You’ve likely seen news reports featuring Kim Kardashian’s “ law school graduation” ceremony. But Kim Kardashian did not graduate from law school. Instead, she endeavored to complete the study requirements of California’s Law Office Study Program (LOSP) to be eligible to take the California Bar. This is a process we at Esq. Apprentice call legal apprenticeship.
Apprenticeship is an age-old model of learning from experienced professionals, and it used to be the main way that people became lawyers in the United States. That is, until around the Emancipation Proclamation when more and more formerly enslaved people and immigrants were starting to become lawyers. Not so coincidentally, at that time the need for new “standards” arose and the American Bar Association was founded. Keep in mind: this was just 13 years after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed and ratified into law. From there, law schools rose in prominence, expense, and exclusivity. And, over time, fewer and fewer states allowed law licensing via apprenticeship.
However, California and three other states (Vermont, Virginia, and Washington state), maintained their apprenticeship options as routes to law licensing. In California, the path is a winding one requiring at least four years of part-time study with an experienced attorney or judge, monthly tests, bi-annual reporting, and not one–but two Bar examinations to become a licensed attorney. And, as we’ve seen with California’s recent Bar exam debacle, taking the California Bar is far from “standard.” On the contrary, it’s a much better indicator of one’s zip code than one’s aptitude.
Unlike law school, the apprenticeship path is one that people often navigate independently and without structured guidance. First year law students are often discouraged from working paying jobs to focus on their law school course load. Apprentices, on the other hand, often work multiple jobs while managing their legal training.
The womxn in our program juggle multiple jobs, motherhood, family obligations, poverty, housing insecurity, and adequate self-care among other things. They do all this while following a one-of-a-kind curriculum and studying for monthly tests and exams. They deal with the added struggle of supervising attorneys lacking training on how to supervise apprentices.
Legal apprenticeship is a viable alternative to law school, but it is not an easy one.
As someone who graduated from a traditional law school, I can honestly say that, while law school wasn’t easy, structural supports like career development officers, professors with office hours, study groups, and identity groups like Law Students of African Descent and the Women of Color Collective made a world of a difference.
At Esq. Apprentice, we ease the path of would-be lawyers by providing a pre-apprenticeship program, The Excelerator, which is rooted in wellness as well as guidance for taking the apprenticeship path. We also cover the costs of registration with the state Bar of California–which, coincidentally, increased by 400% last year alone. Even with support, the average apprentice still takes about six years to complete their study and gain eligibility to sit for the California Bar exam.
Such is the case for Kim Kardashian. Though she undoubtedly worried less about the impacts of poverty on her journey, she shares obligations like motherhood with many of our program participants. Now that Kim has completed the study portion of her apprenticeship journey, she is eligible to sit for the California General Bar Exam (GBX). This is a test that every lawyer must pass to become a licensed attorney, and, once she passes it and other ethics requirements, Kim will be a California lawyer for almost all intents and purposes.
Kim Kardashian is proof that there is a path to becoming a licensed attorney that is debt-free and navigable even to single moms with multiple jobs. I offer her my congratulations on her formidable accomplishment. But I’m left wondering, what if low-income womxn of color had ready access to the path that Kim Kardashian is pursuing?
That is exactly the question that Esq. Apprentice endeavors to answer. If you are a womxn who knows that you could be among the advocates that low-income communities so desperately need today, get involved! Learn more about our programmatic offerings.
