Reading the Law

In five states, you can still take this non-law school route to becoming a lawyer. Vermont, Washington, California,Virginia and Wyoming all allow people to become lawyers by “reading the law,” which, simply put, means studying and apprenticing in the office of a practicing attorney or judge.

California: California’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. Requires 4 years of study in a law office, at least 18 hours per week, 5 hours of direct supervision, monthly exams, bi-annual progress reports to the CA State Bar. Supervising attorney must have 5 years of active law practice in the state.

Vermont: Vermont’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. See Section 6(g)(1). Requires 4 years of study in a law office. Supervising attorney must have 3 years of experience.

Virginia: Virginia’s complete Law Reader Program rules are at this link. Requires 3 years of law office study, 40 weeks per year, 25 hours per week, with 3 hours per week of direct supervision by attorney. Supervising attorney must have at least 10 years of experience. Note that the apprentice may not be employed by or compensated by the supervising attorney.

Washington: Washington’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. The Admission to Practice Rule (APR) 6 Law Clerk Program requirements can be found here. Requires 4 years of employment in a law office, an average of 32 hours of work/study per week, 3 hours per week of direct attorney supervision. Supervising attorney must have 10 years of experience. Apprentices must pay an annual fee of $1,500. Note that the apprentice must be employed by the attorney.
States requiring some law school, but not the full three years:

Maine: Maine’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. See Rule 10(c)(5). Maine requires at least two years of law school study, followed by one year of study in a law office.

New York: New York’s complete bar admission rules are at this link. See Section 520.4. New York requires at least one year of law school. The remaining law study may be done in a law office, so long as there is an aggregate of four years of law school study and law office study.

Wyoming: Wyoming’s bar admission rules are at this link (see Rule 202), but the educational requirements of bar admission seem to only be in state statute in Title 33, Chapter 5, Section 105. Under Wyoming statute, you qualify to take the bar if you have 1 year of law school and 2 years of a law study program, or 2 years of law school and 1 year of a law study program. Here’s the statute:

33-5-105. Applications for admission to bar; qualifications of applicants.

“No one shall be admitted to the bar of this state who shall not be an adult citizen of the United States and a person of good moral character. No one shall be examined unless he shall give satisfactory evidence of having studied law at least three (3) years in a law school approved by the state board of law examiners, or shall give satisfactory evidence of having attended a law school as herein provided for a period of at least one (1) year, and in addition thereto shall have studied law at least two (2) years in the office of a member of the bar, or one (1) of the judges of this state, or shall give satisfactory evidence of having attended a law school as herein provided for a period of two (2) years, and in addition thereto shall have studied law at least one (1) year in the office of a member of the bar, or one (1) of the judges of this state. Said study must have been actually and not constructively commenced and continued.”
And the very limited circumstances in which law office study is relevant in West Virginia:

West Virginia: A person who has attended 3 years of law school at a non-ABA-accredited law school in a state where attendance at such school would make the person eligible to take the bar exam in that state may become eligible to take the West Virginia bar exam by doing an additional three years of law office study.The updated rules (as of January 1, 2013) are in Rule 3.0(a)(2)(a) at this link. Note that, as of July 2014, the Rules for Admission to Practice Law on the West Virginia Judiciary website have not been updated. If you read the old rules on that site, you could conclude that West Virginia requires no legal education whatsoever (thanks to the confusing appearance of the word “or”).

There are a number of reasons why this option is important: it makes becoming a lawyer more accessible to a wider demographic of people; it frees new lawyers from the shackles of law school debt; it allows lawyers to study in the communities they want to serve rather than leaving the area for law school; and more.

The Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC) is taking the lead in educating people about legal apprenticeships. LikeLincoln, a website SELC created, offers a big picture glimpse into the legal apprenticeship movement with information, resources, advice and first-hand accounts from both supervising attorneys and apprentices.

Using information found on SELC’s website and LikeLincoln, as well as interviews with legal apprentices and SELC’s co-founder Janelle Orsi, Shareable created the following how-to for becoming a lawyer without going to law school. Rules and requirements vary from state to state so check your local law, but here are some practical tips, best practices and virtual cheers of encouragement.

Why Do ItThere are numerous benefits to taking the legal apprenticeship route to becoming a lawyer. They include gaining years of legal practice prior to becoming a lawyer; avoiding law school debt which can run hundreds of thousands of dollars; learning at a pace and style that works for you; studying in the area you want to practice law in; and building a network of future clients, mentors, colleagues and legal professionals.

Receiving a license to practice law, without crushing debt, also allows one to take on legal work that is centered on building and strengthening community rather than making lots of money to pay off loans. This is a truly radical aspect of the legal apprenticeship program.

Isabell Wong Flores knows well the feeling of bar exam defeat. After completing her law office study, it took five attempts over two and a half years before she passed the bar exam. “There were times when I wanted to give up so much,” said Ms. Flores, now a Sacramento criminal defense lawyer who draws on her perseverance in her side work as a motivational speaker. The exam is torturous, she said, but “you have to find ways to conquer it.” Ms. Flores bought study tapes and enrolled in bar prep courses at local law schools before passing in 2007 — seven years after starting down this road. “I wanted to give myself an education,” she said. “It took a little longer than I thought it would.”

The lack of a J.D. can also be cause for concern to clients.

“I do have some clients who look up on my wall and say, ‘Where did you go to law school?’ and aren’t too happy with the answer,” said Ivan Fehrenbach, who recently passed the Virginia bar after three years of reading law. Unburdened by school loan debt, he said, he has been able to become “a country lawyer,” taking on work like speeding tickets, divorce and wills.

For most, the lack of class rankings put clerkships with judges and plum gigs at big firms out of reach. There are exceptions: Jeffrey L. Smoot, a law reader, was recently made partner at one of Seattle’s oldest firms, Oles Morrison Rinker & Baker. “It’s a validation of the program,” he said.

Washington’s program for apprentices — called law clerks there — stands out for the extent of support from the state bar association. A volunteer board sets study standards and assigns a liaison to each lawyer-apprentice duo to monitor their progress. Students must also be employed by the office in which they study. Of law clerks who took the Washington bar last year, 67 percent passed.

Talia Clever, who coordinates the program for the state bar, says she routinely fields calls from people who want to know how hard it is to become a lawyer without law school. Her answer: very. “It’s a lot of work. It’s four years and you don’t get summers off. You’re on the line working with a lawyer every day.”

For some, that’s the appeal. Instead of spending years in lecture halls, time is spent in courtrooms or with clients — experience most traditional law school students might only get during a semester of clinical practice. For paralegals, the method makes it possible to hold down a job or keep paying off a mortgage while earning an advanced credential. “I didn’t just want to up and quit my job and go to law school and become a student again,” said Megumi C. Hackett, a paralegal in Vancouver, Wash., who is studying under the tutelage of Jon J. McMullen, a criminal defense lawyer.

“It has been a hell of a lot of work,” said Mr. McMullen of his new role as teacher. “I’ve had to reacquaint myself with stuff I wish to God I didn’t have to think about again.” Rules vary from state to state, but supervising lawyers are expected to instruct their students in all areas of law covered by their state’s bar exam, and administer and grade tests.

“It does take a lot of time and effort,” said D.R. Dansby, the Virginia lawyer supervising Mr. Fehrenbach. Mr. Dansby, who read law in the late 1970s, has mentored three lawyers through the state’s program, each passing the bar on the first attempt.

Most supervisors just want to give back. “It’s worth it,” Mr. Dansby said. “We have plenty of lawyers, but not enough good ones.” But make no mistake, he stressed, these programs are not for everyone. He has turned away nearly two dozen people who he didn’t think had the motivation to take on a readership. An added deterrent is that Virginia strictly forbids employing, and paying, apprentices.

Robert Galbraith took a leave from the University at Buffalo Law School with hopes of completing his education by clerking while working full time for a local nonprofit. He knocked on a dozen doors, all with the same answer: no. “It’s tough to find people who even know it exists,” said Mr. Galbraith, referring to the New York rule that permits law-office study after the successful completion of one year of law school. Mr. Galbraith headed back to law school part time but didn’t finish in the five years mandated by the New York Bar Examiners. He now works for a watchdog group, the Public Accountability Initiative. “It’s very stimulating and engaging work,” he said, “but if an opportunity arises to clerk at a law office in order to take the bar, I would consider it.”

Ms. Orsi and the apprentices in her office are trying to spread the word, giving talks at law schools and seeking endorsement from professional groups like the San Francisco chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. Perhaps most important, they are building an informal list of California lawyers willing to take on apprentices or mentor in specific areas of law.

OTHER SUCCESSFUL APPRENTICES

Well-known attorneys such as Abraham Lincoln and Clarence Darrow achieved extraordinary success as lawyers without obtaining J.D. degrees. Other famous lawyers who never received J.D. degrees include John Marshall, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court; Benjamin N. Cardozo, Justice of the Supreme Court; Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia; Daniel Webster, Secretary of State; and Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator and South Carolina Governor. It wasn't until 1878 that the American Bar Association (ABA) began to establish itself as a force in the legal field and law schools began to become mainstream. 

Governor Brown appointed a former apprentice to become a judge!! Marcos Camacho used to be General Counsel to the United Farm Workers.

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COLLEGE LEVEL EXAMINATION PROGRAM (CLEP)