What is the bare legal minimum to become an attorney?

Question

is law school required? how many years? Is any-1 allowed into a low level law school?

Answer 1

Depends on the jurisdiction where you want to practice. Some require law school, some don't.

"Easiest" way to become an attorney is to go to law school. You will need to have a 4-year degree (Bachelor's Degree) and then go to 3 years of full time law school (or 4 years part time).

If you go to a non-ABA accredited law school, it is easier to get into but it may be difficult to get a job at a large law firm. A smaller law firm, in a more laid-back town is usually willing to hire attorneys who did not attend an ABA-accredited law school.

Some jurisdictions, you can study under an attorney without having to go to law school. For example, in California, see below:

http://calbar.ca.gov/state/calbar/calbar_generic.jsp?cid=10581&id=24442#lawer6

Can I become an attorney without going to law school?

Yes. You can meet California’s legal education requirements by spending at least four years studying law under the personal supervision of a California judge of record or a California attorney in his or her law office. (The attorney must be an active member of the State Bar of California who has been in practice for the last five years or longer.) For more detailed information, visit the State Bar’s Web site at www.calbar.ca.gov and click on Admissions.

So, again, it depends on the state where you want to practice. Keep in mind, however, that if you don't go to an ABA approved law school and want to move to another state, you will have to see if you qualify. You'll still have to take the bar exam, but you may have to be licensed / practicing law in your current jurisdiction for at least 5 years.

Answer 2

Each state has their own requirements, although they are pretty much uniform.

If the state is to be the first state where a person is to be admitted:

One must pass the Bar Exam, and be deemed by the examining committee to be of suitable character, which is quite subjective. Some states do not make this determination before one takes the examination, so merely passing the test does not give one the right to a license.

To be allowed to take the exam, one must have a Law Degree from an American Bar Association accredited school.

Getting into Law School varies by the school. I believe all require you to take the LSAT, but how they weigh that against grades, life experiences, and any other factors probably varies more widely than I can even imagine.

Not all require full college degrees. I know that some will take a person with three years completed in a major in Criminal Justice, and consider the first year of Law School as the Senior year in the CJ degree. There may be other related degrees that some schools honor this way.

Once a person has a license in one state, they are NOT entitled to practice in any other state without getting a license in that state. Without several years experience, this means taking the Bar exam again, but part of it (the Multistate) may be honored if the score was recent and high enough. With several years of experience, some states grant reciprocity. For example, if you have a license in state Y and practice for five years, you can request a license in state Z on Motion, and be licensed in that state as well, with all the privileges of paying fees and reporting Continuing Legal Education in two states.


Jann: The American Bar Association is purely voluntary. One gets licensed by the state, the ABA has no say in whether an individual is licensed or not. They do hold the Accreditation power over schools, but a person is not required to register with the ABA to be licensed, or even return their phone calls.

Answer 3

Some states have ways of becoming an attorney without law school by some sort of apprenticeship with an attorney. However, I do not advise it. Go to a good college and get good grades and go to a good law school. In law, there is a big prestige factor based upon what law school you went to, how good your grades were there, and whether you were on law review.
If you go to a lesser-quality law school, it will be harder to find a good job. Even the lower-quality law schools do not accept everyone. The look at your LSAT scores and college grades, among other things.
Law school lasts 3 years. There are some part-time programs that go for 4 years if you need to be working during law school.
Best wishes to you.

Lawyer Ron

Answer 4

To practice law in the US, at least, one must be a licensed attorney/lawyer with the ABA (american bar association). Competition to getting accepted into law school is supposed to be fierce between one's gpa (grade point average), LSAT (law school admissions test) scores and letters of recommendation. If you would like tp possibly work in the legal field, perhaps you can look into a paralegal program albeit one is supposed to have at least a bachelor's degree in 'something' (I suppose in additon to completing an ABA accredited paralegal program) whether it be business or paralegal or such to qualify for most positions. A paralegal is quite different than an attorney, however, in that they are unable to give legal advice.

Here is a website for general career info: www.bls.gov/oco and can type into search 'lawyer' or 'paralegal'.