Can you take the bar exam without a law degree?

Answer 1

Its possible to get around the law school requirement, yes (see CA state bar website). However, I highly recommend against wasting your thousands of dollars on a failed attempt. I'm aware of the various alternatives, like clerking for an attorney for many years, doing correspondence courses for 4 years, etc, which I'm not asking about (but did not make clear above) -- I'm specifically curious as to the question mentioned above: That is, by meeting the quoted requirement below, and not any other requirement, can you take the bar exam in California CA with just an ABA accredited LLM but no JD or foreign law degree?

Per official rules from:

http://calbar.ca.gov/calbar/pdfs/rules/Rules_Title4_Div1-Adm-Prac-Law.pdf

Rule 4.26 Legal education

General applicants for the California Bar Examination must

"(A) be graduates of law schools approved by the American Bar Association or accredited by the Committee; or"

(B) demonstrate that in accordance with these rules they have

(1) studied law diligently and in good faith for at least four years in a law school registered with the Committee; in a law office; in a judge's chambers; or by some combination of these methods; or

(2) met the requirements of these rules for legal education in a foreign state or country; and

(C) have passed or established exemption from the First-Year Law Students' Examination.

Can the "graduates of law schools approved by the American Bar Association" be satisfied by an ABA accredited LLM program, or does is it implicitly refer to an ABA-accredited JD program? (Ignore the issue of whether one can get an LLM w/o a JD...)

Answer 2

Yes, and prior graduation from an accredited law school is required. Mere graduation from law school will qualify you to take the exam, but you must pass the exam to practice. Like so many things, it looks easy on TV, but it's not. An experienced attorney who has a license to practice in one state may be able to practice in another state without taking the second state's bar exam, but newer lawyers generally have to take the bar exam of each state in which they wish to practice regularly.

In addition, some, if not all, states now require that practicing attorneys take a certain number of credits in continuing professional education (CPE) courses every year in order to keep their licenses in good standing. So the learning never ends.

Answer 3

Yea...

All lawyers need a license from the State in which they want to work. To get a license, people need to get a college degree and then go to law school for 3 years. Finally, lawyers must pass a test called the bar examination.

Answer 4

You will have to look at your specific state's requirements. There are state's that allow you to sit for the exam without a law degree, most require you to have worked with an attorney for a number of years.

Answer 5

It is possible in some jurisdictions. You can work under an attorney for a period of time and be eligible to take the bar exam.

Answer 6

See the section entitled " Admission without law school" in the article at Wikipedia linked below.

Answer 7

Seven states: Vermont - New York - Washington - Virginia - California - Maine - Wyoming.

For an interesting article on this see below link:

Answer 8

Graduating from law school earns you a law degree. Whether you pass the bar only affects your ability to get a license to practice law.

Answer 9

Not in the state of Illinois. You must have a law degree to be eligible to sit for the exam.