Negotiation Scenarios

Scope

This file explains how negotiation and dispute resolution is tested on the NextGen UBE — the exam NCBE will administer nationally from July 2026 onward, which New Jersey will adopt with a first administration in July 2028 [S1][S3][S7] — covering NCBE's placement of negotiation and dispute resolution among its seven foundational lawyering skills and the tasks that measure it (Group B of the Content Scope Outlines) [S1][S2], the professional-responsibility rules NCBE says may be tested in negotiation contexts [S2], how negotiation situations appear in the released question formats [S3][S4][S5][S6], and New Jersey's adoption timeline [S7]. It does not cover client counseling and advising or client relationship and management as separate skills (the module's sibling topics cover those), the doctrine of contract law or other substantive law that a negotiation might concern, or negotiation advocacy technique as taught in law school clinics; it covers only what NCBE's official materials say about how negotiation is assessed [S2].

Legal Explanation

Negotiation and dispute resolution as a published foundational skill (NCBE/national). NCBE lists "negotiation and dispute resolution" among the exam's seven foundational lawyering skills on its About the NextGen UBE page, alongside legal research, legal writing, issue spotting and analysis, investigation and evaluation, client counseling and advising, and client relationship and management [S1]. NCBE's Content Scope Outlines (dated August 1, 2025, covering the July 2026–February 2027 content) organize the seven skills into four groups, with Negotiation and Dispute Resolution grouped with Client Counseling and Advising and Client Relationship and Management as Group B [S2]. The stated purpose of Group B "is to assess the extent to which an examinee can identify lawyering strategies within the lawyer-client relationship, based on the relevant rules and standards and consistent with a client's objectives, interests, and constraints" [S2]. Notably, the Content Scope gives negotiation and dispute resolution no standalone definition paragraph: the skill is defined through the shared Group B purpose and through the numbered task list that measures all the skills (pages 3–5 of the Outlines) [S2]. The Content Scope also provides that any task may assess skills from any group, and that the skills are assessed in the context of one or more of the Foundational Concepts and Principles or other areas of doctrinal law [S2].

The negotiation-relevant tasks (NCBE/national). The Content Scope measures each skill through a numbered list of tasks (pages 3–5 of the Outlines) [S2]. The tasks whose language most directly implements negotiation and dispute resolution are: identify two factors that favor a client's position or two factors that favor an opposing party's position in a matter (task 10); identify two benefits or two drawbacks of a proposed resolution of a dispute, consistent with a client's objectives, interests, and constraints (task 11); identify potential terms of a contract or settlement agreement that could advance negotiation or resolution (task 12) [S2]. Three neighboring tasks are shared with the client-counseling skill and matter directly in a negotiation setting: identifying which claims, remedies, evidence, arguments, or defenses to recommend, and — in a transactional matter — which provisions to recommend including, based on the relevant legal rules and standards and consistent with the client's objectives, interests, and constraints (task 8); in a matter in which a client has multiple stated objectives, explaining why a legal rule or principle, as applied to the client's situation, may make one of those stated objectives attainable or unattainable (task 13); and determining the best strategy to identify the client's needs and achieve the client's stated goals and objectives (task 14) [S2]. Two features stand out. First, the negotiation tasks are tradeoff-centered: examinees weigh benefits against drawbacks of a proposed resolution and identify deal terms, rather than performing or role-playing a negotiation [S2]. Second, the client's "objectives, interests, and constraints" are the operative constraint on nearly every Group B task, so a correct answer must fit the client's situation as stated in the facts rather than a generic "tough negotiator" ideal [S2].

Professional responsibility inside the negotiation context (NCBE/national). The Content Scope includes a "Foundation Skills Group B Note" stating that issues related to an enumerated list of American Bar Association Model Rules of Professional Conduct (MRPC) "frequently arise in the context of Group B Foundational Skills" [S2]. The enumerated rules include MRPC Rule 1.0 (Terminology), 1.1 (Competence), 1.2(a) and (d) (Scope of Representation and Allocation of Authority Between Client and Lawyer), 1.3 (Diligence), 1.4 (Communications), 1.6(a) and (c) (Confidentiality of Information), 1.7 (Conflict of Interest: Current Clients), 3.1 (Meritorious Claims and Contentions), 3.3(a)(1)–(2) (Candor Toward the Tribunal), 4.1 (Truthfulness in Statements to Others), 4.2 (Communication with Person Represented by Counsel), and 4.3 (Dealing with Unrepresented Persons) [S2]. NCBE states that knowledge of these rules "may be assessed in the context of assessment of Group B Foundational Skills within integrated question sets but will not be assessed in the sections of the exam consisting of standalone multiple-choice questions," that assessment is limited to application of the listed rules and does not include the accompanying comments, and that questions assessing knowledge of the MRPC "require an examinee to rely solely on recalled knowledge and understanding, without provision of legal resources" [S2]. These are ABA Model Rules as enumerated by NCBE — a national exam-design point; the Content Scope makes no reference to New Jersey's own Rules of Professional Conduct, and NJ-specific ethics rules are not the assessment target [S2].

How negotiation appears in the question formats (NCBE/national). NCBE's Blueprint (prepared June 2, 2025, covering the July 2026 and February 2027 administrations) describes three categories of question types — standalone multiple-choice questions (49% of the total score), integrated question sets (21%), and performance tasks (30%) — administered as three three-hour sections over one and a half days [S3][S1]. Official NextGen UBE scores are reported as a single number on a scale from 500 to 750, with each jurisdiction establishing its own passing score within that range [S1][S3]. The Blueprint describes integrated question sets (IQS) as "question sets based on a common fact scenario," appearing in two formats — "drafting sets" and "counseling sets" — with two sets per section and six per exam, approximately 24 minutes per set, partial credit for short- and medium-answer responses and for select-two multiple-choice questions, and one of the six sets a pretest set that does not count toward the examinee's score [S3]. NCBE's sample-questions page describes the IQS format in negotiation-relevant terms: "some integrated question sets will be focused on drafting or editing a legal document; other sets will be focused on counseling and/or dispute resolution," with each set based on a common fact scenario that "may include some legal resources (e.g., excerpts of statutes or judicial opinions) and/or supplemental documents (e.g., a police report or excerpt from a deposition)" [S4]. NCBE publishes no ratio of how many of the six sets on a given administration will be dispute-resolution- or counseling-focused rather than drafting-focused [S3][S4]. Performance tasks, which NCBE says will occupy approximately a third of the exam time, are closed-universe items about a single client matter, approximately 60 minutes each, three per administration, in two types — standard performance tasks (one extended writing assignment) and legal research performance tasks (multiple-choice and short-answer questions plus a medium-length writing assignment) [S5]. NCBE's published materials describe negotiation as assessed through these same written question types; none of the materials checked for this file describes a live, interactive, or role-play negotiation component of the exam [S2][S3][S4][S5].

The released samples that show negotiation (NCBE/national). NCBE's sample integrated question sets page (checked 2026-08-20) presents two sets, and negotiation situations appear in both, though neither set is labeled a "negotiation" exercise [S4]. In "Integrated Question Set 1 – Flooded Apartment," a pro bono landlord-tenant matter, the client's claim "is diverted into a mandatory mediation program designed to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants," the landlord's entity offers a settlement — relocation to a different apartment, reimbursement of two months' rent, termination of the current lease, and a new month-to-month lease at the same rent — and the page states the lawyer "explain[s] to the client that agreeing to the proposal would eliminate any potential benefits from negotiating further or going to trial" [S4]. Component 5 of that set asks the examinee: "Without simply restating the terms of the settlement proposal, list two specific additional drawbacks to the client—other than the ones you have already explained to the client—of Rentals LLC's proposal, taking into consideration the client's known objectives, interests, and constraints" — a direct application of Content Scope task 11 (identify two drawbacks of a proposed resolution of a dispute), which the page designates "Skill B.11" [S2][S4]. In "Integrated Question Set 2," a landscaping company's payment dispute with a homeowner over two contracts, the supervisor's email opens with "We have been unable to negotiate a settlement with the homeowner as to the two landscaping contracts, so we are preparing to file a complaint on behalf of the client against the homeowner," and the set's questions are drafting-focused: the examinee reviews a law clerk's draft complaint for factual and legal support and compliance with the provided "Franklin Rule of Civil Procedure 10(b)," with one published component designated "Skill D.24" (Civil Procedure III.B: Pleadings and amended pleadings; Contracts VII.C: Liquidated damages and penalties) [S4]. NCBE's sample standard performance task, "In re Johnston," is a will-contest matter in which the examinee drafts an objective memorandum analyzing whether a court would likely find that the decedent suffered from undue influence — it contains no negotiation component, which illustrates that NCBE's released performance-task sample is not negotiation-focused [S6]. To be plain: as of 2026-08-20, NCBE has not published a released sample question whose primary task is a negotiation exercise; in the released samples actually opened for this file, negotiation appears as dispute-resolution content inside integrated question sets — a settlement proposal in a mediation context (IQS 1) and an unsuccessful negotiation leading to litigation (IQS 2) [S4][S6].

New Jersey context (NJ-specific). New Jersey adopted the NextGen UBE by Supreme Court notice dated November 17, 2025, with the first New Jersey administration in July 2028; New Jersey will continue to administer the legacy UBE in its current form through the February 2028 administration [S7]. The notice announces no NJ-specific design for negotiation questions; the negotiation and dispute resolution skill and its assessment within integrated question sets are part of the national NextGen UBE design that New Jersey adopted [S7]. The notice states that the Ad Hoc Committee on the "NextGen" Uniform Bar Examination will reconvene to study the available literature on grading and recommend a passing score, which the Court will then establish for New Jersey [S7]. Everything above about how negotiation is defined and tested is NCBE/national and applies to New Jersey candidates sitting for the NextGen UBE [S7].

How to prepare (editorial; beyond NCBE's published guidance). Four practical points follow from the official materials, none of which NCBE states in so many words. First, practice the closed-universe mindset: negotiation content arrives with a fact scenario and, where doctrine outside the Foundational Concepts and Principles is involved, the relevant legal resources are provided, so the skill tested is disciplined application of the provided materials to the client's situation [S2][S4]. Second, memorize the enumerated MRPC rules: they are the one body of authority NCBE says is tested from recall in the IQS context, and the Content Scope lists exactly which rules, so the examinable set is bounded [S2]. Third, practice the tradeoff moves the tasks reward — stating two benefits or two drawbacks of a proposed resolution, identifying potential settlement terms, and weighing what the client gains or loses by accepting an offer [S2][S4]. Fourth, work NCBE's free sample questions, including the Flooded Apartment set's settlement component and the IQS 2 complaint-drafting set, to internalize the question rhythm [S4]; NCBE itself recommends starting with its free sample questions [S1].

Currency note. NextGen exam details are still evolving. Every claim in this file was checked against the cited NCBE and New Jersey Courts pages on August 20, 2026, and reflects those pages as of that date [S1][S2][S3][S4][S5][S6][S7].

ELI-10: Explain It Like I'm 10

[HYPOTHETICAL — NOT A REAL CASE] At recess, Maya and Theo both want the school's one red scooter, and Ms. Patel says they have five minutes to work it out before the scooter goes back in the closet. Theo offers a deal: he rides Mondays and Wednesdays, Maya rides Tuesdays and Thursdays, and on Fridays they share. A kid who just wants to win says yes immediately — but a kid who wants to be a good negotiator thinks first. Maya asks herself: what would I lose if I say yes? (She realizes Friday is the best riding day — the big hill is open then — and "sharing" on Friday probably means she gets it for five minutes.) What could we add to the deal to make it better for me? (She suggests: whoever gets the scooter on any day also gets the helmet, and if a tire goes flat, the other kid helps fix it — those are new deal terms.) What does Theo actually need? (He mainly wants to ride on Mondays because his own bike is in the shop that day.) And what do I want most? (Maya discovers she cares most about Friday afternoons, so she trades her Wednesday for a guaranteed Friday.) They shake hands on the final deal, and Maya remembers the one rule of the schoolyard: she has to be honest about what she's promising — no saying "you get the helmet every day" if that's not true.

Translating back to the real rule: Theo's first offer is a "proposed resolution of a dispute," and Maya's list of what she'd lose by accepting it is Content Scope task 11 — identifying two drawbacks of a proposed resolution, consistent with the client's objectives, interests, and constraints [S2]. Her ideas about the helmet and the flat tire are task 12 — identifying potential terms of a settlement agreement that could advance negotiation or resolution [S2]. Figuring out what Theo really needs and what Maya wants most is the Group B purpose — identifying lawyering strategies within the lawyer-client relationship, based on the relevant rules and standards and consistent with a client's objectives, interests, and constraints [S2]. And the "be honest about what you're promising" rule is the Group B Note, under which the enumerated professional-conduct rules — including MRPC 4.1, truthfulness in statements to others — may be assessed in integrated question sets from recalled knowledge [S2]. On the NextGen UBE, that recess negotiation is the dispute-resolution content inside an integrated question set — like the settlement proposal in NCBE's released "Flooded Apartment" sample [S4] — and New Jersey's first candidates sit for it in July 2028 [S7].

Real Case Reference (if applicable)

No published judicial decision addresses how the NextGen UBE tests negotiation and dispute resolution — the skill and its question formats are defined by exam specifications, not by litigated doctrine. The governing authority is NCBE's official exam materials: the Content Scope Outlines, which define Group B, the negotiation-relevant tasks, and the enumerated MRPC rules testable in this context [S2]; the NextGen UBE Blueprint, which defines the exam's question-type mix, the integrated-question-set formats, and the scoring design [S3]; NCBE's sample integrated question sets page, which publishes the settlement and mediation content of the "Flooded Apartment" set and the dispute-and-complaint-drafting content of the landscaping set with answer explanations and content-scope designations [S4]; NCBE's performance-task pages, which define the PT format and publish the "In re Johnston" sample [S5][S6]; and NCBE's About the NextGen UBE page [S1]. For New Jersey, the governing action is the New Jersey Supreme Court's November 17, 2025 notice adopting the NextGen UBE with a first administration in July 2028 and a passing score to be established later [S7]. The judicial opinions inside NCBE's sample sets are fictional and must not be mistaken for real cases: "Integrated Question Set 2" presents Wexler Properties LLC v. Raymond Construction (Franklin Supreme Court, 2022), whose opinion text itself cites Pelleteri v. Howser (Franklin S. Ct. 2017) — both are made-up "Franklin" jurisdiction decisions created for the sample [S4]. No real-case citation is therefore offered for this topic because none exists; the governing rules are NCBE's exam specifications themselves [S2][S3][S4].

Key Takeaways

• Negotiation and dispute resolution is one of the seven foundational lawyering skills NCBE publishes for the NextGen UBE, grouped with client counseling and advising and client relationship and management as Content Scope Group B — which NCBE defines as identifying "lawyering strategies within the lawyer-client relationship, based on the relevant rules and standards and consistent with a client's objectives, interests, and constraints" (NCBE/national) [S1][S2].
• The negotiation-specific tasks ask examinees to identify two factors favoring a side's position (task 10), identify two benefits or two drawbacks of a proposed resolution of a dispute (task 11), and identify potential terms of a contract or settlement agreement that could advance negotiation or resolution (task 12), with tasks 8, 13, and 14 shared with the counseling skill (NCBE/national) [S2].
• NCBE enumerates the ABA Model Rules testable in this context — including MRPC 4.1 Truthfulness in Statements to Others and 4.2 Communication with Person Represented by Counsel — and states they may be assessed within integrated question sets from recalled knowledge without provided legal resources, but not in standalone multiple-choice questions (NCBE/national) [S2].
• In the released samples, negotiation appears as dispute-resolution content inside integrated question sets: a settlement proposal in a mandatory-mediation setting with a "list two additional drawbacks of the proposal" component designated Skill B.11 (IQS 1, "Flooded Apartment"), and an unsuccessful negotiation leading to complaint drafting (IQS 2); NCBE's released standard performance task ("In re Johnston") is not negotiation-focused (NCBE/national) [S4][S6].
• As of 2026-08-20 NCBE has not published a released sample question whose primary task is a negotiation exercise [S4][S6].
• New Jersey-specific: first NextGen UBE administration in July 2028 by Supreme Court notice dated November 17, 2025, with the legacy UBE continuing through the February 2028 administration and New Jersey's passing score to be established later; the notice announces no NJ-specific design for negotiation questions [S7].

Sources

• [S1] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "About the NextGen UBE," https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen/about-nextgen (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S2] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "NextGen UBE Content Scope Outlines, July 2026–February 2027" (PDF, Aug. 1, 2025), https://www.ncbex.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/NCBE%20NextGen%20UBE%20Content%20Scope-Aug%202025.pdf (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S3] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "NextGen UBE Blueprint, July 2026–February 2027" (PDF, prepared June 2, 2025), https://www.ncbex.org/sites/default/files/2025-07/NCBE-NextGen-UBE-Blueprint_5.pdf (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S4] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "Sample Integrated Question Sets (NextGen UBE sample questions)," https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen/sample-questions/integrated-question-sets (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S5] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "About Performance Tasks (NextGen UBE sample questions)," https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen/sample-questions/performance-task (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S6] National Conference of Bar Examiners, "Sample NextGen UBE Standard Performance Task (In re Johnston)," https://www.ncbex.org/exams/nextgen/sample-questions/performance-task/sample-pt (verified 2026-08-20).
• [S7] New Jersey Courts, "Notice — Supreme Court Adopts the 'NextGen' Uniform Bar Examination — First Administration in July 2028" (Nov. 17, 2025), https://www.njcourts.gov/notices/notice-supreme-court-adopts-nextgen-uniform-bar-examination-first-administration-july-2028 (verified 2026-08-20).

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