collageMost people go to law school before becoming an attorney, but it isn’t the only way to get a legal education. Applicants can also study in a law office or with a judge in California. Thankfully, California State Bar Law Office Study Program, law apprenticeship program California, law apprenticeship program California are part of information one can get from this website.
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California’s Law Office Study Program
The State Bar of California is California’s official attorney licensing agency. It is responsible for managing the admission of lawyers to the practice of law, investigating complaints of professional misconduct, prescribing appropriate discipline, accepting attorney-member fees, and financially distributing sums paid through attorney trust accounts to fund nonprofit legal entities. It is directly responsible to the Supreme Court of California, however, its Trustees are now appointed by the Supreme Court, the California Legislature, and Governor of California. All attorney admissions are issued as recommendations of the State Bar, which are then routinely ratified by the Supreme Court. Attorney discipline is handled by the State Bar Office of Chief Trial Counsel, which acts as prosecutor before the State Bar Court of California.
The State Bar was legally established on July 29, 1927, when the State Bar Act went into effect. The State Bar of California is the largest in the United States, with over 279,000 living members as of November 2019, of whom over 192,000 are on active status. It is headquartered in San Francisco, with a branch office in Los Angeles. The State Bar’s main office in San Francisco is housed on several floors of this office building.
At its inception, the State Bar was a “unified” bar in which disciplinary functions and more traditional “bar association” functions were joined into one entity. In 2018-2019, the State Bar was split into two entities: the State Bar of California became a standalone Government entity with legal enforcement via the State Bar Court.
The new entity split off from the State Bar of California became the California Lawyers Association (CLA) and took over the trade association-like functions, including education, lobbying, and “trade” meetings. Membership in the CLA is voluntary. Membership in the State Bar of California is mandatory for most practicing lawyers in California (the only exceptions being for very specific instances). The CLA is an NGO (Non-Governmental Organization).
Law Apprenticeship Program California
Attorney Admissions Criteria
The task of deciding whom to admit to the bar is performed by the Committee of Bar Examiners and the Office of Admissions under procedures set out in the State Bar Act.
Prior to law schools in the U.S., the only way to become an attorney was to “read” for the law. Usually this was done by reading Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England as a textbook, and by interning for a judge or a lawyer for a prescribed period. The Bar candidate would then be questioned by a panel of court justices and accepted or rejected as an officer of the court. If accepted, the candidate was sworn into the Bar.
California requires two years of pre-legal education before beginning the study of law. Once the pre-legal education is met, California has different paths to become a licensed attorney:
- Attending a law school accredited by the American Bar Association or approved by the Committee of Bar Examiners and passing the California Bar Examination (bar exam).
- Study law for at least four years by:* Attending a law school authorized by the State of California to award professional degrees that is not accredited by the ABA or approved by the State Bar of California. (including online law schools) and pass the bar exam, or* Participating in an approved course of study in a law office or the chambers of a judge and pass the bar exam. (“Law Office Study Program”; see below.)
- Already being licensed in another state in the United States and taking the California bar exam. Lawyers who are already licensed (and have been active for four or more years) in another jurisdiction may be able to waive out of taking the Multistate Bar Examination portion of the bar exam.
Regardless of the path one takes to becoming a licensed attorney, most bar applicants take a special private preparation course for the bar exam immediately following their graduation from law school.
There is no citizenship requirement for admission to the California bar exam; a person can be a citizen of any country and be admitted to practice in California. No particular type of visa, including a green card, is required for admission to the bar. However, applicants must have a Social Security Number to apply. Applicants are able to petition for an exception to the latter rule.
Prospective applicants must also pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination and undergo a background check to determine if the applicant has the “good moral character” necessary to practice law in California. A prospective applicant must receive a “positive determination” as to the inquiry on their “moral character” in addition to satisfying all other educational requirements and exam passages to be granted a license to practice law in California.
Law Apprenticeship Program California
Accredited law school study
California is one of several states which have law schools that are both accredited by the American Bar Association and unaccredited California schools. The majority of prospective lawyers studying for the California Bar attend law schools accredited by the ABA or approved by the CBE. Once they receive their J.D. degree from these schools they are eligible to take the bar exam.
Unaccredited law school study
Students may choose to become a licensed attorney through law schools that are not accredited by the ABA or approved by the State Bar of California Committee of Bar Examiners. Students attending these schools must also complete the First-Year Law Students’ Examination (FYLSE, popularly known as the “Baby Bar Examination”) before receiving credit for their law study.
Students should pass the FYLSE within three administrations after first becoming eligible to take the examination (which usually occurs upon completion of the first year of law study) in order to receive credit for law study undertaken up to the point of passage. It is possible for a student to pass the test after the first three administrations, but such a student will receive credit only for their first year of law study; no courses beyond the first year will be credited if a student takes more law school classes and passes the Baby Bar thereafter.
California State Bar Law Office Study Program
The California State Bar Law Office Study Program allows California residents to become California attorneys without graduating from college or law school, assuming they meet basic pre-legal educational requirements. (If the candidate has no college degree, he or she may take and pass the College Level Examination Program (CLEP).) The Bar candidate must study under a judge or lawyer for four years and must also pass the Baby Bar within three administrations after first becoming eligible to take the examination. They are then eligible to take the California Bar Examination.
Out-of-state attorney examination
Persons already licensed as attorneys in other states may take the California Bar. Provided they have already taken the Multistate Bar Examination (MBE), they may omit that portion of the California Bar Examination. The attorneys opting to omit the MBE must have four years of being in good standing[ in their local jurisdictions. Attorneys without the required years of being in good standing take the General Examination, like most other applicants.
Law Office Study California Bar Examination
California administers what is widely considered the nation’s most difficult bar examination twice each year, in February and July. Several prominent attorneys and politicians have either never passed, or had difficulty passing, the California Bar Exam. Significant among these are former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (a graduate of Peoples College of Law who never passed the bar exam after failing four times), Stanford law professor Kathleen Sullivan (Harvard Law School) (who failed the bar in July 2005 but passed on her second attempt in February 2006), California Governor and former Attorney General Jerry Brown (Yale Law School, ’64) (who took it twice before passing) and former California Governor Pete Wilson (UC Berkeley School of Law) (who passed on his fourth attempt). Unsuccessful applicants have even sued the State Bar—unsuccessfully—on the grounds that the exam is unnecessarily difficult.
Before July 2017, the California Bar Examination consisted of 18 hours of examination time spread out over three days; the only U.S. state with a longer bar exam was Louisiana, at 21.5 hours of testing. (Louisiana law, in contrast to the common law system of the other 49 states, is based partially on civil law and is one of the few exams without a multiple choice component.) Beginning in July 2017, the California Bar Exam adopted a 2-day format.
The exam currently tests 13 different subject areas:
- Constitutional Law (Federal)
- Contracts (Common Law and Uniform Commercial Code)
- Criminal Law and Procedure
- Evidence (Federal Rules of Evidence and the California Evidence Code)
- Real Property
- Torts
- Wills (California law)
- Trusts
- Civil Procedure (Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and the California Code of Civil Procedure)
- Community Property (California law)
- Professional Responsibility (California law and the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct)
- Business Associations (Corporations, Agency, all forms of Partnerships, and Limited Liability Entities)
- Remedies
The written section of the exam accounts for 50% of the total score, which includes 5 essays and 1 90 minute performance test. Applicants sitting for the California Bar Examination do not know which of the 13 subjects listed above will in fact be tested on the essay portion of the examination. In recent years, it has been increasingly common for the exam to feature one or more “crossover” questions, which tests applicants in multiple subjects. Examples of past tested essays with sample answers are available on the California State Bar website.
California-specific legal knowledge is required only for Evidence, Civil Procedure, Wills, Community Property, and Professional Responsibility; for the other topics, either general common law (“bar exam law”) or the federal laws apply. Beginning in July 2007, applicants may be tested on the California Evidence Code and the California Code of Civil Procedure in the essay portion of the exam in addition to the Federal Rules of Evidence and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
The Multistate Bar Examination (MBE) portion of the exam accounts for 50% of the total score and is a nationally administered, 200-question multiple choice exam. As of February 2007, only 190 questions are scored, and the other 10 are unscored experimental questions used to gauge their appropriateness for future exams. The MBE covers only the topics of contracts (including sales of goods under Article 2 of the Uniform Commercial Code), real property, torts, constitutional law, criminal law and procedure, the Federal Rules of Evidence, and the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. While the essay section of the exam may test one or more of these areas as well, the MBE section is dedicated to these subjects.
The exam sites are usually large convention centers in Northern and Southern California. Exam security is tight. For example, proctors are assigned to stand in restrooms for the duration of the entire exam to prevent applicants from asking each other for assistance. Additionally, applicants are required to provide fingerprints, photo identification, and a handwriting sample at the testing site.
Overall bar exam pass rates tend to hover between 35% and 55%, and are always the lowest in the United States. In October 2017, the California Supreme Court reviewed the passing score of the California Bar Exam, after being urged by various law schools to lower the passing score. After review, the California Supreme Court declined to lower the passing score, leaving it intact.
The lowest pass rate occurred in February 2020 when 26.8% of takers passed. First-time California Bar Exam takers have a pass rate around 60%. When considering only graduates of ABA-approved schools, the average pass rate for the years 2003–2006 was 54.5%, which was 8.9% lower than the pass rate for Florida, the next lowest “large population” jurisdiction. The overall pass rate for the July 2018 California Bar Examination was 40.7%.
Controversy of 2019 State Bar Examination Release of Test Subjects
In early July 2019, State Bar employees provided several high-ranking law school Deans with a list of the test subjects to be given on the bar exam in a few weeks’ time. Some of these Dean’s shared this list with their students prematurely. Learning that some schools had this information and others didn’t, the State Bar decided to release the shortened list to all exam takers, despite the difference in time that some students had over others to prepare. A report issued by the California Judicial Council concluded that the release was inadvertent “human error” but redacted the names of State Bar personnel responsible for the error.
Admission of undocumented immigrants
On February 1, 2014, Sergio C. Garcia, an undocumented immigrant, was sworn in as a member of the State Bar of California, making him the nation’s first undocumented immigrant to become an attorney. The bar admission came almost one month after the state supreme court held that undocumented immigrants were not automatically disqualified from being licensed as attorneys in the state. Under that ruling, as well as a statute that Governor Brown signed into law taking effect on January 1, 2014 (in order to take advantage of a specific provision of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act discussed at oral argument before the state supreme court), Garcia was admitted to the state bar. Garcia was brought to the United States as a child and remained, according to court findings, undocumented through no fault of his own. He grew up in Northern California, graduated from college and law school. He passed the California Bar Exam on the first try, and satisfied the Committee of Bar Examiners of his good moral character.
MICHAEL EHLINE joined the U.S. Marine Cops out of high school and has no college degree. After his military service, he started a construction business and ran a health club until he heard of the Law Office Study Program. Today, he has a personal injury practice specializing in cruise ship catastrophes and road vehicle mishaps.
“I began faxing, emailing, cold-calling attorneys to ask for sponsorship in exchange for work,” he recalls. He ended up studying with four sponsors in four years, each specializing in a different practice area: personal injury, criminal defense, litigation, and criminal prosecution. Ehline thinks these lawyers agreed to mentor him because they saw his tenacity and fed off his energy. “They’re all my dearest friends today, part of my extended family.”
But the going was rough; Ehline had a family to support in his last two years of LOSP. “Money was tight,” he recalls. “I was working at Home Depot for ten bucks an hour, on night shifts at times, living like a pauper for a while.” He took jobs as a law clerk and paralegal as well. He also began attending night classes at the University of West Los Angels Law School because he wanted “the law school experience after passing the baby bar.” He passed both the baby bar and the regular bar after two attempts, getting his law license in 2005 while still in his third year at UWLA.
“How cool was that?” Ehline says proudly. “I was the big man on campus, getting a law degree while already practicing as a lawyer.” He thinks he immediately got a lot of business after passing the bar because people respected his achievement. He advises taking tutorials in preparing for bar exams – he swears by Paul Pfau review courses – and capitalizing on knowledge acquired by working as a clerk or paralegal.
California’s Law Office Study Program
California’s Law Office Study Program (LOSP) is grounded in State Bar rule 4.29 (www.rules.calbar.ca.gov). The requirements are uncomplicated, and the State Bar admissions office mainly serves as a registrar. The bar doesn’t supervise apprentices – that’s the task of their sponsors, who must be either a judge or an attorney and must have at least five years of good standing with the bar. The State Bar doesn’t even evaluate the curriculum that the sponsor and the student design. Sponsors may not claim MCLE credit for their mentoring. Here are the basics:
LOSP students must find a sponsor, pay a $40 fee and submit a Notice of intent to Study Law in a Law Office or Judge’s Chamber to the bar’s Office of Admissions.
Simply working for the sponsor won’t do. Law readers must actually follow a self-designed study course under the sponsor’s supervision for at least 18 hours a week, for four years over 48 consecutive weeks a year.
The sponsor must give a written examination once a month and submit a semiannual report to the bar, along with a $30 fee, and the questions and answers of the monthly test.
After the first year participants must pass the “baby bar,” or the California First Year Law Students’ Examination, give in June and October. Those who pass it within three attempts get credit for all study up to that point. If it takes more tries, they earn credit for only one year of study.
Students must pass the Multistate Professsional Responsibility Exam. It’s give three times a year and can be taken any time after the first year of study.
Four years of law office study qualifies participants to sit for the California Bar Examination, which is given in July and February.
This article is a reprint from the California Lawyer, June 2011 edition. Paul Pfau’s expertise to help people to successfully pass the bar exam includes those who have never gone to law school but qualified to take the exam through the much more rare law office program approach.
If you are here on the internet just looking for a little more information about what it’s like to go through a Law Office Study Program, trying to get answers to some of your questions, or looking for tips and ideas or from someone who has gone through something like this before, or your just wanting to know their thoughts/ideas on the subject, you have definitely come to the right place.
Notice of Intent To Study In A Law Office
Who Am I and Why should You Care About What I
Have to Say About Participating in a Law Office Study Program?
My name is Isabell Flores. I became a lawyer without the law school by completing The State Bar of California’s Law Office Study Program. The State Bar of California’s Law Office Study or Judge’s Chamber Program is a distinguished legal apprenticeship program commonly referred to as “Reading the Law” – a program with a rich history in the U.S. After many years of rigorous study, I passed the California Bar Examination and was admitted to the State Bar of California in 2007. I recently just completed my Doctorate in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) at California State University, Sacramento’s Doctorate in Educational Leadership Program (have a lot to say about that too stay tuned for that).
Deciding whether to study law is a fascinating subject in itself so if you are looking to start your journey into the practice of law be it through a law school or a law office study program or if you are just curious about the topic in general, this may be a good place to get you started. Law is an amazing subject and it touches everything all around us in our daily lives, and if anything, maybe this site may help you learn something new about it you never knew before. What qualifies me to speak on what it is like is because I have done it and I have gone through the process. Be sure to subscribe to the list below so that you can be linked to the latest updates and for when I provide my newest information on the topic. Stay tuned to this website in the coming months for some exciting announcements as I will be working on some new projects.
Steps to become a Lawyer/Attorney In California
California has the highest employment level of lawyers of any state in the nation as of May 2017, per information provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). At that time, 79,980 lawyers worked in the state, averaging an annual mean wage of $168,200 (making California the second highest-paying state in which lawyers work, District of Columbia being the first). Attorneys working in certain areas of the state made even higher than average salaries. For example, those in the Glendale-Long Beach-Los Angeles metropolitan area averaged $170,201 per year; while lawyers working in the San Mateo-San Francisco-Redwood City metropolitan area averaged $189,660 annually. Additionally, California is the first state in the country that offers certification in legal specialization areas to members of the Bar, offering them the opportunity to show their expertise in one of 11 areas of law practice (including admiralty and maritime law, bankruptcy law, criminal law and taxation law). Read on to discover how to join the almost 80,000 practicing attorneys in California.
Law Careers In California
Step 1
Get Your California Undergraduate Pre-Law Major
The State Bar of California mandates that you must have at least two years of an undergraduate education (equal to 60 semester hours or 90 quarter hours). Alternatively, you may complete the equivalent through passing certain exams in the College Level Exam Program (CLEP) (see below).
If you are not sure that your pre-legal education qualifies, you may apply to have it evaluated by the Bar. This application must be accompanied by your official college transcripts and a fee of $100 by cashier’s check or money order only, payable to the State Bar of California. Mail application, fees and documentation to The State Bar of California, Office of Admissions, 845 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles, CA 90017-2515.
Accreditation
Check to make sure that your undergraduate institution is accredited by a national or regional accreditation agency recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. If it is, it will make your later acceptance into an American Bar Association-approved law school much easier.
Requirements and Standards
While the State Bar of California does not specify an undergraduate degree you must have prior to law school admission, there are some guidelines based upon CLEP test exemptions. If you have not completed at least two years of undergraduate studies, the State Bar has ruled that passing the following CLEP tests with a score of 50 or higher on each will fulfill the pre-legal education requirement:
- College Composition and two 6-semester courses or 4 3-semester courses from the following:
- Business
- Science and Mathematics
- History and Social Science
- Foreign Language
- Composition and Literature (Humanities only)
- If you wish to register for the CLEP tests, you may do so online. Each exam costs $87, which may be paid online. Have your CLEP scores sent directly to the State Bar’s Office of Admissions, 845 S. Figueroa St; Los Angeles, CA 90017-2525, recipient code 7165.
Degree Options
The State Bar of California has ruled that you must complete at least 60 semester hours (90 quarter hours) of pre-legal education, equivalent to at least half the requirements for a bachelors degree. This coursework must be completed with a grade point average that would be acceptable for graduation by the institution at which it was completed.
Pre- Law Advisor
Some undergraduate institutions employ pre-law advisors, whose job it is to assist students planning to attend law school. This assistance may come in the form of helping you choose wise courses and majors, writing letters of recommendation, and assisting you in gathering documentation when it comes time to apply to law school. If your school offers the services of a pre-law advisor, by all means take advantage of this valuable resource.
Step 2
Take the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) in California
The State Bar of California does not mandate that you graduate from an American Bar Association –accredited law school. However, ABA accredited or not, most law schools require that you pass the LSAT, or Law School Admission Test, to gain entrance. Check with your school’s requirements to make sure.
How to Prepare
The LSAT website provides sample questions and practice tests to help you prepare to take the exam. Additionally, preparation courses, workshops and seminars are offered in live settings and online:
LSAT Exam Prep Courses in California:
- LSAT Test Prep Course, Testmasters, locations in Berkeley, Chico, Claremont, Davis, Downtown Los Angeles, Fresno, Fullerton, Irvine, Long Beach, Palo Alto, Pasadena, Riverside, Sacramento, San Diego, San Fernando Valley, San Francisco, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, and West Los Angeles
- LSAT Preparation Courses, Kaplan, offered at University of Southern California, Loyola Marymount University, California State University campuses and University of California Irvine, among other locations
- LSAT Preparation Course, California State University-Stanislaus, ed2go.com
Exam Content
There are four sections to the LSAT:
- Reading Comprehension – You will be presented with four reading passages and 27 questions, totaling 35 minutes. You must also write a 25-minute essay based on a passage. Your abilities to draw inferences from the passages, determine their main ideas, and understand and find information that is relevant will be tested in this section.
- Analytical Reasoning – This section consists of 25 questions and takes 35 minutes. It will test your abilities to understand the effects of rules on outcomes and decisions, draw relationships between concepts, analyze problems, draw conclusions based on guidelines, and apply logic to complex situations.
- Logical Reasoning – There are two logical reasoning sections, each taking 35 minutes and consisting of 25 questions. Your abilities to determine the main point of an argument, apply logic to abstract ideas, discover relevant information in a reading passage, analyze arguments, and evaluate arguments will be tested.
- Essay Section- This section takes 35 minutes to complete, and tests your ability to form an argument based on facts you are provided, support an argument, and express ideas in writing.
Application Process
Applications to sit for the LSAT are submitted online. You may choose a date in the months of June, September, November and January, and the test is offered on Saturdays and Mondays during those months. Each test center does not offer the test on every date, however, so check with the test center that you prefer for its dates:
- College of Alameda, Alameda
- Humboldt State University, Arcata
- Berkeley City College, Berkeley
- DOV Educational Services, Burbank
- Crowne Plaza, Concord/Walnut Creek
- Irvine Valley College, Irvine
- Loyola Law School, Los Angeles
- University of West Los Angeles, Chatsworth
- California Northern School of Law, Chico
- California State University, Chico
- Alameda County Training & Education Center, Oakland
- Samuel Merritt University-Health Education Center, Oakland
- Folsom Lake College, Folsom
- California State University, Fresno
- Western State University College of Law at Argosy University, Irvine
- California State University-Los Angeles
- Southwestern Law School, Los Angeles
- University of Southern California, Los Angeles
- John F. Kennedy School of Law, Pleasant Hill
- California State University-Northridge
- University of La Verne College of Law, Ontario
- Chapman University, Orange
- La Sierra University, Riverside
- Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park
- Lincoln Law School of Sacramento, Sacramento
- University of the Pacific-McGeorge School of Law, Sacramento
- Skyline College, San Bruno
- California Western School of Law, San Diego
- Junipero Serra High School, San Diego
- San Diego State University, San Diego
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law, San Diego
- University of San Francisco, San Francisco
- California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo
- University of California-Santa Barbara
- Empire College School of Law, Santa Rosa
- Santa Rosa Junior College, Santa Rosa
- Monterey College of Law, Seaside
- Humphreys College-School of Law, Stockton
Fees
You must pay $180 to register to take the LSAT (as of November 2018). This fee is payable online by credit card when you register or by check or money order payable to the Law School Admission Council.
Receiving Your Score
Your LSAT score will be emailed to you by the LSAC three weeks after you sit for the exam. You will not be told your score if you call the LSAC office, due to confidentiality clauses. Only you and law schools to which you will apply will receive your LSAT score. You may request that your pre-law advisor receive your LSAT score by filing a release of information form with the LSAC.
Step 3
Go to Law School in California
Application process
Once you have completed your undergraduate pre-law education and passed the LSAT, you are ready to apply to law school.
Credential Assembly Service
All ABA-accredited law schools, and some that are not ABA-accredited, require applicant to make use of LSAC’s Credential Assembly Service when applying for enrollment. This valuable service makes the application process streamlined. If you use the CAS:
- Transcripts: Complete Transcript Request Forms for each institution you have attended, whether or not you graduated from that institution. This goes for both domestic and international schools.
- Letters of Recommendation and Evaluations: Give the LSAC names of people who are going to write your letters of recommendation and evaluate your work and/or character. The LSAC will instruct you to print forms to give to these individuals. These forms must be sent along with the recommendation letters they will mail directly to the LSAC.
Cost: The LSAC charges $195 for the Credential Assembly Service, which is payable online. This fee encompasses the summaries of your college transcripts that LSAC will produce, law school reports they will create, letters of recommendation and online evaluations they will process, and electronic applications they will submit on your behalf to the ABA-approved law schools of your choice.
Accreditation
Under rules of the State Bar of California, you may attend an accredited or unaccredited law school. The Bar has rules and guidelines for both schools approved by the American Bar Association and those accredited by the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners. They also allow you to complete four years of study, with a minimum of 864 hours of preparation, at a registered, unaccredited correspondence or distance learning law school. There are separate rules for approved/accredited and unaccredited law schools. If a law school is approved by the American Bar Association, it is automatically exempt from the State Bar of California accreditation rules and considered to be approved by the State Bar. A list of current ABA-approved law schools across the country is included here.
ABA-Accredited Law Schools in California
The following California law schools hold ABA accreditation:
- California Western School of Law, 225 Cedar Street, San Diego, CA 92101-3046
- Chapman University Fowler School of Law, One University Drive, Orange, CA 92866-1032
- Golden Gate University School of Law, 536 Mission Street,San Francisco, CA 94105-2921
- Loyola Law School, 919 S. Albany Street, Los Angeles, CA 90015-1211
- Pepperdine University School of Law, Odell McConnell Law Center, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263-4655
- Santa Clara University School of Law, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara, CA 95053-0001
- Southwestern Law School, 3050 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90010-1106
- Stanford Law School, Crown Quadrangle, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, CA 94305-8610
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law, 1155 Island Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
- University of California at Berkeley School of Law, 270 Boalt Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-7200
- University of California at Davis King Hall School of Law, 400 Mrak Hall Drive, Davis, CA 95616-5201
- University of California at Irvine School of Law, 401 E. Peltason Drive, Suite 1000, Irvine, CA 92697-8000
- University of California at Los Angeles School of Law, 1242 Law Bldg, 385 Charles E. Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1476
- University of California Hastings College of the Law, 200 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-4707
- University of La Verne College of Law, 320 East “D” Street, Ontario, CA 91764
- University of San Diego School of Law, 5998 Alcalá Park, San Diego, CA 92110-2492
- University of San Francisco School of Law, 2130 Fulton Street, San Francisco, CA 94117
- University of Southern California Gould School of Law, University Park, Los Angeles, CA 90089-0071
- University of the Pacific McGeorge School of Law 3200 Fifth Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95817-2705
- Western State University College of Law at Argosy University, 1 Banting, Fullerton, CA 92618
- Whittier Law School, 3333 Harbor Blvd., Costa Mesa, CA 92626-1501
State Bar-Accredited Law Schools In California
Accredited law schools have been approved by the State Bar of California’s Committee of Bar Examiners, which oversees and regulates these schools. Law schools in California that are currently approved by the State Bar are:
- Cal Northern School of Law, 1395 Ridgewood Drive, Suite 100, Chico, CA 95973-7802
- Empire College School of Law, 3035 Cleveland Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA 95403-2122
- Glendale University College of Law, 220 North Glendale Avenue, Glendale, CA 91206-4454
- Humphreys University Drivon School of Law, 6650 Inglewood Avenue, Stockton, CA 95207-3861
- John F. Kennedy University College of Law, 100 Ellinwood Way, Pleasant Hill, CA 94523-4817
- Kern County College of Law, 1731 Chester Ave, Bakersfield, CA 93301
- Lincoln Law School of Sacramento, 3140 “J” Street, Sacramento, CA 95816-4403
- Lincoln Law School of San Jose, 384 S Second St, San Jose, CA 95113-2711
- Monterey College of Law, 100 Col. Durham Street, Seaside, CA 93955-7300
- Pacific Coast University School of Law, 1650 Ximeno Avenue, Suite 300, Long Beach, CA 90804
- San Diego Law School, Alliant International University, 10455 Pomerado Rd, San Diego, CA 92131
- San Francisco Law School, Alliant International University, One Beach Street, San Francisco, CA 94133
- San Joaquin College of Law, 901 5th Street, Clovis, CA 93612-1312
- San Luis Obispo College of Law, 4119 Broad St., #200, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
- Santa Barbara College of Law, 20 E. Victoria Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2606
- Southern California Institute of Law-Santa Barbara, 1525 State Street, Suite 202, Santa Barbara, CA 93101-2500
- Southern California Institute of Law-Ventura, 877 South Victoria Ave., Suite 111, Ventura, CA 93003-5377
- Trinity Law School, 2200 North Grand Avenue, Santa Ana, CA 92705-7016
- University of West Los Angeles School of Law-San Fernando Valley, 9201 Oakdale Avenue, #201, Chatsworth, CA 91311
- Ventura College of Law, 4475 Market Street, Ventura, CA 93003-7774
- University of West Los Angeles School of Law – West Los Angeles, 9800 South La Cienega Boulevard, 12th Floor, Inglewood, CA 90301-4423
Unaccredited Law Schools In California
Unaccredited law schools in California must still register with the State Bar. These include correspondence, distance-learning and fixed-facility law schools in the state. Currently registered and unaccredited law schools in the state include:
Registered Unaccredited Correspondence Law Schools:
- American Institute of Law, 18411 Crenshaw Blvd., Suite 416, Torrance, CA 90504
- American International School of Law, 16491 Scientific Way, Irvine, CA 92618
- California Southern University School of Law, 3330 Harbor Blvd, Costa Mesa, CA 92626
- Northwestern California University School of Law, 2151 River Plaza Drive, Suite 306, Sacramento, CA 95833-4133
- Oak Brook College of Law And Government Policy, P.O. Box 26870, Fresno, CA 93729-6870
- Taft Law School, 3700 S. Susan St., Office 200, Santa Ana, CA 92704-6954
- San Francisco International University College of Law, 400 Oyster Point Blvd, Suite 422, South San Francisco, CA 94080
Online Law Degrees
- View Online and Campus Law and Legal Studies Programs
Registered Unaccredited Distance Learning Law Schools:
- Abraham Lincoln University School of Law , 100 W. Broadway, Suite 600, Glendale, CA 91210
- American Heritage University, School of Law , 1802 East G St., Ontario, CA 91764
- California School of Law, 5276 Hollister Ave, #262, Santa Barbara, CA 93111
- Concord Law School at Purdue University Global, 10100 Santa Monica Blvd., Suite 362, Los Angeles, CA 90067
- St. Francis School of Law, 895 Dove St, 3rd Floor, Newport Beach, CA 92660
Registered Unaccredited Fixed Facility Law Schools:
- California Desert Trial Academy College of Law, 45-290 Fargo St., Indio, CA 92201
- California Southern Law School, 3775 Elizabeth Street, Riverside, CA 92506
- Western Sierra Law School, 8690 Aero Drive Suites 115-90, San Diego, CA 92123
- Pacific West College of Law, 2011 West Chapman Avenue, Orange, CA 92868
- Irvine University College of Law, 18000 Studebaker Rd, Suite 300, Cerritos, CA 90703
- Lady Justice Law School, 901 20th St., Bakersfield, CA 93301
Course Requirements
ABA-Accredited Law Schools
ABA Standard 303 lists the curriculum areas that an ABA-approved law school must cover. These include law, legal analysis, reasoning, legal research, oral communication, problem solving, legal writing, history of the legal profession, professional responsibility, and live client interactions through things such as field placement or pro bono work. An academic year must last at least eight calendar months over 130 days. You must complete 83 semester hours of credit to graduate, and the time it takes to receive your Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree must be at least 24 months long but may not take longer than 84 months.
State Bar-Accredited Law Schools
In order to receive a J.D. degree from a State Bar-accredited law school, you must complete at least 1200 hours of study or 80 semester hours of credit over a period of at least 90 weeks of full-time study or 120 weeks of part-time study. This course of study must take you at least 32 months to complete but no longer than 84 months to complete. The school must provide at least six semester units of competency training through teaching practical skills. The curriculum must include the subjects tested in the California State Bar Exam and a course in professional responsibility. Therefore, subjects that must be taken are Constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, remedies, community property, torts, business associations, professional responsibility, trusts, wills and succession.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Fixed Facility
To graduate from an unaccredited, fixed facility law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 270 hours of class attendance per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Correspondence
To graduate from a correspondence law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 864 hours of preparation and study per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Unaccredited Law Schools: Distance Learning
To graduate from a distance learning law school in California, you must complete a four-year program requiring at least 864 hours of preparation and study per year. The curriculum must cover the subjects tested on the California State Bar Exam (see above) and include six semesters of competency training/practice-based skills.
Study in a Law Office or Judges’ Chambers
Under Rule 4.29 of the State Bar of California, you may complete your legal education in a law office or judges’ chambers. This must be equivalent to four years of legal study in an unaccredited law school. You must study for at least 18 hours a week for 48 weeks to equal one year of study. Your study must be supervised by an attorney or judge who has been a member of the state bar in good standing for at least five years, who personally supervises you for at least five hours each week, and examines you at least once per month. This supervisor must report to the Bar every six months on a special form the number of hours and type of study completed.
Foreign Law Schools
If you attended a foreign law school, you may qualify for California bar admission if you meet one of the following requirements:
- Have a law degree from a foreign law school and have completed one year of legal education at an ABA-approved or State Bar of California-accredited law school
- Have a legal education (without a degree) from a foreign law school and have studied law in a U.S. law school, law office or judge’s chambers, and have passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination
First Year Law Students’ Examination
Under certain circumstances, you may need to pass the First-Year Law Students’ Examination. Also known as the “baby bar,” this exam must be taken in the following situations:
- You have completed a full year of study in an unaccredited, registered law school
- You have completed a full year of study through the Law Office Study Program
- You have completed a full year of study at a State Bar- or ABA-approved law school but don’t have two years of college work.
Given in June and October every year in Los Angeles and San Francisco, this seven-hour exam includes essay and multiple-choice questions. Subjects that are covered are criminal law, contracts and torts, plus the Uniform Commercial Code Articles 1 and 2. Deadlines to register for the June administration are April 1 and for the October administration, August 1. You may apply for this exam online. Make sure to register with the Bar as a law student before filing to take the exam.
Degree Programs
Under State Bar of California rules, it is preferred that you have a Juris Doctor (J.D.) or Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B.) degree from a law school that is accredited by the American Bar Association or the State Bar of California in order to become a member of the California Bar. Alternatively, you may provide proof that you have studied law for at least four years in a registered, unaccredited school (or in a law office or judges’ chambers as specified above) and passed or received exemption from the First-Year Law Students’ Exam.
Moral Character Determination Application
The State Bar of California requires that all applicants for bar admission submit a Moral Character Determination application. They recommend that you begin this process during your final year of law school, as it may take up to 180 days to get the results. If you pass the bar exam but do not have a completed moral character determination, you will not become a bar member. Make sure that you have first registered with the Bar as a law student (which you should have done when you took the First –Year Law Students’ Exam). This application may be submitted online.
Step 4
Take the California State Bar Exam
Once you have completed your pre-legal and legal education and met the state bar’s requirements, and if you are at least 18 years old, you may apply to take the California bar exam. It is given in February and July over two days in various locations throughout the state.
Preparation
Free and low-cost study aids for the California bar exam are provided at the State Bar of California website. They include study outlines and sample questions, as well as questions and answers from past exams
The National Conference of Bar Examiners website provides free study resources for the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE) portion of the California bar exam.
Should you wish to take a bar exam preparation course or workshop, many are available throughout California. They include:
- Bar None Review workshops, Orange County area
- BARBI Bar Review Course, Culver City, San Diego, Orange, Seaside, Long Beach, Los Angeles
- California Bar Exam Review, Themis Bar Review, arranged through your law school
- California Bar Review Course, Kaplan Test Prep, Online and at various CA law schools
Exam Content
During the first day of the exam, you will have three essay questions in the morning and one performance test in the afternoon. Subjects that you can expect to encounter include Succession, Trusts and Wills, Torts, Remedies, Real Property, and Professional Responsibility.
On the second day of the exam, you will take the Multistate Bar Exam (MBE), of the National Conference of Bar Examiners. This is a six-hour long exam consisting of 200 multiple-choice questions. You will be tested on your knowledge of Constitutional law, contracts, criminal law and procedure, evidence, real property, and torts.
Application Process
You must first register as a law student with the State Bar of California Office of Admissions. You may register online to do this, as well as register online to take the California Bar Exam. Your registration with the bar must be approved within 10 days of submitting your bar exam application. You must provide your social security number before you will be allowed to register. Do not use a Tax Identification Number. Once your online application has been successfully submitted, you will receive a confirmation email from the state bar. The bar will then send forms to all schools you attended asking them to certify that you have met the pre-legal and legal education requirements. Schools must also submit official transcripts to the bar’s Office of Admissions.
Testing centers for the February 2019 administration of the California Bar Exam are listed here.
Fees
At the time of your online application, you will be instructed to pay exam fees. In 2018, the general exam fee is $650. If you plan to use your own laptop to take the exam, an extra fee of $150 is charged.
Pass Rates
Your exam results will be mailed to you no later than four months after you take the exam. You may also access them online on a date that will be issued to you post-exam. The pass rate for first-time takers of the February 2018 administration of the California Bar Exam was 42.8%. For the July 2017 exam, 61.4% of first-time test takers passed.
Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination
In addition to passing the Bar exam, you must pass the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE). This exam is typically taken after completing the first year of law school. Information and study guides for the MPRE can be found at the National Conference of Bar Examiners website.
Licensing and Admission to the Bar
You must apply for admission to the Bar within five years of passing the bar exam. You will be notified of the time and place for you to participate in a ceremony and take the oath of office. This is a requirement of the State Bar in order to be able to practice law in California, not just a ritual.
Step 5
Now that You’ve Been Admitted to the California Bar
Congratulations, new member of the California Bar! If you are in your first five years of practice or under the age of 36, you are also automatically a part of the California Young Lawyers Association. This group offers valuable resources to young lawyers in the state, as well as discounts for young attorneys starting out in practice.
Well-known law firms throughout California that may be in need of help include Baker McKenzie LLP in San Francisco; Arnold & Porter in San Francisco and Palo Alto; Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp, LLP in Los Angeles; Irell & Manella, LLP in Los Angeles and Newport Beach; and Littler Mendelson P.C. in Sacramento, San Diego, San Jose and San Francisco.
Requirements for maintaining license
California attorneys are required to complete 25 hours of approved minimum continuing legal education (MCLE) every three years. You must report your MCLE online through My State Bar Profile system. You will be assigned a Compliance Group by the State Bar based upon your last name, and must report MCLE for a three-year period based upon your group’s deadline.
Legal Specialization
The State Bar of California offers the nation’s first legal specialty certification program that is affiliated with a bar organization, through the State Bar of California’s Board of Legal Specialization. If you are interested in practicing in a specialized area of law, you can show your expertise through examination and become certified to practice in that area. Currently, 11 areas of specialized certification are offered in California:
- Admiralty and maritime law
- Appellate law
- Bankruptcy law
- Criminal law
- Estate planning, trust and probate law
- Family law
- Franchise and distribution law
- Immigration and nationality law
- Legal malpractice law
- Taxation law
- Workers’ compensation law
Additionally, the State Bar of California recognizes the following national certification organizations for lawyers:
- American Board of Certification:
- Business bankruptcy law
- Consumer bankruptcy law
- Creditors’ rights law
- National Board of Trial Advocacy:
- Civil trial advocacy
- Criminal trial advocacy
- Family law trial advocacy
- Social security disability law
- American Board of Professional Liability Attorneys:
- Legal malpractice
- Medical malpractice
- National Elder Law Foundation:
- Elder law
- National Association of Counsel for Children:
- Juvenile law (child welfare)
For more information on legal specialization in California, contact LegalSpec@calbar.ca.gov or call 415-538-2115.
Court Systems In California
The California Judicial Branch is divided into three sections:
- Supreme Court – highest court in the state, can review decisions of the Court of Appeal and all death penalty sentences. Located at 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102-4797
- Courts of Appeal – this court reviews superior court decisions contested by a party to the case. There are six appellate districts in California, each with a Court of Appeal:
- 1st District- 350 McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94102
- 2nd District-
- Divisions 1-5, 7, 8 – Ronald Reagan State Building 300 S. Spring Street 2nd Floor, North Tower Los Angeles, CA 90013
- Division 6 – Court Place 200 East Santa Clara Street Ventura, CA 93001
- 3rd District- 621 Capitol Mall, 10th Floor, Sacramento, CA 95814
- 4th District-
- Division 1- 750 B Street, Suite 300,San Diego, CA 92101
- Division 2- 3389 Twelfth Street, Riverside, CA 92501
- Division 3- 601 W. Santa Ana Blvd., Santa Ana, California 92701
- 5th District- 2424 Ventura Street, Fresno, CA 93721
- 6th District- 333 West Santa Clara Street, Suite 1060, San Jose, CA 95113
- Superior/Trial Courts – 58 courts throughout California, one in each county, that hear civil cases, criminal cases, family, probate and juvenile cases.
Elective membership organizations
Now that you are a member of the California Bar, think about joining a professional support organization such as:
- California Employment Lawyers Association
- Consumer Attorneys of California
- California DUI Lawyers Association
- California Women Lawyers
- California Association of Black Lawyers
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