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Paralegals & Legal Secretaries

: Practical Paralegalism

How to Become a Lawyer Without Going to Law School

By Lynne DeVenny

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(Or Engaging in the Unauthorized Practice of Law)

Washington paralegal Tim Anderson plans to take the state bar exam - without ever going to law school.

An unusual hands-on education, the Law Clerk Program, more like an old-fashioned apprenticeship for lawyers, offered in less than a dozen states, will allow Anderson to sit for Washington's bar exam after working full-time in the legal profession and undergoing tutoring by his supervising attorney for a four-year period.

Not that working full-time for his father-in-law, attorney Jim Tree, while studying at least 15 hours per week is easy.

He works as a paralegal at Tree Law Office, goes home to dinner and the kids, studies for at least two hours, makes sure his wife still recognizes him and then heads for bed. On Saturdays, he studies for another few hours.

Pluses of the clerkship program include huge savings on law school tuition, a steady income and plenty of experience.

But without the official law school diploma in hand, students' employment options may be limited.

Then again, in this economy, newly minted lawyers with expensive diplomas and much less real world legal training may find themselves with even more limited options.

Sources: The Seattle Times; Yakima Herald; Washington State Bar Association

Full post as published by Practical Paralegalism on April 05, 2010 (boomark / email).