Court & LawSpot and analyze the issues
With the facts in hand, you find the legal concepts that will decide the matter, the standards and burdens that apply and what the provided statute, contract or opinion actually requires. Then you weigh the strengths and weaknesses of each side, predict the probable outcome and tell the client which goals the law makes attainable. These are the issue spotting and analysis tasks of the NextGen bar exam.
Free to startScenarios
- A client asks whether a claim is worth bringing.
- A motion or objection is pending and you must predict how it will be decided.
- The client has several goals and the law may block one of them.
The steps
- Identify which legal concepts and principles are likely to affect the outcome of the matter.
- Identify the standards of review or burdens of proof that will apply to each issue.
- Identify the applicable or dispositive language, standards, elements or factors of the provided resource, such as a statute, contract or judicial opinion.
- Identify the strengths and weaknesses of the client's position and of the opposing party's position under the relevant legal rules and standards.
- Identify two factors that favor the client's position, or two that favor the opposing party's position.
- Assess the probable outcome of the claim, motion, discovery matter, defense or objection.
- When the client has several stated objectives, explain why a legal rule, applied to the client's situation, may make one of them attainable or unattainable.
To pass
- The concepts, standards and burdens that decide the matter are identified.
- The strengths and weaknesses of both sides lead to a reasoned probable outcome.
- The client learns which objectives the law makes attainable and which it does not.
Official source
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.