Becoming a lawyer without going to law school
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Becoming a lawyer without ever attending law school in the US may seem impossible unless you have a photographic memory like the character Mike Ross from the show Suits. However, it is actually a viable option for certain people willing to put in the time and effort. Four states in the US offer you the chance to take the bar exam without ever attending law school by going through a reader program: California, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington. Maine and New York only require partial law school attendance, two years for the former and one for the latter.
It is obviously a lot harder to pass the bar exam without going through law school, but quite a few people have accomplished that. President Abraham Lincoln and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, John Jay, are some of the most known people to achieve this. Reality television star Kim Kardashian is also trying to become a lawyer via this method. See the list below for more modern examples of people who have become lawyers without attending law school.
Lawyers who didn't attend law school |
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|---|---|---|
| Person | Description | Passed Bar Year |
| Tammy McClenney | Pivoted from a police officer to a lawyer after a hand injury. | 2015 |
| Circuit Judge Thomas Padrick | Switched from being a detective to an attorney | 1980 |
| Joan Maredyth | Despite chronic health issues, Joan became a lawyer without attending law school | |
| ReaderToLawyer | Redditor who became an attorney through Virginia's reader program | |
| Edward S. Stolle, Jr. | Earned law license without going to law school at 72 years old | 2001 |
| Colin Stolle | Virginia Beach Commonwealth’s Attorney | 1996 |
| Ken Stolle | Studied law while working as a police officer | 1983 |
| Deborah Bryan | District Court Judge | |
| Susan Hooks | Chief Deputy | |
Social Media
Quotes
It’s tough,...It’s really just you, sitting down with all the textbooks, and trying to figure it all out.
Colin Stolle
You do have to be very disciplined,...There is not someone teaching you or watching over you to make sure you do the work. The only way to really learn was committing the time and reading books
Susan Hooks
I hope Virginia never does away with it, I think it provides a wonderful opportunity for people to become a lawyer who might not be able to normally.
Colin Stolle
Overall, I recommend the program to those people who have worked in the legal community, know what it is like to work in a law office and have the experience of working in an office. That experience is so incredibly helpful when studying for the bar. It also gives the person a real picture of what it is to be a lawyer, so he or she knows if that is the right career path to take.
ReaderToLawyer
