State Guides
Where you can legally read the law
Four states let you skip law school entirely. Two more allow a hybrid combination. Here's how each one actually works.
Rules change: verify before you rely on this
Active, pure apprenticeship states
In these four states, you can become fully eligible to sit the bar exam through law office study alone: zero law school required.
| State | Program | Duration | Supervisor requirement | Interim exam? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | Law Office Study Program (LOSP) | 4 years (minimum), studied under direct supervision | Judge, or attorney with 5+ yrs active practice | First-Year Law Students' Examination (the 'Baby Bar') |
| Vermont | Law Office Study Program | 4 years of full-time study in a law office | Active VT bar member in good standing | No |
| Virginia | Virginia Law Reader Program | 3 years of full-time reading under a single sponsoring attorney | Attorney with 10+ yrs active practice | No |
| Washington | Law Clerk Program (APR 6) | 4 years of full-time law clerking | Judge or lawyer with 10+ yrs, WSBA-approved | WSBA-administered periodic subject examinations throughout the program |
California: Law Office Study Program (LOSP)
California runs the best-known and most-used law-office-study pathway in the country. It is also the only one of the four 'pure' apprenticeship states that requires apprentices to pass a special first-year exam before continuing, a serious early filter that trips up most people who attempt it.
Full details →Vermont: Law Office Study Program
Vermont is often called the friendliest reading-the-law state: there's no separate first-year exam like California's Baby Bar, the rules are comparatively short, and the state has a long, quiet history of admitting law-office-trained lawyers.
Full details →Virginia: Virginia Law Reader Program
Virginia's 'Law Reader' program is small, selective, and demands more from the supervising attorney than any other state's: your sponsor needs a decade of active practice. It produces very few new lawyers each year, but it has a real track record.
Full details →Washington: Law Clerk Program (APR 6)
Washington's Law Clerk Program is the most structured of the four active pathways: it comes with a defined curriculum framework, required periodic exams administered by your mentor, and close WSBA oversight, which some apprentices find reassuring and others find bureaucratic.
Full details →Hybrid combination states
Maine and New York don't let you skip law school entirely, but both allow you to combine a reduced period of ABA-accredited law school with a period of law office study, useful if you want to cut tuition costs without giving up law school credentials entirely.
Maine: Combined Law Office Study / Law School Program
Maine does not offer a pure, law-school-free apprenticeship. Instead it allows candidates to combine a period of ABA-accredited law school with a period of law office study: a hybrid route, not a full substitute for law school.
Full details →New York: Law Office Study (Combination) Program
New York allows a 'combination' of law school and law office study (most commonly cited as 1 year of ABA-accredited law school followed by 3 years of full-time law office study), but it is not a way to become a lawyer with zero law school.
Full details →What about other states?