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Court & LawLegal research

A client matter turns on questions the file does not answer. You frame the research questions, choose efficient strategies and search terms, weigh the authority of each source, compare the opinions with your facts and decide when the research is enough. These are the legal research tasks of the NextGen bar exam.

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Scenarios

  • A statute in the file has ambiguous language that decides the case.
  • The library has several judicial opinions with different facts.
  • The sources you have may be out of date.

The steps

  1. Identify the research questions that need to be answered in the matter.
  2. Identify the ambiguities in the language, standards, elements or factors of the provided statute, contract or judicial opinion.
  3. Choose efficient research strategies, methods or tools, including appropriate search terms, likely to uncover other sources that help interpret the provided resource.
  4. Identify the role and characteristics of each source, including its authoritative weight.
  5. Identify the facts of the matter that are analogous to, or distinct from, the dispositive facts in the judicial opinions.
  6. Identify other sources, search terms or strategies to update the sources or find additional ones.
  7. Identify which sources are relevant to or dispositive of the legal issue.
  8. Decide whether the sources are sufficient to complete the assigned research or other lawyering task.

To pass

  • The research questions and the ambiguities of the provided resource are identified.
  • Each source is weighed by its authority and compared with the facts.
  • The research reaches closure: the dispositive sources are found and judged sufficient.

Official source

NCBE · NextGen UBE Content Scope, tasks 15 to 22

NextGen UBE Content Scope, July 2026–February 2027 (August 2025)

The NCBE publishes the NextGen UBE Content Scope free, with the 28 tasks that measure the foundational lawyering skills.

Making Synapses is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by the NCBE, the American Bar Association, the Virginia State Bar or any jurisdiction. NextGen, UBE and MBE are trademarks of their respective owners and are named only to describe the exams.

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