Bar Exam Degree Requirements

...because the state Bar Association has required them to pass a test just to show up. In most states the same organization requires a degree from an accredited law school just to sit the test (though I think there are like 2 states that let anyone sit the Bar Exam).Put another way, everyone has to do the fizzbuzz leetcode test just to be in the industry. But you only have to do it once.

Obviously you need subject knowledge, that should be implicit?Keep in mind even today[1] ( in California and few other states) you don't need to go law school to write the Bar exam and practice law, various forms of apprenticeship under a judge or lawyer are allowedYou also don't need to write the exam to practice many aspects of the legal profession.The exam is never meant to be a high bar of quality or selection,it was always just a simple validation if you know your basics.

Meanwhile, they often gate the requirements to even take the test. It would be chaos (and bad for the law schools) if someone were able to take the bar without a JD (some states have just as lengthy apprenticeship periods replace that) or otherwise prove professional ability acquired via non traditional means.

People are artificially prevented from entering these professions in the United States. A person who spends several years in a library learning about the interpretation and application of the law, and who would be capable of passing a bar exam, is not allowed to take the exam. In all but 2 states, to gain the privilege of taking the exam, he or she must first pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to a law school. In the remaining 2 states, if he or she is old enough (23 or 25, if I recall corr

Sorry, you cannot just take a board exam and start practicing medicine. Law, you can.

Not to pile on or insult US law students, but this is supported by the fact that for a long time in the US all you had to do was pass the bar exam to be a lawyer (now only two states allow this, with major caveats). Law is as difficult an occupation as any, but it really isn't like medicine in that it should require front-loaded special education (early in a medical career your mistakes are less reversible than an early lawyer's, etc). Apprenticing (like the Brits do) should be good en

It's not there because all those professional guilds legally require a college degree. It used to be you could just pass the bar and become a lawyer. The bar associations then got laws passed requiring an actual law degrees, so people took inexpensive correspondence courses. The lawyers then fought back by requiring the schools be accredited, and setting minimum rules for face time. Thus you are forced to pay very expensive law school tuition to practice as a lawyer. This pushes up the wage

Legal licensing does not keep incompetent practitioners from entering the industry, at least in the U.S. This is cultural - there is still an expectation that after you get your license, other lawyers will train you.

licensing might not be a bad route, similar to a carpenter's license or a bar exam

If you know the law but do not have a law degree, you cannot take the bar examination in most states. In California and less than four other states, you can do something like an apprenticeship in order to qualify instead, but (in California) you must be at least 23 to begin. A friend of mine with a solid understanding of the law and a desire to practice law cannot enter the profession because he is not 23 and does not have truckloads of money.