Talk:Reading law

"Extended period of time"
"California, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington[6], an applicant who has not attended law school may take the bar exam after reading law under a judge or practicing attorney for an extended period of time."

How long a period of time?? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.226.78.94 (talk) 20:51, 15 February 2009 (UTC)


 * It would vary by jurisdiction. Typically it would be required to be at least as long a time as it would take to obtain a JD (three years) or else, as in Maine and NY State, a combination of formal study and reading law which when combined equal that same amount of time. AP (talk) 19:42, 20 January 2011 (UTC)

Contradiction to the articles on Litchfield Law School and College of William & Mary
The article claims that "law schools did not exist at all until Litchfield Law School was founded in 1773." I have therefore taken the liberty to tag the article as contradictory and would be glad if someone proficient in the matter could check back. Thank you. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 91.60.6.27 (talk) 17:14, 23 November 2013 (UTC)
 * However, the article on Litchfield Law School, which this phrase refers and links to, states that Litchfield was not established until 1784.
 * The article on the College of William & Mary states in its history section that with establishing the chair of law, William & Mary has been the first Law School in America.


 * See William & Mary School of Law. Established 1779. – S. Rich (talk) 05:15, 24 November 2013 (UTC)
 * To be clear, the College of William & Mary did not establish a "law school" in 1789, they established a "chair in law",a single position for a professor to teach classes on law. According to the school's own website: "the first earned law degree was granted in America when, in 1793, the College conferred a bachelor of law degree on William H. Cabell". Having a single law professor and conferring upon a single student a bachelor's degree in law does not unequivocally mean that a "law school" was established. Of course, the Litchfield Law School was not vastly different from this, but at least it was dedicated to teaching only the subject of law. bd2412  T 17:15, 24 November 2013 (UTC)

Some additional information should help clear up any discrepancy here. According to Albert James Harno, Legal Education in the United States (2004), p. 29: "The time of its beginning is ordinarily given as 1784. In truth, it is difficult to fix the opening date. Sometime between 1774 and 1784 a transition occurred from office- apprenticeship training to the operation of a law school." What is clear is that the building was constructed in 1784, at which time it was needed because the number of students exceeded what could be accommodated in a law office. bd2412 T 14:24, 30 June 2014 (UTC)

removing Kim Kardashian
I am deleting the entry for Kim Kardashian. The section heading is "Some notable Americans that became lawyers by reading law." Kim Kardashian announced that she was reading law with a firm, but she is not a lawyer. It is therefore inappropriate to include her on this page. If she passes the bar someday, you can add her back. Ikjbagl (talk) 01:01, 21 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I still think that it is reasonable to include, as it has been widely reported that she is in the process of reading law, which is the highest-profile instance of anyone doing that in recent history. Even if she does not succeed in becoming a lawyer, the fact that she engaged in this specific process in the attempt will remain noteworthy. She even did a TV commercial referencing it. BD2412  T 02:25, 21 February 2020 (UTC)
 * I agree that it's only significant were she to pass a Bar exam. Lindenfall (talk) 19:00, 13 May 2021 (UTC)


 * Apparently, this was not deleted. The Kardashian entry is tabloidism, in my opinion. Now that she's missed the Baby Bar twice, let's put this to rest — it's not encyclopedic, deleted. Lindenfall (talk) 22:28, 16 June 2021 (UTC)
 * Agreed. I deleted it. Ikjbagl (talk) 22:17, 26 September 2021 (UTC)