Bar preparation requirements weakened across the nineteenth century

Evidence

A few states had stricter rules. In New Hampshire, between 1805 and 1833, the federated county bars required five years of preparation for admission to the lower courts, if an applicant was qualified to enter Dartmouth College (even if he did not know Greek). For college graduates, three years was enough. Two years further practice was required for admission to the superior court. New York, between 1829 and 1846, by rule of court, demanded seven years of preparation for the right to practice as an “attorney” before the supreme court, “toward which there might be counted up to four years of classical study pursued after the age of fourteen.” It took three years more of practice to become a “counselor.” But most states discarded rigorous requirements. In 1800, fourteen out of the nineteen states or organized territories prescribed a definite period of preparation for the bar. In 1840, only eleven out of thirty jurisdictions did so. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1884

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The early nineteenth-century bar had low entry barriers and embraced all work — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1223; Early nineteenth-century lawyers trained by apprenticeship, not formal schooling — Lawrence M. Friedman and Grant M. Hayden, American Law: An Introduction, 1261; Loose bar admission made law a channel of upward mobility — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1816 (+2 more)

Broader Connections

• The market for legal services disciplined entry when formal bar strictures collapsed #expands (0.85) — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1893
• Law-school training and strict bar admission are recent American developments #responds-to (0.85) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 972