Category Archives: Apprenticeship

Becoming a Lawyer Without Law School

Abraham LincolnDid you know that you can become a lawyer without going to law school? Four states — California, Vermont, Virginia and Washington — provide for people to become lawyers by “reading the law,” studying as an apprentice under the guidance of an attorney or a judge.  One advantage of this approach is the tremendous amount of money saved on law school tuition.

Reading the law is not new. It was the primary way for people to become lawyers in the U.S. up until the late nineteenth century. Abraham Lincoln became a lawyer by independently reading the law, and he was an advocate of that method of learning.

To learn more, visit The Apprenticeship Journals at LikeLincoln.org, a blog about becoming a lawyer without going to law school.