What is a Law Office Study Program?
Each state has its system in order to license people to practice law in their state. For example, most states require graduation from an ABA accredited law school. But for those that don’t, there is the option of the law office study program.
Law office study is a system established in some states wherein an applicant may become eligible to take the state bar after an apprenticeship supervised by a practicing member of the bar.
It is used towards eligibility to sit for the state bar examination in addition to or in lieu of attendance at an accredited law school. The program was authorized in 1870 and in 1914 New York became the first state to offer the bar exam to law office study participants.
For example, the New York law office study program is as follows:
- A student must be at least 18 years old and have a bachelor’s degree and fulfill several other requirements. Once admitted, they’ll need to take the NEW YORK STATE BAR EXAM .
- Select a qualified lawyer who is a member of the NYSBA to be one of your mentors and be willing to spend time with you. You’ll also need to choose a location to study. Many students find it easiest to work at the mentor’s office or in a law firm.
- Work 25 hours and at least 3 days per week irrespective of whether classes are offered at the law school. You’ll learn all areas of civil and criminal law, legal writing, and courtroom procedures while working side-by-side with the mentor and studying by reading law books during study hours. The program may last 4 years.
- Review of sample answers for bar exam/subjects will be undertaken at the beginning of the 4th year. You’ll take 8 bar exam practice tests. After the review of these tests, a final meeting will be scheduled to discuss strengths and weaknesses.
The law office study program is not for someone who had trouble in law school. You must also be disciplined.
Qualifications
A prospective law office study candidate must have a combination of education and experience that demonstrates her ability to do the work. While there are different paths to meeting this requirement, most law office study candidates are 3-year college graduates. The California Board of Bar Examiners does not specify that candidates must have a certain number of law school credits or that they attended a specific number of classes.
The law clerk must submit proof of her qualifications, including a certified copy of her grade transcript, at the time the law office study program is registered with the State Bar of California. If the applicant has been awarded a Juris Doctor degree from a school approved by the American Bar Association, attendance in law school may be accepted as an alternative to the educational requirement. A law clerk who receives a Juris Doctor degree from an ABA-approved law school after she has registered do not have to meet the minimum educational credentials described above. She will receive credit for the time she studied in the program for her law degree and will also be eligible to take the California Bar Exam upon completion of the program.
State-Specific Programs and Requirements
Recognising that law schools do not fully meet the needs of every aspiring lawyer, state bar authorities have developed alternative paths to entry-level attorney certification. One such option is the law office study program, which allows candidates to gain on-the-job experience working under the supervision of an experienced attorney rather than through a traditional classroom-based law school education. Not all states permit this type of learning approach, however, reflecting the need to balance access to the profession with ensuring appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the public. While the specifics differ from state to state, the law office study model forms part of an overall plan to accomplish those goals. California, New York and Vermont remain the only jurisdictions where a supervised four-year law office study program can be the exclusive path to bar admission. In addition to the California and New York programs that involve study under a member of the state bar, Vermont offers a third path which allows a candidate to choose to study under a judge or a member of its state bar as the person supervising their experience. Seven states (Alaska, Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia) currently offer supervised programs with varying requirements regarding the length of time to complete the program, the frequency of meetings and the types of activities that can be used for experiential credit. The programs in Alaska, Missouri, South Carolina, and Tennessee require that the candidate complete a course of study at an approved law school for one or two years before commencing their supervised experience as an alternative to taking the first half of the bar exam. Regulations vary between jurisdictions and, therefore, candidates should closely review the specific requirements of the state in which they plan to study prior to embarking on the process.
Advantages of law office study programs
Hands-on Legal Experience: One of the most immediate benefits of law office study is the practical experience you gain. While traditional law schools provide classroom instruction, they don’t offer the same level of real-world training. Embracing the law office study program allows you to engage in substantive legal work as part of a team, preparing you to step directly into the practice after passing the bar exam.
Cost-effectiveness: Law school tuition can be exorbitant and in some areas of the country, the average debt of a law school graduate can total six figures. Law office study programs, however, forego traditional tuition in favor of lower fees for bar courses and other classes. Moreover, study program candidates often work in return for their education. For the determined student, this can amount to a viable trailblazer in the world of legal practice.
Personalized Learning: Traditional law school programs include hundreds of students—this makes it virtually impossible for professors to personally know every student on an individual basis. Alternately, studying on the job enables the student to work in a modified one-on-one environment. Rather than have to balance the demands of a full class, the student is a valued representative with the opportunity to shine.
Considerations and drawbacks
While the law office study program offers an unconventional yet enticing route to becoming a lawyer, there are certainly several potential drawbacks to opting for this non-traditional approach to legal education. For one, you’ll never experience the support of a classroom full of other students, and you’ll need to develop some strong self-motivation skills if you plan to make it through the program successfully. It’s not uncommon for students to give up on the law office study program after a couple of years, realizing that they don’t have the discipline or drive necessary to succeed in this type of learning environment. The lack of structure can be a double-edged sword—the freedom of the law office study program is appealing , but some students end up shooting themselves in the foot by not completing their studies in a timely fashion.
Furthermore, the quality of the law office study program depends largely on the degree of expertise and skills of your instructor, who will essentially be your supervisor at the current law office where you are employed. While some students are lucky enough to work directly with a knowledgeable lawyer on a daily basis, others may have to settle for a less stellar experience—perhaps because the attorney is too busy to dedicate the time necessary to effectively serve as an instructor. It’s important to be flexible and keep your expectations in check when choosing this non-traditional approach to legal training, and try to find the combination of coursework, study material and law office experience that is right for you.
Alumni success stories
Emilia Arata, who completed her law office study in California, is a prime example of how this program can lead to a successful legal career. After completing her able and competent program, Emilia passed the bar exam on her first attempt and later opened a family law practice in San Francisco. She also believes that her experience with law office study empowered her to become a lawyer rather than a "counselor." She explains, "I believe that having spent two years under a rolling deadline helped me to hone my ability to address my client’s legal problems as they came up, without having everything prepared ahead of time."
Another California-based graduate of the program is Laura Martinez, who completed her GGU Law School LLM in Taxation two years after her law office study program. She notes that her California "bar results are so much better than those of students from some of the ABA schools," attributing her great exam performance to the fact that working full-time in law forces you to truly understand and study the law. Laura says, "You don’t learn what you need to know to pass the bar in law school. You learn it on the job."
There are many other successful graduates of law office study programs across the country. One such example is Kevin Mendel, who graduated from his law office study program in 1986 and has been in private practice in New Hampshire ever since. He practices primarily in the areas of family law, criminal defense and will litigation. Another successful graduate is Capitol Hill staffer Jennifer Stutsman, who graduated from her law office study in 2004. Staffers for Senators and Utilities need to have legal background in order to do their jobs well, making law office study a natural fit for a position like hers.
How to apply and get started
An individual interested in becoming a lawyer by way of a law office study program must first meet the eligibility requirements proscribed by the state bar association. In most states considered here, the applicant must have completed two years of college and a number of states have a minimum age requirement (usually around 21 years). In addition to meeting the minimum requirements, the person must find an attorney or law office who is interested in sponsoring him or her through the program.
Finding an attorney or law office willing to sponsor an individual to participate in the program can be difficult because the law office must already be providing training for at least one other law office study participant. Fortunately, there are resources available that match law offices with law office study participants. For example, the American Bar Association keeps a list of law offices throughout the country that are willing to sponsor a study participant. The lists usually contain contact information for the law offices so an interested individual can reach out for additional information.
No matter how a law office is found, once a law office agrees to sponsor an individual in the law office study program, the potential participant must submit an application for admission to practice to the state bar association. The admission application provides character and fitness information and must be accompanied by documents that support the applicant’s moral character and general fitness to practice law. In turn, the law office that agrees to serve as a supervisor under the program must submit a "Law Office Study Supervision Agreement" to the bar association. The agreement also contains a requirement regarding the types of tasks the law office can assign to the study participant. Typically, a law office study participant may engage in the same work an attorney might perform if they worked at the law office under supervision, but may not represent clients in any court, administrative agency, or any other lawful proceeding without the supervision of a licensed attorney.
Once the application is approved, the law office study participant, including their supervising attorney, are notified, and they can get started right away.
Getting ready for the bar exam
Most law office study program participants are already lawyers when they make the transition from apprenticeship to working in an office setting to full-time practice. Some jurisdictions allow new lawyers to practice while sitting for the bar exam, while others may not offer them the opportunity to become licensed until the completion of their apprenticeships and the bar exam.
Those who do not take the bar exam until after their apprenticeships have completed may treat it as a final examination for their training, reaping the benefits of their preparation alongside others looking to enter the practice of law. Preparing for the bar is similar to an exam in any other educational system. Study materials are available directly from individual state bar examinations, or from commercial bar review courses. Many states also publish comprehensive bar exam preparation guides on state websites and websites of state bar associations or interest groups.
It is also important to remember that although the exam is conducted by individual states, most of the content will be based upon widely-used model rules and laws for legal practice. Even if you don’t take the bar exam until after your law office study program has completed, the exam will likely contain many questions on these rules, as well as widely-complied upon common law. This makes the bar exam a good time to read further into issues you might come upon in your day-to-day work.
The Uniform Bar Exam (UBE) is a series of tests that may be accepted for licensing by participating states, but you are only allowed to transfer test results to a state where you sit for the exam. Your preliminary research into the state requirements should include whether or not it uses the UBE. Some states will give some latitude to those lawyers who have taken the UBE , granting an exemption from a state-specific test on specialties of local law or practice. You should check those standards ahead of time, as they can vary significantly from bar exam to bar exam.
While studying for the bar exam, you will need to add to your study materials notes you have compiled, both on issues of local practice, and on any highly-specific issues of practice you may have encountered. A large portion of the bar exam is not only general rules, but also hypothetical situations where you will need to demonstrate understanding of how these rules apply in certain situations. In addition to the study tools provided by the bar association and the state code itself, you may benefit by looking at prior exams released by the state bar association.
For those who would like to skip the test and quickly become licensed members of the bar, check local requirements as to admittance by waiver. Most states will grant limited credit to those who have already received legal education through an ABA-accredited institution. Some states may also grant substantial credit to those who have practiced law overseas for a specified period of time.
If you have not yet passed the bar exam when you apply for academic credit once your apprenticeship has completed, you may still apply. Even though it will be too late for you to retain the option of sitting through the exam, you may obtain academic credit for passing the exam once your apprenticeship has ended. If for any reason you should not pass the bar, you may simply withdraw your application for academic credit.