states where you can be a lawyer without law school
Admission to the bar in the United States In California, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wyoming[14] an applicant who has not attended law school may take the bar exam after study under a judge or practicing attorney for an extended period of time.[15][16]  This method is known as "reading law" or "reading the law".
Macon Bolling Allen Macon Bolling Allen (born Allen Macon Bolling;[1] August 4, 1816 â€“ June 11, 1894) is believed to be both the first African American licensed to practice law and to hold a judicial position in the United States. Allen passed the bar exam in Maine in 1844 and became a Massachusetts Justice of the Peace in 1848. He moved to South Carolina after the American Civil War to practice law and was elected as a probate court judge in 1874. Following the Reconstruction Era, he moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked as an attorney for the Land and Improvement Association.