business · United States edition
It’s easy to be a Lawyer.
Becoming a lawyer in the US means a bachelor's degree, three years of law school (a Juris Doctor from an ABA-accredited school), and passing your state's bar exam plus its character-and-fitness review — about seven years total. Law school tuition alone runs $96,000–$180,000+. Lawyers earned a median $159,670 in May 2025, per BLS.
Last verified Version 1By Editorial Team
Key facts
United States- Time to qualify
7–9 years
Seven years is the standard path: four years for a bachelor's degree in any major, then three years of full-time Juris Doctor study, sitting the bar exam near the end of law school or shortly after. Part-time JD programs run four years instead of three, taking the total to eight. Nine accounts for a bar exam retake — results take three to four months, and a meaningful share of takers do not pass on the first attempt — plus any delay from a character-and-fitness review, which some states say can take six to eight months on its own.
- Cost to qualify
$96,153 – $179,277
Tuition only, three years, at LawHub's 2025–26 national averages: $32,051 a year at public in-state schools to $59,759 a year at private schools. This excludes the undergraduate degree, living expenses, the LSAT ($238 test fee plus prep), bar prep courses (commonly $1,500–$4,000), and bar exam application/character-and-fitness fees (vary by state, often $200–$1,000+). Total cost of attendance including living costs runs well above tuition alone and can exceed $300,000 at expensive private programs in expensive cities — treat the figures here as a tuition floor, not an all-in cost.
- Job outlook (2024-2034)
+4% growth
About 31,500 openings per year
All figures apply to United States. Salaries, licensing, and timelines differ by country — where other editions exist, switch between them at the top of the page.
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How to become a Lawyer — step by step
- 1
Earn a bachelor's degree 4 years
Any major is accepted — the ABA sets no undergraduate subject requirement. Strong grades and analytical writing matter more for law school admission than your choice of major.
- 2
Take the LSAT Several months of prep
The Law School Admission Test is the primary standardized input to admissions decisions; it can be retaken up to 5 times in the current score-reporting period and 7 times in a lifetime. Some schools also accept the GRE.
- 3
Apply to and enroll in an ABA-accredited law school About 1 year, application to enrollment
Nearly every state requires a JD from an ABA-accredited school to sit the bar. Check a school's ABA Standard 509 disclosures — first-time bar passage rate and employment outcomes — before committing, not just its rank.
- 4
Complete the Juris Doctor 3 years full-time (4 part-time)
1L is a largely fixed core curriculum (contracts, torts, civil procedure, constitutional law, property, criminal law); 2L and 3L add electives, clinics, journals and internships that shape your eventual practice area.
- 5
Pass the MPRE 2-hour exam, taken during law school
The Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination is a 60-question ethics test required for bar admission in most states, typically taken in your 2L or 3L year.
- 6
Sit your state's bar exam 2-day exam; results in 3–4 months
Most states now use the Uniform Bar Exam. In 2025, 63% of all 67,442 takers passed overall, and 76% of first-timers did — repeat takers pass at a far lower rate.
- 7
Clear character-and-fitness review and get admitted Weeks to several months
Every US jurisdiction runs a background and moral-character review before swearing you in; some states say to expect at least six to eight months for this step alone, so start the application early.
Requirements to be a Lawyer
- Bachelor's degree, any majoreducationRequired
Admission to a Juris Doctor program requires at least a bachelor's degree; the ABA sets no required undergraduate major. Political science, English, history and philosophy are common but not advantageous by rule — GPA and LSAT score matter far more to admissions than major choice.
- LSAT (or GRE at some schools)certificationRequired
The Law School Admission Test is the primary standardized input to admissions decisions. It can be taken up to 5 times within the current reportable score period and 7 times in a lifetime. A growing number of schools also accept the GRE.
- Juris Doctor (JD) from an ABA-accredited law schooleducationRequired
Three years full-time, or four part-time. Almost every state requires an ABA-accredited JD to sit the bar; a handful of states (California, Vermont, Virginia, Washington) allow non-ABA or law-office-study routes, but with far lower bar-passage rates and no recognition in most other states.
- MPRE (Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination)certificationRequired
A 2-hour, 60-question multiple-choice ethics exam required for bar admission in most jurisdictions, typically taken during the 2L or 3L year, separate from the bar exam itself.
- Pass your state's bar examlicenseRequired
Most jurisdictions now use the Uniform Bar Exam (UBE), which is portable across other UBE jurisdictions for a limited period after passing. 67,442 people sat a US bar exam in 2025; 63% passed overall, and 76% of first-time takers passed.
- Character and fitness reviewlicenseRequired
Every US jurisdiction runs a background and moral-character review before admission. Timing varies by state; California states it can take at least six to eight months, so applicants are told to start it well before the exam.
- Legal research and written advocacyskillRequired
Law school and the bar exam both test these directly — drafting, issue-spotting and persuasive writing are the core of the JD curriculum and the day-to-day work alike.
- Continuing legal education (CLE)certificationOptional
Most states require ongoing CLE hours to maintain your license after admission; requirements and hour counts vary by state and are separate from the one-time bar admission process.
A day in the life of a Lawyer
A litigator's day often starts with case-status emails and calls, then moves into drafting — motions, briefs, discovery requests — against court-imposed deadlines that don't move. Depositions and hearings punctuate weeks that are otherwise desk-bound, and trial weeks consume everything else. A transactional or corporate lawyer's rhythm is different: reviewing and marking up contracts, negotiating terms on calls with opposing counsel, and racing toward a closing date clients often move at the last minute. In-house counsel spend more time advising the business directly — flagging risk in a marketing campaign, a vendor contract, an HR policy — and less time in adversarial postures. Across all of these, billable-hour tracking (commonly in six-minute increments at firms), client communication, and personal accountability for advice clients act on are constants; so is the fact that almost none of the deadlines are set by the lawyer.
Is it worth it to be a Lawyer?
Worth it if you want a licensed profession with a real earnings ceiling and unusually broad exit options — business, government, academia, policy — and you're prepared to commit seven-plus years and real debt before your first paycheck as a lawyer. The $159,670 median is real, but pay is bimodal, not centered: large-firm first-years often start above $200,000 while public-interest, government and small-firm lawyers frequently earn far below the median for years, and which bucket you land in is decided heavily by law school prestige and class rank, not effort alone. It is not worth it if you're financing a mid-tier or lower-ranked school at full price hoping for a BigLaw outcome — that combination is the profession's most common financial regret, since six figures of debt with no bar passage, or a bar pass into a below-median job, both happen regularly and are visible in advance in a school's own ABA-mandated disclosures. It is also the wrong career for anyone who wants predictable hours or dislikes being accountable for other people's deadlines: corporate and litigation practice both run on external clocks — closings, filing dates, trial calendars — that do not move for your schedule.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Borrowing full price for a mid-tier or lower-ranked law school on the assumption grades and effort alone guarantee a high-paying job. Starting salaries are bimodal — large firms often pay well above $200,000 while most other lawyers earn far below the $159,670 median — and which tier you land in is decided heavily by school and class rank.
- Skipping a school's ABA-mandated Standard 509 disclosures (first-time bar passage rate, employment outcomes) before enrolling. A low first-time passage rate at your target school is a leading indicator of your own odds, not just an average to shrug off.
- Treating the JD as the finish line. You cannot practice law with a JD alone — you must also pass a state bar exam and its character-and-fitness review; a meaningful share of takers, and the majority of repeat takers, did not pass in 2025.
- Underbudgeting for the MPRE, bar prep courses and bar exam application fees, which sit on top of tuition and are often not covered by the loans disbursed for law school itself.
- Assuming any bar license transfers anywhere. Passing one state's bar does not automatically let you practice in another — reciprocity ('admission on motion') rules vary widely, and some states require extra coursework, exams or waiting periods.
- Choosing a law school without regard to where you actually want to practice. Regional hiring networks, and in some cases the bar exam itself, are easier to navigate if you study in the state you plan to work in.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to become a lawyer?
About seven years at the standard pace: four years for a bachelor's degree in any major, then three years of full-time Juris Doctor study, sitting the bar exam near the end of law school or shortly after. Part-time JD programs add a year; a bar exam retake, with results taking three to four months, can add most of a year more.
Do I need to major in political science or pre-law?
No. The ABA does not require or recommend a specific undergraduate major for JD admission — law schools admit English, biology, engineering and business majors alike. GPA and your LSAT score matter far more to admission than your choice of major.
How hard is the bar exam?
In 2025, 67,442 people sat a US bar exam and 63% passed overall — but that blends a 76% first-time-taker rate with a much lower repeat-taker rate, and pass rates vary sharply by state and by law school. Treat any single 'X% passed' headline as an average across very different starting positions, not your personal odds.
Can I become a lawyer without going to law school?
In a handful of states — California, Vermont, Virginia and Washington — a 'law office study' or apprenticeship route exists instead of law school, but bar-exam pass rates on that path run far below JD graduates, and most other states and employers do not recognize it. For nearly everyone, an ABA-accredited JD is the practical route.
What does a JD without passing the bar actually get you?
A degree, but not a license to practice. You cannot call yourself a lawyer or represent clients in court until you pass a state bar exam and clear its character-and-fitness review — a real number of JD holders never clear that bar, particularly after multiple failed attempts.
Is $159,670 a realistic starting salary?
No — that is the median across all experience levels and practice settings, not a starting figure. First-year pay is famously bimodal: many large-firm associates start above $200,000, while the much larger group at small firms, government offices and public-interest organizations often starts at close to half that or less.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of these primary sources.
- 12025 Bar Exam Statistics — National Conference of Bar Examiners · accessed September 1, 2026
- 2How to Become a Lawyer: Guide — Online Master of Legal Studies · accessed September 1, 2026
- 3Law School Tuition in the United States, 1985-2025 — LawHub · accessed September 1, 2026
- 4Lawyer Salary Guide, by Industry & Location — Online Master of Legal Studies · accessed September 1, 2026
- 5Lawyers — Occupational Outlook Handbook — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · accessed September 1, 2026
- 6Lawyers (23-1011.00) summary — O*NET OnLine · accessed September 1, 2026