Meaning of "reading law" In a book recently, I saw a reference to someone "reading law" at such and such a university in England.  But I thought "reading law" was a way to bypass law school and still enter the law profession (after passing the bar I presume).  Is that only in the United States?  Any other countries?

Does England have a similar way to become a lawyer without going to college?  Then what do they call it? 

In the US, do persons who read law and then become lawyers get to put anything after their name?  Obviously they would not be permitted to put J.D.
Some rightpondian can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think "reading" in this context is British for "studying", and it does usually imply university study.  The person in question is most likely attending the equivalent of law school.

In the US, lawyers typically write "Esq." after their name, which doesn't really signify anything specific but is traditional.  This doesn't have anything to do with degrees they may or may not have.  (And even lawyers with a J.D. degree don't usually write J.D. after their names, nor use the title Dr.)