If you are thinking about going to law school to become a lawyer, then you might have a lot of questions about how to go about taking the bar exam and get your law career started as quickly and painlessly as possible. The bar exam is a lengthy test administered to qualified individuals pursuing a career in law. Law schools can be extremely competitive and the cost of attending law school is quite hefty, so you may be asking do you have to go to law school to take the bar exam?
This question really depends on the state and can be answered with a yes and a no. In certain states you can sit for the bar exam without attending law school at all, other states require individuals to attend some years of law school, and most states do not allow you to take the bar at all unless you have completed law school. If you were curious as to whether someone could take the bar without any prior education or experience, then the answer is no. Individuals must still go through a rigorous process in order to gain approval for taking the bar. Below is a list of states that allow you to take the bar exam without attending law school.
It’s a pretty short list. While these are the only states that allow you to take the bar without attending an accredited law school, they do contain lengthy requirements such as apprenticeships under the supervision of a lawyer or judge and a certain amount of hours to be worked every week for a specific amount of time, typically around 2-4 years. There are also a few states, such as Maine and New York, that allow you to take the bar after attending a law school for only 1-2 years and working in a law office for a certain amount of time.
California Bar Exam Requirements
According to this PDF, in order to start studying law in the state of California, an applicant must attend at least two years of college or have sixty completed semester credit hours followed by studying in a law office or a judge’s chambers. Applicants must study in a law office or judge’s chambers for at least 48 weeks out of a year, completing a minimum of 18 hours per week, in order to receive credit for one year of study in place of law school. This means that one must complete a combined total of 96 weeks and 1,728 hours after completing 2 years of college work to be ready to sit for the California bar exam.
Along with the workload of studying law in an office or judge’s chambers, there are requirements that are specific to each state that applicants must go through in order to successfully complete their studies in law. For example, the supervisor of the person studying law must have been an active member of the California bar for at least 5 years and the applicant must be supervised for at least 5 hours per week. The applicant will also undergo various examination periods that need to be submitted to the Bar Committee outlining the amount of time spent studying and what specific material is being studied.
Vermont Bar Exam Requirements
According to this PDF, if you live in the state of Vermont and want to practice law, you may take the bar exam without attending law school. Similar to California, Vermont also requires the applicant to attend college, but one must complete a Bachelor’s degree in order to continue studying law within an office. The Vermont Supreme Court offers this law office study program in place of law school.
Vermont requires applicants to complete four years of study under the supervision of a lawyer or judge for 25 hours a week on top of a completed Bachelor’s degree. In total, someone pursuing law in the state of Vermont will have to attend schooling and study law for eight years before submitting a completion notice to the Board of Bar Examiners in Vermont. Once the completion notice has been approved, the person is then eligible to sit for the state bar exam.
Virginia Bar Exam Requirements
According to the Virginia Board of Bar Examiners, applicants must present proof of a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution, complete an application for admission to the law reader program, and may be requested to submit their score on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT). Once accepted into the program, applicants must study under a supervising attorney. Supervising attorneys must be an active member of the Virginia State Bar, be in good standing, and have been engaged in the full time practice of law for 10 years in order to be qualified.
During the law program, a law reader must study for the general practice of law for a total of 3 years. This will consist of 25 hours per week for 40 weeks with at least 18 of those hours being under the direct supervision of the attorney. Throughout the course of study, examinations at certain intervals established by the Board, along with certificates completed by the supervising attorney in relation to the number of study hours completed and material covered must be administered and sent to the Board. By the end of the three years of study, the applicant must take a final examination administered and graded by the supervising attorney and pass in order to sit for the Virginia bar.
Washington Bar Exam Requirements
The Washington Supreme Court offers the Law Clerk Program as an alternative route for individuals who want to study and practice law. The four-year program is designed to help an individual gain experience and be educated in the practices of law. Similar to Virginia, the program requires the applicant to have studied and completed a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university.
The Law Clerk Program requires that an applicant be employed and work full-time in a law office for approximately 32 hours per week for a total of four years. There are six courses of study that must be completed each year that involve examinations, certificates, book reports, and annual evaluations. Upon successful completion of the program, the applicant will be allowed to take the Washington State Bar Exam. With these requirements in mind, taking the bar exam in Washington would still require an individual to devote eight years of their time to education and studying law in order to be qualified to sit for the bar.
Pros of Alternative Law Study Programs
Law school can be a crippling experience for many aspiring lawyers. It requires a substantial amount of studying which doesn’t allow for much free time between classes, especially if one is trying to juggle work into the mix. According to the University of Buffalo School of Law, classes in law school often don’t have a lot of grade-able material, meaning that assignments students do have need to be done well in order to achieve good grades and an acceptable GPA. Taking an alternative route to avoid law school is a good approach for someone who wants a more personal education experience.
If you live, or plan on living, in a state that doesn’t require law school to take the bar exam then you may want to consider taking the alternative route that is offered. Not only would these programs allow someone to study law in a more private environment, the cost is way cheaper than racking up years of debt that come with being a law school student. The hours of the programs are also manageable and would allow someone to maintain a job outside of their studies. Washington’s program is very beneficial as it requires you to be employed by a law office, therefore you can get paid while studying law and not have to worry about working a separate job.
Overview
You do not have to go to law school to take the bar exam if you live in California, Vermont, Virginia, or Washington but that doesn’t mean you will be able to avoid the amount of work it takes to immerse yourself into a law career. As stated before, if you live in Maine or New York then you can take an alternative route after completing 1-2 years of law school. All other states require some sort of completed law school degree, many of which need to be approved by the American Bar Association.
The alternative route programs still require extensive amounts of studying and thorough examinations of the general practice of law, but are much more personal since they are through apprenticeships under the supervision of an attorney or judge. Depending on the program one is able to apply for, the time it takes to complete law school compared to completing an apprenticeship are relatively the same. Some of the programs still require you to have a Bachelor’s degree which takes at least four years if it’s not fast-tracked which is then followed by a number of years studying law in an office or judge’s chambers.
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Sources:
ABA-Approved Law Schools. American Bar Association. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal_education/resources/aba_approved_law_schools/
Admission By Lawyer Bar Examination. Washington State Bar Association. (2021, October 8). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.wsba.org/for-legal-professionals/join-the-legal-profession-in-wa/lawyers/qualifications-to-take-the-bar-exam
APR 6 Law Clerk Program. Washington State Bar Association. (2021, October 8). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.wsba.org/for-legal-professionals/join-the-legal-profession-in-wa/law-clerk
Board of Bar Examiners. Vermont Judiciary. (n.d.). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/about-vermont-judiciary/boards-and-committees/bar-examiners
California Title 4. Admissions and Educational Standards . (2008, June 16). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://board.calbar.ca.gov/docs/agendaItem/Public/agendaitem1000002446.pdf
Law Reader Rules & Regulations. Virginia Board of Bar Examiners. (1998, July 1). Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://barexam.virginia.gov/reader/readerrules.html
Vermont Supreme Court. (n.d.). Law office Study Program. Vermont Judiciary. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.vermontjudiciary.org/sites/default/files/documents/LOS%20Info.pdf
Wilson-Rew, A. (2018, August 6). How Hard Is Law School? 5 Differences Between Law School & Undergrad. University at Buffalo. Retrieved January 21, 2022, from https://www.law.buffalo.edu/blog/5_differences_between_law_school_and_undergrad.html#:~:text=The%20law%20is%20extensive%2C%20and,studying%20in%20law%20school%20harder
