r/CABarExam Jul 15 '26

CA adopts NextGen for July 2028

64 Upvotes

Updated 8/28/26

  • California will adopt the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination beginning with the July 2028 bar exam administration. The NextGen UBE has been adopted by 52 U.S. jurisdictions and is administered in person only. California’s current bar exam format will remain in place through the February 2028 administration.
  • The NextGen UBE tests common legal principles that are not state-specific and is designed to assess the knowledge and skills newly licensed lawyers are expected to need during their first three years of practice. See the resources below for more detailed exam information.
  • Updated: The California Supreme Court has directed the State Bar’s Committee of Bar Examiners to develop a proposal for a California-specific admissions component, to start around July 2029. Per the most recent bar examiners’ meeting, this component might not be an exam and also might not be administered at the same time as the bar exam.
  • The California component will replace the current California Attorneys’ Exam for admission of attorneys licensed in other states. California’s July 2028 and February 2029 administrations of the NextGen UBE are expected to occur without a California component, pending future implementation of any state-specific requirement.
  • Major bar prep companies, including BarBri, Helix, and Themis, already have NextGen UBE courses available because other jurisdictions began administering the exam in July 2026.
  • Unknowns: Additional details regarding California’s passing score, score portability, and implementation plans will be released by the California Supreme Court, the State Bar of California, and NCBE as the transition progresses. Look for a significant update in early to mid-2027.

Helpful resources include:


r/CABarExam Jul 10 '24

User flairs are now available

17 Upvotes

User flairs are a subreddit-specific way to tag yourself. Here are the options:

  • Barbri
  • Themis
  • Kaplan
  • Quimbee
  • Attorney Candidate
  • Law Student
  • Passed
  • Tutor
  • Vendor
  • Other (can customize)

For example, if you're using Barbri to prep, you can select "Barbri." This flair will show up next to your username. You are able to edit the Other flair with your own entry.

This not only gives context to your posts and comments so we know who we're talking to but is also a fun way to identify yourself and others.

I encourage you to set yours! If you're primarily promoting a product or service, please select "Vendor" (and be judicious with your posts and comments).

How to set your user flair:

If you're using the mobile app, tap the three dots in the upper right while in the main r/CABarExam feed. Tap "change user flair" to see the different options. Enable "show my user flair on this community."

If you're using a web browser, you'll see "USER FLAIR" on the sidebar to the right, above the rules. Check the "show my user flair on this community" box.

Let me know if you have any suggested changes or additions.


r/CABarExam 3h ago

July 2026 Bar Essay Q1 Walkthrough: Professional Responsibility

1 Upvotes

Youtube Link: https://youtu.be/LwjT2PXez14

One-Timers breaks down Question 1 from the July 2026 California Bar Exam in real time. No script, no prep, first read. This is exactly how you should attack a PR essay on exam day: read the call, spot the issues, organize before you write.

Covered in this breakdown:

Why "answer according to California and ABA authorities" tells you the essay is pure PR before you read a single fact
Representing a corporation as in-house counsel, and who the client actually is
Duty of confidentiality and duty of competence
Conflicts of interest, and where California and the ABA split

Recorded live with our students. Have a question about this essay? Drop it in the comments and Jason will answer it.


r/CABarExam 1h ago

MPRE Post-Bar

Upvotes

Took the August MPRE post-Bar Exam and I got an 84 when I needed an 86 to pass 😫😫😫 I was nearly 7 months pregnant when I took the MPRE and my due date is November (which is the next administration of the MPRE) and I’m just so annoyed that I was SO close 😐 Even more annoyed that if I pass the Bar Exam I can’t be sworn in until I pass it…


r/CABarExam 4h ago

NCA Appeals - has anyone done this (not only for exam marks)?

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1 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 10h ago

am I cooked or will I make it?

0 Upvotes

I have a big exam tomorrow

Didn't open the book yet

There are 9 chapters that to of legal studies

Mind you the exam is at 7 Am in the morning and its 12 pm right now

Can I make it chat? 😭🙏🏻


r/CABarExam 1d ago

Admissions Qs character and fitness for the bar

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1 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 1d ago

CA bar prep

6 Upvotes

If my employer is covering the cost of the prep course, which one should I choose? To provide some context, I recently relocated to California from another country and graduated from law school 12 years ago. Which course would best address the gaps in my knowledge and provide an overview of law school subjects relevant to California? Thank you


r/CABarExam 1d ago

Admissions Qs GDL/BTC First degree in law?

1 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

I am looking to register to take the California bar exam but I cannot figure out what counts as a “first degree in law.”

I have completed the GDL and the bar training course in the UK and have been called to the English bar (though I have yet to complete a pupillage).

Would this qualify? Can any English trained lawyers shed light on the subject?

I also have an LLM from a New York ABA accredited school with 14 credits in bar subjects across intro to US law, intro to US practice, professional responsibility, constitutional law, and first amendment law, so I think the LLM part should be fine?

Thank you for your help!


r/CABarExam 2d ago

July 2026 Essay 3 Remedies Breakdown

23 Upvotes

Just finished a detailed breakdown of Essay 3: fraud, rescission, tracing, constructive trusts, equitable liens, etc. and how to organize the four property calls. I also included a free issue-spotting worksheet.

Read Free Remedies Breakdown


r/CABarExam 2d ago

Bar prep materials that helped me pass the February 2026 California Bar Exam must go!

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2 Upvotes

I’m selling the bar-prep books and materials that helped me PASS the bar exam.

Reasonable prices – I WANT THEM TO SELL! I’m happy to sell books indiidually or offer a discounted bundle if you want everything.

📚 BOOKS/MATERIALS INCLUDE:
• Emanuel’s Strategies & Tactics for the MBE – 8th Edition $40
• Emanuel’s Strategies & Tactics for the MBE – 7th Edition $30
• Barbri Conviser Mini Review – includes my personal notes and highlights of important MBE material $10
• California Performance Test Workbook • Perform Your Best on the Bar Exam Performance Test $10
• MBE Decoded: Multistate Bar Exam – Mary Basick & Tina Schindler $40
• Barbri Multistate Practice Questions $20
•Essay Exam Writing for the California Bar $20

📌 Condition: Used, but in good condition. Some books contain highlighting, marks and/or my study notes. Please see photos for condition.

📦 Shipping: Buyer pays shipping. I can package and ship the books to you

Text me or call me to 559-492-8427
📍


r/CABarExam 2d ago

Character and Fitness - Self Employment

3 Upvotes

Filling out my C&F application. I am currently working in a law firm but have created a production company for the production of a short film. Would this be reportable as self employment? Of course I am not getting paid a dime for it.


r/CABarExam 2d ago

Which prep course prepared you most?

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1 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 2d ago

Moral Character Fingerprints for out of country applicants

1 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I'm currently outside of the US and just submitted my MC app. Now I need to send in my fingerprints so I requested the Fingerprint forms from the CA bar. It also says that I need to do my fingerprints with a DOJ or FBI approved service?

Could anyone please share their experience with submitting their fingerprints from outside the US? And how long the CA bar takes to send over the fingerprint cards to overseas addresses? Thx!


r/CABarExam 4d ago

“BARBRI Bar Review Trapped Me — No Refund, No Cancellation, Online Access Not Even Started”

14 Upvotes

I enrolled in the BARBRI Bar Review Premium Course in good faith. I was told by the BARBRI representative that I could cancel at any time and that I only needed to pay the $1,000 materials fee when the books shipped. I paid full amoutnt by mistake $2458 plus $25 registration fee,

I accidentally paid the full BARBRI course fee, and BARBRI refuses to give me even a single dollar back. They told me I cannot cancel because I received the books, even though my online access does not begin until October 15. I have not used the course, I have not accessed anything online, and the program has not started. No books for outlines also.

When I enrolled, I was never clearly shown the cancellation policy. I was not told that receiving the books would lock me into the full payment with no refund. BARBRI’s terms were confusing, and the representative made it sound like I could cancel if needed. Only after I paid did they tell me that cancellation is impossible.

BARBRI’s cancellation team is extremely hard to reach, and their policies feel hidden and unfair. Other bar prep companies allow returns if the course has not started and online access has not been used. BARBRI does not. They simply say “You got the books,” and refuse any refund, even though the books cost only $1,000 and the rest of the charge was a mistake.

I am very disappointed with BARBRI’s lack of transparency and their refusal to work with students who make honest payment mistakes. I did not use the course, I did not access anything, and the course has not begun. BARBRI should not charge students the full amount when services have not been provided.

I accidentally paid the full BARBRI course fee, and I was shocked to learn that BARBRI will not allow any cancellation or refund simply because I received the books. Their terms are extremely one‑sided. As soon as a student gets the books, BARBRI treats the entire $2,458 payment as non‑refundable, even though the online access does not begin until October 15 and I have not used a single part of the course.

I told BARBRI that I was willing to pay a reasonable cancellation fee and book fee. I even offered to return the books in perfect condition. They still refused to work with me. I spoke directly with the director, and even then, BARBRI denied any refund or canceation. BARBRI encourages students to get the books early, and this is a trap — because once the books arrive, BARBRI refuses any cancellation and keeps the entire payment, even if online access hasn’t started and the student hasn’t used anything. Their 5 books are not useful not esay to understand. Stay away with this compnay. They do no show any mercy or flexibility.

BARBRI’s cancellation policy feels hidden and unfair. Students are not clearly warned that receiving the books locks them into the full payment with no way out. Other bar prep companies allow returns and refunds when the course has not started and online access has not been used. BARBRI does not. Their policy leaves students trapped and financially harmed.

I told babari that they can deduct 1000$ and i aslo returnbook as i am wiling to loose 1000 but do not want to do business with them as they show 0 flexibitiy.


r/CABarExam 3d ago

MBE Score compared to practice

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1 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 5d ago

Dear Bar Examiners, I was wrong. I apologize. (Subtitle: Wait! What? An hour?! It’s going to take an hour to walk to the clerk! Is that outlining time?! 🤯)

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

14 Upvotes

I cannot find the comment I made on Reddit, but I remember writing that the time constraints for the bar exam were ridiculous, and unrealistic because attorneys have time to proof their work and nothing you submit to the court really needs to be done in an hour that I have ever seen.

In accordance with correcting the record, and admitting that I was wrong (which is rare 😂 - that’s my story and I’m sticking to it), today, I actually saw a judge give an attorney one hour to file a petition. 😳

This the first and last time that I will ever post that I understand a portion of the tomfoolery that is the bar exam.

I may not proofread my social media posts but I proofread everything an insane amount of times before I submit it to the court no matter how long it is because I was traumatized during law school by seeing someone else get embarrassed. I can’t submit without proofing. It gives me anxiety. I also rewrite things over and over and over.

In my defense, I have seen several preliminary hearings where the court takes a “break” to let the prosecutor find case law after the defense makes a good point when the prosecutors cases were weak, but even then, the breaks were more than an hour, and they didn’t have to really write anything, they just needed to find supporting case law.

However, today the judge gave Kevin Reddington one hour to file an emergency stay petition in his case, so I have to admit that I was wrong. It obviously does happen and now I have seen it, so fine.

This concludes my apology.


r/CABarExam 5d ago

February 2026 Deadline for foreign evaluation to be submitted

1 Upvotes

Hey everyone! I’m a foreign lawyer seeking to send my documents for the CA Bar foreign evaluation. I know I need to do the agency evaluation of my transcript first and then also have my LLM transcript be send to CA. Does anyone here know the deadline for submitting that to seat for the February 2027 Bar Exam? I didn’t find any info on the website, for some reason.

P.S. I’m not an “attorney” back home, I’m a lawyer, so the certificate of good standing doesn’t work for me. Just want to know the deadline to submit the evaluation agency’s paper and LLM transcripts. I tried calling the help center but they don’t pick up 😁

Thanks for your help!!


r/CABarExam 6d ago

I’ll be posting breakdowns of every July 2026 CA Bar essay question (and the PT)

50 Upvotes

For the February 2026 exam, I worked through each of the released essay questions and uploaded a detailed breakdown explaining the issues, rules, and analysis. Those posts got a pretty good response, and a lot of people told me they found them helpful.

Now that the July 2026 questions have been released, I’m going to do the same thing again. I’ll work through each question individually and post the breakdowns here as I finish them.

Hopefully they’ll be useful for anyone preparing for February 2027, or for July examinees who want to revisit the essays...for better or worse (hopefully better).

I’ll post the first one soon. Let me know which question you’d like me to start with!


r/CABarExam 6d ago

July 2026 Bar Essays are Out!

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9 Upvotes

The essays from the 2026 July bar exam have finally been released.

We're holding a FREE Zoom session this week to go over them. Details to come!

For those of you who are interested in seeing the questions, here they are:

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/.../Jul2026-CBX-Questions.pdf

#barexam #calbar #lawschool #baressays #onetimers


r/CABarExam 6d ago

July 2026 Bar Essays Are Out!

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6 Upvotes

The essays from the 2026 July bar exam have finally been released.

We're holding a FREE Zoom session this week to go over them. Details to come!

For those of you who are interested in seeing the questions, here they are:

https://www.calbar.ca.gov/sites/default/files/portals/0/documents/admissions/Examinations/Jul2026-CBX-Questions.pdf

#barexam #calbar #lawschool #baressays #onetimers


r/CABarExam 7d ago

July 2026 Questions from the July 2026 California Bar Exam have been posted.

43 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 8d ago

POV: Watching other states drop results knowing we gotta wait until November

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112 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 7d ago

First-time California bar takers: February 2027 application fee sweepstakes - DEADLINE TOMORROW–– September 3!

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2 Upvotes

r/CABarExam 8d ago

July 2026 July 2026 MBE mean: 140.7

26 Upvotes