Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2025

Publication Information

Wisconsin Law Review Forward (March 2, 2025)
Copyright 2025 by The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System; Reprinted by permission of the Wisconsin Law Review.”

Abstract

Legal educators nationwide need to begin teaching students a method for completing Counseling Integrated Question Sets, a novel type of question the National Conference of Bar Examiners (“NCBE”) is introducing on the NextGen bar exam. Counseling Integrated Question Sets require students to answer a series of six multiple choice or short answer questions focused on client counseling or dispute resolution, as they work through an unfolding common fact pattern that also contains rules or elicits rules students have memorized.

Students who matriculated to law school in 2023 will need to answer Counseling Integrated Question Sets in order to obtain their law licenses in the at least seven states and territories that will administer the NextGen bar exam in July 2026. Students who matriculated after 2023 will also need to answer Counseling Integrated Question Sets in order to obtain their law licenses in the numerous other states and territories that will begin rolling out the NextGen bar exam in July 2027 and thereafter.

To aid in this endeavor, faculty at Mitchell Hamline School of Law developed a five-step method and related tips for completing Counseling Integrated Question Sets that was taught to 358 students at Mitchell Hamline during their first semester of law school in 2024. The goal was to test the method, solicit student feedback, and make responsive refinements.

This article provides readers with the five-step method, an overview of student feedback, and the adjustments made to the method based on that feedback. Appendix A contains a student handout with the relevant method and tips.

Download

Share

COinS