Court Seeks Comments on Proposed Rule Changes to Adopt NextGen Bar Exam

January 07, 2026

By Jeremy Conrad

The D.C. Court of Appeals is seeking comment on proposed amendments to D.C. App. R. 46 reflecting the court’s plan to shift to the NextGen Uniform Bar Examination (NextGen UBE) beginning February 2028.

The proposed changes would provide that:

• The passing score for a NextGen UBE administered in the District of Columbia will be established by an administrative order of the court;
   
• Test scores of 266 or above on legacy UBEs taken in other jurisdictions can be transferred to the District if the scores are not more than five years old;
   
• NextGen UBE scores may be transferred to the District beginning in July 2026 if the scores are not more than five years old;
   
• The passing score for a transferred NextGen UBE will be established by an administrative order of the court; and 
   
• The current procedures in D.C. App. R 46(c)(8)–(12) for grading exams apply only to legacy UBEs administered in this jurisdiction. Procedures for grading the NextGen UBE will be established later in separate amendments to Rule 46.

The court first announced its intention to transition to the NextGen UBE in February 2025.
Interested parties may submit comments electronically to [email protected], or in writing to:

Clerk, D.C. Court of Appeals
430 E Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20001

Comments must be submitted by January 19, 2026, and will be publicly available. The clean and revised versions of D.C. App. R. 46 can be found here.