DIY Law School

<p><strong>What are you talking about?</strong></p><p></p><p>That's the most common reaction I get. Most lawyers seem to know it's possible. Some ask People still do that? Pretty much everybody else has never heard of it including a lot of people with graduate degrees. And most of them yell something like What are you talking about?</p><p></p><p>People call it apprenticing or reading the law-the California State Bar calls it the Law Office Study Program-but my favorite term is DIY Law School. I can't take credit for coining the phrase. Somebody called it that playfully early on in my experience and I've been smiling about it ever since. Unfortunately I can't credit that person because I don't remember who it was!</p><p></p><p><strong>DIY Law School allows you to become a lawyer with almost none of the debt. You can hit the ground running because you'll likely have years of hands-on experience by the time you start practicing. And in many ways it won't be nearly as hard-or time-consuming-as law school. </strong></p><p></p><p>This book a guide a collection of ideas some advice anyone considering an apprenticeship should at least consider and personal reflections that might even be insightful. Once I got started with my apprenticeship <em>so </em>many people told me they wanted to do it too. I made my program up as I went learning from my mistakes creating my own curricula based on a model I mostly invented myself. Of course I got advice from lawyers particularly recent law school graduates and from Gary Blasi a former apprentice who then worked for decades as a public interest attorney and law professor. One of the things I frequently told people who seemed serious about doing this was that they can use what I created to guide their own program. This book is an outgrowth of that sentiment: you curious stranger reading my book can use what I created to make your own apprenticeship work well. Learn from my mistakes! Don't start from scratch! To that end I have included personal reflections on what the entire experience was like a lot of advice about how to think about what you are doing a few important warnings and a fair amount of detailed framework you can use to guide your own apprenticeship.</p>