Although her dad was a high-profile lawyer, her followers were shocked when Kim Kardashian revealed she planned to become one, too. Despite plenty of evidence that supports Kim's brilliance in the world of business, naysayers thought she was just looking for more fame by announcing her plans to become a lawyer.
Though she did announce her intent, and faced a ton of backlash for it, since then, Kim has quietly been studying the law — and not-so-quietly announcing small victories along the way.
She does seem serious about achieving her goal, although many followers suspected Kim was taking the easy route to become a lawyer, or that her wealth somehow made things easier. Sure, having money in her pockets meant the filing fees and exam costs were drops in the bucket for Kardashian, but she has put in a ton of work and is following the universal requirements for becoming a lawyer in California.
Is Kim Kardashian Actually A Lawyer Yet?
When Pete Davidson decided to get a "my girl is a lawyer" tattoo in honor of Kim Kardashian, people were confused. At the time, Kim wasn't actually a lawyer. They were also a bit confused about Pete getting tatted up for his then-new girlfriend.
But at that time, Kim had declared her intent to follow in her famous dad's footsteps, and her family seemed supportive, too.
Anyway, as of August 2022, Kim still wasn't a lawyer, though she does seem to be well on her way — despite the impatience and negative comments of her followers.
Kim has been connected to high-profile legal cases, met with then-President Donald Trump to petition for the early release of a prisoner convicted of a nonviolent drug offense, and has been working on learning more so she "could do more."
And while announcing her intentions to the world earned Kim some backlash, it seems she's dug in and put in the work to become a lawyer, even if she's not quite there yet.
Her path has included, first, confirming she had enough college credits (60) to start studying (Kim noted she had 75), and then at least 18 hours of law study per week, written tests each month, and more.
Kim Passed The Baby Bar In December 2021
Because of her decision to take the non-traditional path toward becoming a lawyer, Kim started out by studying for and taking the Baby Bar exam. This preliminary exam comes before the actual Bar Exam, but there are prerequisites for taking that exam, too.
Since it took Kim three tries to pass her exam (and was trolled hard for it), it seems like the test was much harder than she anticipated — and the path to becoming a lawyer is still fraught with obstacles.
For example, the State Bar of California requires legal education before an applicant can apply to sit the Bar. Law school isn't the only path, of course, but taking the Baby Bar doesn't automatically qualify Kim to sit the Bar exam.
There are multiple options for earning a legal education, and wannabe lawyers can also combine multiple pieces; for example, Kim could study at a law school for a couple of years, then study under an apprenticeship.
Kim shared on social media that she "works all day" and studies law at night and on the weekends, proving that either way, it's not a short path to becoming a lawyer for anyone.
How Long Until Kim Becomes A Lawyer?
In 2019, Kim's journey to becoming a lawyer was one year young, according to the timeline she gave on Instagram. At that time, Kim hadn't yet passed the Baby Bar, but she was already making connections in the legal arena.
It turns out that Kim always planned to take a nonconventional route to earn her JD, and that's a four-year apprenticeship, complete with monthly tests and minimum weekly hours working with her two mentor attorneys.
Most of the hard work seems to be behind her at this point, though. According to CNBC's timeline (as well as her own social media post), Kim has already been performing under her apprenticeship since at least 2018; a requirement of the Baby Bar is studying as an apprentice for one year.
Because she successfully passed that exam, Kim was permitted to continue studying for the other three years required for acceptance to the big Bar. CNBC confirmed that Kim plans to take the Bar Exam in 2022, meaning she may be becoming a lawyer sooner than anyone expected.
