Law-school training and strict bar admission are recent American developments
Evidence
Until the twentieth century, most American lawyers never attended law school. In 1860, there were only 22 law schools nationwide, and they enrolled relatively few students. During its first 12 years of operation (1817- … 1829), Harvard Law School averaged only nine students a year.® Instead, before 1900, most lawyers received their legal education by clerking in the office of a practicing attorney. They would read law books and assist the lawyer, often by taking on the drudge work of the practice. The quality of the preparation this apprenticeship provided varied, but even poor preparation rarely prevented one from practicing law. Admission to the bar tended to be lax. In 1879, only 15 of 38 states required formal training; bar examinations, typically conducted orally by local judges, were perfunctory at best. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 972
Categorization
- CANDY: The half-hour oral exam followed by rum toddies is a fun tidbit.
- recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
- XREF: connects to: Raising accreditation standards closed part-time and minority-serving law schools — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 976; Before 1900 most American lawyers learned law by apprenticeship, not law school — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 642; American law schools barred women through much of the twentieth century. — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 663 (+6 more)
Broader Connections
- University-based law schooling replaced apprenticeship only within the last century
#corroborates(0.95) — G. Alan Tarr, Judicial Process and Judicial…, 1194