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Say it wasn't required to have a JD to go to sit for the bar. Could one pass the bar exam just by self-studying? And if so, how long would it take?

I'm inclined to believe the answer is yes, at least for some, but as a 0L I'm clueless just how much studying it would actually take.

def go for it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

I believe in CA you can take the bar without going to law school (there was a post about it a few months ago) and I'm not sure of actual statistics but I'm pretty sure that most who took this route did not pass the bar or at least not the first time. And even if you did pass I'm inclined to believe you would not find worthwhile employment unless you started your own ambulance chasing practice (not that I'm considering this worthwhile, I'm just saying)

merichard87 wrote:I believe in CA you can take the bar without going to law school (there was a post about it a few months ago) and I'm not sure of actual statistics but I'm pretty sure that most who took this route did not pass the bar or at least not the first time. And even if you did pass I'm inclined to believe you would not find worthwhile employment unless you started your own ambulance chasing practice (not that I'm considering this worthwhile, I'm just saying)

There's probably a self-selection of people there who are not of the greatest legal minds though.

I wonder what would happen if you took the average HYS-caliber student and gave him a few months to study for the bar without any formal legal education.

After making a fake transcript from Harvard, he prepared himself for the compulsory exam. Despite failing twice, he claims to have passed the bar exam legitimately on the third try after 8 weeks of study, because "Louisiana at the time allowed you to (take) the Bar over and over as many times as you needed. It was really a matter of eliminating what you got wrong."[6]


thats how he did it, so i guess thats studying

California & Vermont, although Vermont requires an internship/clerking experience with an attorney. Not sure whether or not Vermont has changed this policy so you need to research this.
To more directly address your question: In theory, it certainly is possible, but the reality is that most folks just don't think like lawyers; most people think in terms of absolutes, right & wrong, memorization & regurgitation which might make passing any essay portion of a bar exam quite difficult.

Yea thats something to consider but still, if someone was considering this route and they truly wanted to practice law it would definitely be a bad move. However, if someone had to much time on their hands and just wanted to be able to say they passed the bar without going to law school, they're a douche. That is all.

A current (or recently retired) partner at Clearly Gottlieb was a paralegal who show a lot of promise, read law under a attorney at the firm, and passed the bar without law school.

LL.B. holders sit and pass the NY Bar just about every year. It's still law school though, but at an undergrad level.

nick637 wrote:def go for it

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Abagnale

Beat me to it. And not just any bar, arguably the toughest in the country! They need to make a midquel to Catch Me If You Can and call it The Other Stuff I Did. He posed as a prison inspector, and escaped several prisons and detention centers. And he taught UG sociology by posing as a Columbia grad. This dood! And the best part was that the government wound up paying him for his services.

I have no doubt at all that most intelligent people could pass the bar with a few months of intensive study.