The Secret to Skipping Law School
by Elizabeth Kramer
You looked into becoming a lawyer; you believe in justice, you want to make a difference, you enjoy a challenge and you have never shied away from hard work. Then you looked at law school tuition and the rate of unemployed (or involuntarily self-employed) lawyers nationwide and changed your mind.
What if, instead of a traditional law school degree and six-figure debt, you could take the bar exam and achieve your goal through hands-on legal experience?
Really, it can happen; just ask any of the 60+ lawyers who have done exactly that.
Aspiring attorneys have a lot of concerns to juggle. A firm understanding of the law, the bar exam, and finding placement are all major stressors to anyone looking to become a lawyer. The concerns of attending a prestigious law school expound upon this, from those of the LSATs and applying to tuition, financial aid, and maintaining a stellar GPA. There is, however, an alternative to the law school track. Legal apprenticeship, or “reading the law” is a viable, little used option for aspiring lawyers for whom law school is not feasible or seems unwise. (Tweet this!)
"Reading the Law"
In terms of legal education, six states currently allow interested students to work as a legal apprentice in the years leading up to the bar exam.(Tweet this!) In California, for example, a student must work under a lawyer or judge in the content area of his or her focus for four years after registering with the state’s apprenticeship program. The cooperating lawyer or judge will test the apprentice on a monthly basis to assess his or her aptitude and progress in the study of law. In addition to registering, students must also pass the Bar First Year Law Students Exam within a reasonable amount of attempts. This hands-on approach provides the law student with a comprehensive, firsthand understanding of legal processes, as well as allows the apprentice to attempt to network and build meaningful relationships with other professionals in his or her desired field of law.
Participating States
While the California State Bar's Law Office Study Program boasts the most overall participants, similar programs are also available in 5 other states. Like California, the programs in Vermont, Washington, and Virginia don't require any courses to be completed at a law school, whereas New York and Maine require a combination of study.
(Wyoming offered a similar program in the past which has now been discontinued.)
Pros and Cons
While providing an alternate to traditional law school, a law office study program is certainly not an easy way out. As with any decision, there are pros and cons to each approach. While a legal apprenticeship allows the student to have a mentor who understands them and aids them in a one to one context, the student loses the ability of networking with other aspiring lawyers and legal professionals. The mentor will be able to share a wealth of knowledge with the apprentice, but only can provide one point of view; in a law school, many professors can give the students different views of the world. Finally, the Bar, while allowing legal apprenticeships, may look down at legal apprenticeships in terms of validity and legitimacy; it could be difficult to prove a legal apprenticeship as a valid alternative to traditional law school degree training. 
However, many participants launch their legal careers in the very same office where they complete their apprenticeship, giving them a clear inside track to their first jobs.
In an economy where many law school graduates are struggling to find work and pay off debt, will legal apprenticeship become increasingly popular for the next generation of lawyers?
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