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Attorney Admission to the Bar

In the United States becoming a professional attorney usually involves being admitted to a State Bar Association. The American Bar Association sets national standards for the states. First you'll need a bachelor degree and then you'll need to attend a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association. The degree sought by law students is the Juris Doctor or Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD).

A law degree is required in most states along with passing the Law School Aptitude Test (LSAT), which is required by all American Bar Association-accredited law schools. This is a half day test that you usually are only allowed to take up to three times in a two year period. More information can be found about it at The Law School Admissions Council website (lsac.org). You need to plan on taking this test the December before your fall enrollment.

Another important test is the Responsibility Examination (MPRE) administered by the National Conference of Bar Examiners. You will also need continued education. The bar exam in most states is two days long. Requirements for bar admission vary from state to state. In most states the legal profession is regulated by the State Bar Association or a judicial agency. In Texas, lawyers are overseen by the State Board of Law Examiners. Some states have criminal penalties for unathorized law practice.

There are many Online Career Schools that will enable you to reach your personal goals!

In order to become an Attorney or Lawyer in the U.S., most States require that applicants to take and pass what is commonly referred to as the "BAR" Exam. There are many stories and schools of thought as to what the acronym "BAR" actually means or stands for. The most common understanding is that it stems from the old English Barristers Associations which literally started at the "bar" that separates observers in a courtroom from the judges and those eligible to practice law in English courts.

The "BAR Exam" exists to measure and determine whether or not one is qualified to practice law in a specific jurisdiction.I have asked many practicing lawyers what this term means and have gotten many different answers which is probably a good indication that the definition of the "BAR" is not something that is taught in law school! In the United States of America there are at least seven (7) States that will allow one to take the BAR Exam without having gone to or completed law school or, in some cases, no former school at all. Qualifications vary widely within these 7 States which are: Virginia, Washington, Wyoming, California, Maine, New York and Vermont. Each of these States offers non-traditional means and methods of qualifying to take the State Bar Exam without a Law Degree per se. That said the vast majority of lawyers in even these States have gone to and successfully completed law school.

The traditional law school lasts for three (3) years and most have similar or even identical core curriculums as may be required by that State's BAR Association. Most first year law students will be required to take the following courses: Contracts, Constitutional Law, Criminal Procedure, Property Law, Torts, Civil Procedure and Legal Writing. After the first year a law student's options get a little more flexible and one is allowed to start taking courses related to or of interest to the particular filed of legal study you want to practice or explore. Law schools are a varied in quality of legal education and price as everything else is in this "modern" world. The politics of the American and State BAR Associations require different types and levels of accreditation. There are famous law schools like, Harvard, Yale (the Ivy League law schools…), Stanford, UC Davis, McGeorge, and there are lesser known university law schools that are often easier to get accepted into and much cheaper. There are private law schools like Lincoln Law School in Sacramento California and, with the growing presence of the internet and diverse delivery methods of courses, there are law schools that offer their entire program online. I am not a lawyer but I know many and have been told that the law school you attend matters more to your "student esteem' than it really does in getting a job as an attorney after you pass the BAR.

I am actually considering going to law school in some fashion at my ripe old age of 46! Kind of scary to think about being a 46 year old first year law student but I guess that better than waiting until 47 or 50 right? If you are considering law school and want to make the big money or just do good pro bono (free) work for inmates, work in a Public Defenders Office or a District Attorney's Office, whatever, don't wait another year! Get your life and career on track in a program that you can afford and will commit too.

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