Thursday, April 11, 2019

Kim K Should Not Go to Law School. She Should Skip It and Still be a Lawyer.

I just read an article that says Kim Kardashian is studying to be a lawyer.


This is my understanding: she is skipping undergrad and law school and entering an apprentice program under an experienced lawyer for eighteen hours a week.  Her studies will last for four years.  Once the apprenticeship is over she takes the bar exam.

The California Bar Exam is notoriously difficult.  Multiple outlets deem it the hardest bar exam in the Country.

If Kim K can finish her apprenticeship and pass the hardest bar exam in the country then she should be admitted as an attorney.  I know that sounds strange from a law school graduate, but hear me out.

First, before there were law schools there were lawyers.  And there were presumably really good lawyers that learned how to lawyer from other lawyers.  This how really good modern lawyers also learn to lawyer...they just have to wait three years until law school is over.

The apprenticeship path to lawyering pre-dated the modern system.  My take is that the modern system developed as a sophisticated barrier of entry and has since developed into a money making enterprise (whole separate discussion there).

The amount of law school knowledge I use in my daily practice is basically zero.  I don't really use property, con law, and criminal law.  I do use torts and contracts.  All of those are taught in the first year.  More upper level niche classes like Insurance I do use, but I don't use Environmental Law.  Am I happy I took a bunch of upper level classes from an intellectual standpoint: Yes.  Can I figure out any legal issue as a result of law school: Yes.  Do I think a lot of upper level law school is a total waste of time: Yes.

I learned most of what I do on a daily basis AFTER LAW SCHOOL by through doing it, asking questions, and having mentors.

No more than one year of law school is necessary to learn the very basics of law.  From there every lawyer should be forced to spend a year in an actual courtroom.  I don't care if that is family law, prosecuting, insurance defense, or public defender work.  Without being there you can puff all you want on how you will try a case, but its exactly that puffing.  I think the third year of law school should be spent at a firm with a mentor learning the business and practice of law.

There is also the question of whether or not while in law school I spent more than 18 hours a week doing law school work.  I took a lot of bullshit filler classes my second and third year of law school.  I had to because that was what was required to graduate.   That time would have been way better spend doing the things in the above paragraph.

I would also note there are a lot of people who did really good in law school that aren't good lawyers. Same way there are ok law school students that are amazing lawyers.

Really just thoughts but I'll put ADVERTISING MATERIAL here to cover myself.  www.louisville-injury-lawyer.com






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