Which states allow you to become a lawyer without law school? California, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington allow you to take the bar exam without going to law school. If you live in Maine or New York, you can substitue one or two years of law school with an apprenticeship.
If you're not going to law school, you need to move to a state that permits you to become a lawyer without going to law school. Even if you move to a different state and take part in a law office study program, going to law school gives you the advantage of being more prepared to answer questions listed on the BAR exam.
There are just a few states that allow people to take the bar exam without going to law school. Instead, these bar exam applicants have studied the law with the assistance of a lawyer, doing something called “reading the law.” Four states currently allow this:
Going to law school costs you more than if you decide not to attend. Saving the money from not going to law school allows you to reexamine your career options to find out what is financially feasible. Applying to law office study programs is a cost-effective option if you're still looking to take the BAR exam and become a lawyer.
Obtain your bachelor's degree Get a Bachelor's Degree in Pre-Law from an accredited college or university to expand your knowledge of the law and cultivate skills to help you as a lawyer. Expanding your knowledge in law can expose you to concepts that show up on the BAR exam and introduce to professionals who have had a career in law.
Easiest Bar Exam to Pass in the U.S.RankState Bar ExaminationCalculated Average LSAT1California160.682Louisiana154.793Washington158.124Oregon158.8344 more rows
The only state without a law school, Alaska needs one to help make legal services more available and affordable, a lawmaker contends.
Kim Kardashian celebrated passing the “baby bar” with some cheddar bay biscuits. The reality star learned that she passed the First-Year Law Students' Examination in December 2021 while sitting in her car in front of a Red Lobster restaurant.
Attorney vs Lawyer: Comparing Definitions Lawyers are people who have gone to law school and often may have taken and passed the bar exam. Attorney has French origins, and stems from a word meaning to act on the behalf of others. The term attorney is an abbreviated form of the formal title 'attorney at law'.
Only California, Washington, Virginia and Vermont offer the option of taking the bar exam without ever having set foot in a law school class. Wyoming, New York and Maine also consider apprenticeships, but they do require at least some law school classwork.
After satisfying the apprenticeship requirements for one of the above states, an individual must still pass the bar exam and get sworn in before he or she can put Esq. after their name. More than 38,000 individuals sat for the bar exam last fall.
In most states and U.S. jurisdictions, you will need a law degree before you are eligible to take the bar exam. That being said, the states that offer alternatives to law school do not require a law degree before you sit for the bar. In these areas, you will need to meet the requirements of an apprenticeship program or have obtained a degree from an accredited law school before taking the bar, which offers more flexibility regarding your legal education.
The best way to secure yourself a legal apprenticeship is to politely inquire at a law firm where the supervising attorney would meet that state's practice requirements ( this refers to how long they have been actively practicing in the state) and where you would want to study. You can also check on a law firm's website, as many legal offices in states that accept apprenticeships may have separate programs set up to handle apprenticeship inquiries.
In Maine, you can spend two years studying in a law school and one year studying in a law office as part of an apprenticeship before you are eligible to take the bar exam and become a practicing attorney.
You will need to study a minimum of 18 hours a week, with five of those hours being under the direct supervision of the attorney.
With law school, you will be studying for 3 years and as soon as you graduate, you will be eligible to take the bar exam. On the other hand, an apprenticeship may take 4 or more years to complete and you may have to put extra time into studying for the bar exam once it has concluded.
An apprenticeship in Vermont will need to consist of four years of studying under an attorney or a judge who has at least three years of active law practice in the state.
In most cases, the road to becoming a lawyer is paved with studying for the LSATs, compiling a competitive law school application, and undertaking the rigorous three year education that is obtaining a law degree. As soon as you have your Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree, you will need to study for and take the bar exam in the jurisdiction you wish to practice; once you successfully pass and have been granted bar admission you are free to practice as a lawyer in the jurisdiction.
The reason you are here is simple – you want to become a lawyer and you don’t want to, or, for whatever reason, can’t go to law school and spend 8+ years preparing for this vocation. Is it possible? The answer is yes, though some limitations may apply. Let us explain.
There is a little known way to become a lawyer without going to law school. You can do it by being self-taught and reading the law. The process itself is longer, and potentially more strenuous. However, it doesn’t end there. You need to go through an apprenticeship program, which differs depending on the location.
There are several famous people who did not, in fact, go to law school. One of them was Thomas Jefferson, a Founding Father who is considered to be the main author of the Declaration of Independence. Another famous example is Abraham Lincoln.
California requires “law readers” to complete four years of study in a law office or Judge’s Chambers under the supervision of an attorney who must have five years of active law practice within the state. Study time must equate to at least 18 hours per week, 5 hours of which the reader must be under the direct supervision of their supervising attorney. California law readers are also required to take monthly exams, complete a Baby Bar Exam after their first year of study and also submit progress reports to the CA State Bar every six months. California also requires an initial fee of $158 as well as a $105 fee which must be submitted along with the progress reports every six months.
Vermont requires that law readers complete four years of study under a supervising attorney who has at least three years of experience or a judge.
Finding a job may be difficult due to the lack of popularity of this program. Jobs are already extremely difficult to come by for students with a JD from a top law school. Therefore, due to the unpopularity of this option and the lack of knowledge, nationwide, firms may be apprehensive to hire students who take this route.
If you don’t already live in California, Vermont, Virginia or Washington, you may need to relocate to one of these states. These four states provide “law reader” or apprenticeship programs for students who opt to bypass law school.
Thus, many law firms or Judge’s chambers may not have programs in place to facilitate this option. Kim Kardashian, actually has a supervising attorney who is mentoring Kim as one of her primary job roles. Unless you have a strong network with an attorney willing to provide such dedication or unless you find a firm that has a structured program in place, it’s unlikely that you may get the same level of attention as Kim K.
Kim Kardashian, wife of Kanye, mother to North, Saint, Chicago and now Psalm West, found a pathway to become an attorney, through which she can avoid the dreaded cold call in front of hundreds of people and extensive class lectures that go on for hours. No this isn’t a pathway reserved for the wealthy or famous.
What was more shocking, was the fact that she is doing this without going to law school. Yes, you heard me right. Kim Kardashian, wife of Kanye, mother to North, Saint, Chicago and now Psalm West, found a pathway to become an attorney, through which she can avoid the dreaded cold call in front of hundreds of people and extensive class lectures that go on for hours. No this isn’t a pathway reserved for the wealthy or famous. In fact this is a pathway that has existed for centuries, it’s just simply the road less travelled for reasons I will delve into below. Therefore, if you’re interested in becoming a lawyer sans law school, this article is for you.
Lack of professors or instructors whose full-time job is to teach (while LOSP students must have an attorney mentor, the attorney's job primarily is to practice law, not to teach students; most attorneys will have the minimal 5 hours per week available to supervise you, and not more)
Opportunities to work and earn income while studying (though not all LOSP students necessarily have a paid job in their law office, many of them do, and for those who don't get paid to work in the law office, the LOSP only requires a commitment of 18 hours per week so it's conducive to side hustles)
Advantages of the LOSP include: Experience in a real law office, which provides more practical skill building opportunities than law school. Ability to focus on a particular area of law that may be of interest to you. Ability to set your own pace of study and choose study materials that suit your learning style; ...
There are very few attorneys practicing law today who got licensed through the LOSP and I don't know of any surveys or studies comparing experiences. But below are a few generalized observations about the pros and cons of the LOSP.
The most important step in taking a practice test is to carefully review the model answers or answer keys with explanations to learn from your mistakes; consider taking practice tests as a part of the study process. Practice tests are not just a method of evaluating how much progress you’ve made in your studies.
A few other states have similar programs but most states require aspiring attorneys to go to an accredited law school as a requirement for admission to practice law in that state. I don’t keep close tabs on other states’ admissions rules, however, this blog post on LikeLincoln.org has a useful summary of other states’ requirements. I am unsure how often that page is updated and I cannot make any assurances of its accuracy, so please do your own research on your state’s requirements before you make any big plans. The National Conference of Bar Examiners also publishes a Bar Admission Guide with information that may be useful for your research.
I became a lawyer without going to law school. Yes, that's possible in California, through the Law Office Study Program (LOSP) administered by the State Bar of California, which allows study in a law office or judge's chambers in lieu of law school. These days the LOSP (sometimes referred to as “reading the law” or apprenticing to become a lawyer) ...