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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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."

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.

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)[reply]

See William & Mary School of Law. Established 1779. – S. Rich (talk) 05:15, 24 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

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)[reply]

@Ikjbagl: 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)[reply]

I agree that it's only significant were she to pass a Bar exam. Lindenfall (talk) 19:00, 13 May 2021 (UTC)[reply]

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)[reply]

Agreed. I deleted it. Ikjbagl (talk) 22:17, 26 September 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Since she passed the baby bar, is continuing to read law as discussed in RS, I've re-added her. As @BD2412 correctly she's easily the most famous law reader in the last 75 years, at least that I know of. Jjazz76 (talk) 00:44, 2 December 2024 (UTC)[reply]