Plain-language rule translation
Take a dense rule and say what it means for this specific client, in one sentence they'd actually understand.
NextGen skill course
Client Counseling & Advising
Client counseling and advising is the skill of turning a legal analysis into advice a client can use. NextGen tests it in file-based tasks where the client has a goal, constraints and a decision to make, and the strongest answers state the recommendation, explain the reasoning in plain terms, lay out the realistic options with their risks and respect that the decision belongs to the client. Common failures are legal jargon, advice that ignores the client's stated goals, and hiding the bad news. Candor about uncertainty is part of the skill. Train it by explaining a legal result to an imagined non-lawyer in a few sentences and then checking whether you gave a recommendation. The sequence below lists the actions, and the drills isolate each step. Finish with a specific next step the client can take this week, since advice without an action is only commentary.
| Component | Count |
|---|---|
| Performance actions | 7 |
| Common failure modes | 6 |
| Isolated drills | 6 |
| Rubric criteria | 6 |
Performance sequence
The actions to perform
- 01
Clarify objectives and decision authority
- 02
Explain governing law in plain language
- 03
Separate known facts from assumptions
- 04
Present realistic options and consequences
- 05
Address cost, time, risk, relationship, and nonlegal interests
- 06
Recommend a course while preserving client choice
- 07
Confirm next steps and follow-up
Focused training
Drills that isolate the skill
Option matrices
Lay out every realistic option side by side with its cost, timeline, and risk, so the client can compare them at a glance.
Risk-calibrated client emails
Draft the email, and match its tone and hedging to how uncertain the underlying law or facts actually are.
Bad-news communication
Deliver an unfavorable result. Say it early in the message, then explain why, then explain what happens next.
Recommendation with uncertainty
Make a real recommendation even though the law isn't settled. Say what you'd do, and why, without pretending to a certainty you don't have.
Next-step checklists
End every counseling drill with a short, concrete list of what the client does next, and by when.
01 · From NCBE's own content scope
How NCBE defines Group B
NCBE's content scope describes Foundational Skills Group B as testing whether an examinee can pick sound strategies for working with a client, strategies that follow the governing rules and fit the client's goals, interests and limits.
Client counseling and advising is one of three skills in that group, alongside negotiation and dispute resolution and the client relationship and its management.
02 · From NCBE's own content scope
Tasks and professional-responsibility rules
NCBE's tasks include choosing the best approach to learn what the client needs and reach the client's stated goals. Another asks why a legal rule may put one of several client goals within reach or out of reach. Task 23 has examinees write or revise a letter advising the client.
NCBE says the Model Rules of Professional Conduct may be assessed in Group B integrated question sets, but not in standalone multiple-choice questions. Those questions rely on recalled knowledge without legal resources, and comments are not tested.
03 · From NCBE's own content scope
Advice a client can act on
NCBE's task 8 asks which claims to recommend and which remedies to pursue, in line with the client's goals, interests and limits. Task 23 has examinees write or revise a letter that tells the client what a course of action means legally.
Task 10 asks for two factors favoring a client's position. Advice that names two clear factors is easier for a client to use than a list of everything.
04 · From NCBE's own content scope
Worked drill: a script for delivering unwelcome advice
This drill uses an invented scenario, not NCBE material. A client wants to sue a former business partner over a $9,000 debt, but the file shows the debt is time-barred. Write a four-part script: the answer, the reason, the options, and the next step. The answer comes first and plainly: "The law's deadline for suing on this debt has passed, so a lawsuit is very likely to fail."
The reason is one sentence in ordinary words. The options are real ones: ask the partner to pay voluntarily, negotiate a partial payment, or check whether a written promise to pay may have restarted the clock in that state. The next step has a date. A weak script buries the answer after three paragraphs of law, promises the client 'we will fight this,' and never asks what result she is actually hoping for, which is the question that reveals whether an option like partial payment would satisfy her.
QUICK ANSWERS
Questions about Client Counseling & Advising
What is Foundational Skills Group B?+
Client counseling and advising, negotiation and dispute resolution, and the client relationship and its management, tested as strategies for working with a client.
Which task asks about a client's multiple objectives?+
Task 13 asks examinees to explain why a legal rule as applied may make one of a client's stated objectives attainable or unattainable.
Which task asks for the best strategy for a client's goals?+
Task 14 has examinees choose the best approach to learn what the client needs and reach the goals the client has stated.
Are professional-responsibility rules tested in Group B?+
Yes, in integrated question sets, but NCBE says they will not be assessed in standalone multiple-choice questions.
Do I get legal resources for the Model Rules questions?+
No. NCBE says questions on the Model Rules call for recalled knowledge and understanding, and no legal materials are supplied with them.
Are the comments to the Model Rules tested?+
No. NCBE says assessment is limited to application of the enumerated rules and does not include knowledge of the comments accompanying them.
Which Model Rules does NCBE list for Group B?+
Rules 1.0, 1.1, 1.2(a) and (d), 1.3, 1.4, 1.6(a) and (c), 1.7, 3.1, 3.3(a)(1) and (2), 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3.
Does client advice have to fit the client's constraints?+
Yes. NCBE frames Group B strategies as consistent with a client's objectives, interests and constraints, not the lawyer's preferences alone.
Does NCBE ask for client letters?+
Yes. Task 23 asks examinees to draft or edit correspondence to a client explaining legal implications, giving a status update or advising on next steps.
Which task asks for two factors favoring a position?+
Task 10, which has examinees name two factors that help the client's position or two that help the opponent's.
SOURCE DESK
Official NCBE sources
NCBE: NextGen UBE content scope, July 2026 to February 2027 (PDF)↗NCBE: NextGen UBE content scope↗Train it in context
From drill to full client file
Further reading
Counseling turns on the duties a lawyer owes a client, which a general reference on legal ethics summarizes. Legal ethics (Wikipedia) ↗