Back in the "old days," it was common to "read the law," rather than go to
law school, as my husband's uncle did back in Brooklyn, NY, the early part
of the twentieth century.

Lorraine Levan

from an article printed on June 3, 2003 in the Christian Science Monitor,

"only seven states - Vermont, New York, Washington, Virginia, California,
Maine, and Wyoming - offer law office study as a road to the bar exam.
States offering this path seldom have more than 50 students pursuing it at
any given time. Correspondence study or learning law on-line have attracted
more than 1,000 participants at a time, but only California, New Mexico, and
Washington, DC, will administer the bar exam to someone with this training.
The rest of the states abide by the American Bar Association's (ABA)
recommendation to limit bar access to those with a law school education. The
reason, according to ABA President Alfred Carlton, is to guarantee higher
standards than a state bar exam can do alone.
Professional law school, which normally includes a broad-based, three-year
curriculum leading to a Juris Doctor degree and preparedness for a state bar
examination, is a relatively new means of training for a profession as
ancient as Hebrew scripture. Well into the 19th century, American lawyers
were "sole practitioners" who followed the English model of apprenticeship
known as "Inns of Court." Not until 1878 did the ABA organize and soon
thereafter set out to make law school a requirement for every lawyer. "