The State Bar of California Board of Trustees is set to consider an agreement this week allowing California, with the help of Kaplan North America LLC, to develop and administer its own bar exam in place of the National Conference of Bar Examiners’ test or the incoming NextGen exam.

If the state bar moves forward with this plan, it would be the first jurisdiction to reject using the NextGen exam, which the NCBE plans to launch with the July 2026 administration, ultimately replacing the current MBE after February 2028.