six one-hour essay questions prepared by the state’s board of bar examiners, the Multistate Bar Exam and two two-hour foundational skills questions applying fundamental lawyering skills in realistic situations, according to the bar’s website.
Under the new system, the first step will be a multiple-choice test, known as the Foundational Law Exam, to be given at testing centers around the country four times each year that could be taken any time after a law student successfully completes the third semester of law school, Trachok says. The 100-question test would be focused on the seven MBE subjects.
As an initial step, Nevada might use California’s new multiple choice test, which is scheduled to be launched in February 2025 in partnership with Kaplan. Trachok says he has a scheduled meeting with members of the State Bar of California the week of Sept. 16, he wrote, but the two states have been in discussions “for quite some time” regarding costs and other details.
The State Bar of California confirmed that its contract with Kaplan allows for the licensing of multiple-choice questions to Nevada for use in their 2025 bar exams.
“We can also share that Nevada has confirmed their interest in taking advantage of that contractual provision,” a state bar spokesperson told the ABA Journal.
Kaplan does not comment on potential deals, says Russell Schaffer, the company’s communication director.
The second step is a one-day performance exam taken in person in Nevada after graduation. It would consist of three two-hour performance tests, similar to those Nevada currently uses. The performance tests would require test-takers to draft memos, briefs, opinions or other legal memoranda based on documents, statutes and other authorities provided to them. The state has been drafting the Nevada Performance Tests for the last four years, Trachok wrote.
The third step, 40 to 60 hours of supervised practice, could be completed in law school clinics, externships or legal aid organizations with supervising lawyers, according to the plan.
The task forces will submit the final plan, costs to create the exam, legal principles tested, beta testing and quality control to the state’s board of bar examiners and court for approval, Trachok wrote. The court will make a formal announcement once these details are hammered out, which will also determine the rollout timing, he added.
A faster, more flexible track
The plan offers flexibility for bar candidates and a speedier path to licensure.
“Law students in other states will be able to complete two of the three portions during law school (and without traveling to Nevada),” Deborah Jones Merritt, professor emerita at the Ohio State University Moritz College of Law, wrote to the ABA Journal. She says the final, post-graduation part of the exam “will not require any memorization and will allow licensing more quickly than current bar exams or NextGen.”
The move comes as the NextGen bar exam’s July 2026 launch nears. To date, 23 of the nation’s 56 jurisdictions have committed to using the test, which will emphasize skills junior attorneys need, such as research, client management and dispute resolution. The MBE, one of three portions of the Uniform Bar Exam due to sunset in February 2028, emphasizes memorization.
“NCBE respects the role of each state’s admission authority to determine that state’s licensure standards, as well as the details of how those standards should be met,” Judith Gundersen, the NCBE’s president and CEO, wrote in an email to the ABA Journal. She said she had not seen a copy of Nevada’s public order. “We will continue to support the state bar, the board of bar examiners, and the Supreme Court of Nevada in their broader admissions activities.”
But transferring bar scores between jurisdictions could become an issue, she added. “Nevada is not a Uniform Bar Exam jurisdiction, [but] 14 jurisdictions currently accept transferred MBE scores from Nevada candidates,” Gundersen added. “This score portability will be lost when Nevada stops offering the MBE.”
Interest from other states
Meanwhile, Nevada is in discussions with vendors to prepare its Foundational Law Exam for use beyond 2025, Trachok wrote. “The vendor we choose would be required to create a bank of 1,000 multiple-choice questions.”
Other states have shown interest in the Nevada-style option echoing medical licensure. Members of the Nevada task forces have talked with those from other jurisdictions along with members of the Conference of Chief Justices’ Committee on Legal Education and Admissions Reform tasked with making recommendations to reform the bar admissions process, wrote Merritt, a member of both task forces as well as CLEAR’s Bar Admissions Working Group.
“I expect that more states will express interest because (1) Nevada’s exam better tests the competencies that new lawyers need to represent clients, and (2) at the same time, the exam will be less expensive and burdensome for candidates to take,” she wrote. “That’s a win for everybody.”
This year has seen a flurry of changes to licensure as jurisdictions around the country consider options to address concerns including costs, options for online testing and access to justice.
In May, the council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar approved a policy shift allowing states to use methods of licensure beyond the bar exam. This spring, Oregon launched a popular apprenticeship program as a method to licensure without taking the bar, and Washington approved a similar plan but also included a skills coursework option. In March, Minnesota created a committee to consider an experimental education path and a supervised practice-based path to licensure.
Unlike other states that offer various alternatives to joining the bar, the Nevada process will not be an alternative but would be the only pathway.
“The format of a bar exam is not a set-in-stone paradigm,” writes Greg Sarab, CEO of Extegrity, an exam software company. “A standardized nationwide exam obviously has some attractions, but so do state-specific exams and other paths to licensure. If that’s what new lawyers, the legal profession, and the public want, responsibly constructed alternatives are fully feasible.”
The University of Nevada Las Vegas William S. Boyd School of Law is Nevada’s only law school. Between 2019 and 2023, Nevada admitted an average of 299 examinees annually with an average pass rate of 59%, according to the NCBE.
Updated Sept. 13 to correctly state that Nevada admitted an average of 299 examinees annually and that Merritt said that the the final, post-graduation part of Nevada’s new bar licensure assessment will not require memorization.
