Current Trends - Trusts & Estates on the Bar Exam ... Or Not! - Episode 247
- Jenny Rozelle, Host of Legal Tea
- May 5
- 7 min read
Hey there, Legal Tea Listeners – This is your host, Jenny Rozelle. Welcome back for another episode, which is a “current trends” topic where we talk about things going on currently that are relevant and pertinent to my estate and elder law world, and/or maybe things I’ve seen on the news or stumbled across on social media. Well, today we are diving into something that is definitely a “current topic” and it’s directly relevant to this podcast and what we talk about on here – today, we are going to talk about the transition to the new Bar Exam, which is called NextGen. Now, even more specifically, the move to the NextGen Bar Exam basically takes Trusts and Estates out of the usual essay lineup and makes it a lot less of a standalone, heavily tested topic. I have a lot of concerns around this, and as do many of the estate and elder law attorneys across the country – so hopefully today, you can learn a bit more about the up-and-coming Bar Exam (NextGen) and what may be the consequences and effects of essentially removing Trusts and Estates from it. Let’s dive in…
So right now, we are in the middle of a pretty major shift in how new lawyers are licensed. The current bar exam—the one most of us are familiar with, with the multiple-choice portion, the essay portion, and the performance test—is still around for the moment. But it is basically on a countdown clock. The National Conference of Bar Examiners is rolling out what’s called the “NextGen” Bar Exam, with the first jurisdictions starting to use it in in just a couple of months … in July 2026, and then more states coming online over the next couple of years. By around 2028, the CURRENT version of the exam is expected to be largely phased out and the NextGen Bar Exam will be phased in.
And this is not just a small tweak - it’s a pretty fundamental rethink of what the Bar Exam is supposed to do. Instead of testing whether you can memorize and spit back a massive amount of black-letter law across a long list of subjects, the NextGen Bar Exam is trying to focus more on what entry-level lawyers actually do. So you’re going to see more integrated fact patterns, more emphasis on reading and using legal materials in real time, more drafting, more practical analysis - basically, less trivia and more application. That may be a better way to explain it. Less trivia, more application. It is also a shorter exam overall, and it narrows down the number of subjects that are tested in a traditional, standalone way, which is what I want to talk about today.
Because that narrowing is where things start to get really interesting - especially for those of us in the estate planning space. Because Trusts & Estates, which has traditionally been one of those essay subjects you had to know cold, is no longer getting that same spotlight. It is not being tested as its own distinct subject in the same way. Instead, it is being folded into these broader, skills-based tasks, where you might see it show up in a more indirect, applied way – but may not see it at all. So it is still KIND OF there, but it is no longer something Bar takers are forced to really sit down and master as a core, tested discipline. And that shift- sort of quietly moving Trusts & Estates out of the “must-know” category- is a really big deal. Because whether intentional or not, what the bar exam emphasizes tends to shape what law students prioritize, what law schools teach, and ultimately what new lawyers feel comfortable practicing in. And that really, really concerns me.
And it’s not just me being weird, I promise. Two organizations that are really near and dear to a lot of estate and elder law attorneys, just like me, are: the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel, a very well-respected national organization for estate attorneys across the country, as well as the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, also a very well-respected national organization but for elder law attorneys across the country. Both organizations have been very vocal about this change – and they’re not in support of it. Both organizations share essentially the same concerns – and those concerns are the likely consequences and effects of this change on society, consumers, law students, etc. And that’s what I want to spend the rest of the time today on…
So, there are very real, very practical concerns about what happens when trusts and estates gets pulled out of the spotlight on the NextGen Bar Exam. Because let’s be honest: law students are strategic. They follow the test. If a subject is NOT tested in a meaningful way, it naturally starts to slide down the priority list. It is not about a lack of interest – rather, it is about time, pressure, and the reality of what it takes to pass the Bar Exam. So when trusts and estates is no longer a standalone, essay-tested subject, the concern it not just academic… it is actually more behavioral. Fewer students will take the classes during law school, fewer will seek out internships or clinics in the space, and fewer will graduate feeling even remotely confident handling these issues.
And that is where the ripple effects start to show up. Organizations like American College of Trust and Estate Counsel have been pretty vocal that this is not just a curricular tweak - it has very real downstream consequences for the profession itself. If law schools respond the way we expect them to (and historically, they do), you could see fewer robust trusts and estates offerings, fewer dedicated professors in the field, and less experiential learning tied to estate planning, elder law, and special needs work. Over time, that does not just shrink interest - it shrinks competence too. You are not just losing volume; you are losing depth.
Layer that onto what we already know about the current landscape, and it gets a little concerning. Even now, a lot of law schools do not even require trusts and estates. Clinical opportunities in elder law or special needs planning can be limited or competitive. So if you take a subject that’s already somewhat underrepresented and remove one of the biggest external incentives to learn it - that is, the Bar Exam – you are accelerating a trend that is already underway. That is exactly what both American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys have been flagging: not a hypothetical problem, but an existing one that could get worse, quickly.
So, what is the real-world impact of that? It lands squarely on families, consumers, our clients. This is not an abstract area of law – it is incredibly human. It is about aging parents, disability planning, long-term care, guardianships, and protecting assets for future generations. When there are fewer attorneys trained to handle those issues, access starts to break down. You see geographic gaps, especially in rural or underserved areas. You see longer wait times, higher costs, and more pressure on the attorneys who are already doing this work. And in some cases, you see people turning to non-lawyers or piecing together solutions on their own - which raises real concerns about mistakes, exploitation, and ultimately, harm.
There is also a broader structural concern here that American College of Trust and Estate Counsel has highlighted: trusts and estates does not always fit neatly into a “skills-based sampling” approach. The NextGen Bar Exam is designed to test integrated legal skills across a range of foundational doctrines, which sounds great in theory. But in practice, that can mean certain subject areas - especially ones that are more specialized but still critically important - get diluted. Instead of deep, focused testing, you get lighter-touch exposure. And for something like estate planning, where nuance and precision matter, that is a meaningful shift.
All of that said, I don’t want this to come across as all doom and gloom. In fact, groups like American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys are not just raising all of these concerns; they are actively trying to get ahead of this. And that is really important to know. They have been engaging with the National Conference of Bar Examiners, submitting feedback, and advocating for meaningful inclusion of trusts and estates concepts within the new framework. They are also working with law schools to encourage continued investment in the subject - whether that is through required coursework, expanded clinical programs, or alternative ways of signaling to students that this area still matters, even if the Bar Exam looks different.
At the same time, there IS a push to reframe how this field is introduced to newer lawyers. That includes more practical training, mentorship pipelines, and emphasizing just how high-demand (and truly impactful!) this work really is. Because the reality is, the need is not going anywhere. If anything, it is growing, especially with an aging population and increasing complexity around benefits, caregiving, and long-term planning. So the bottom line is this: the move to the NextGen bar exam may be well-intentioned - designed to reflect how lawyers actually practice - but it comes with tradeoffs we cannot afford to ignore. When trusts and estates is no longer tested in a meaningful, standalone way, it risks becoming an afterthought in legal education, and over time, that shapes who enters the field, how much exposure they get, and how prepared they are when they finally sit across from a real client. I truly feel like this is not just about what’s on an exam - it’s about what future lawyers choose to prioritize, what law schools choose to emphasize, and ultimately, what services are realistically available to the public. To you. To your family. To your friends.
If we are not careful with this change, we could very easily see a slow but steady erosion in both interest and competency in this space. And the tricky part is, that kind of shift does not just happen overnight. It is gradual, almost invisible at first, until one day it shows up as fewer attorneys in entire regions, longer waitlists for families, and more people trying to navigate incredibly complex trusts and estates issues without the guidance they really need. At a time when demand for these kinds of services is only growing, that is a gap we simply can’t afford to let widen.
Alrighty guys, it is time to wrap this episode up! Next week, we’re back to the “celebrity estate planning” type of episode – so, for this episode, I will be diving into what happened estate-wise following the death of famous Grateful Dead musician, Jerry Garcia. So yeah, next week is on him, so until then, Legal Tea Listeners, be well and talk soon!
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