A. No, of course you don’t! Though it’s highly unadvisable (according to the American Bar Association), you can actually sit for the bar in 7 states without going to law school. (Those are California, Maine, New York, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wyoming – just in case you’re taking notes.) But hey, if skipping law school is good enough for Abe Lincoln, Clarence Darrow and My Cousin Vinny, it’s good enough for you, right? Of course, we haven’t mentioned the fine print, yet. If you’re going to ditch law school, you’ll have to apprentice with a lawyer (the same way Honest Abe did), and each state has its own requirements. California, for example, makes you take a “Baby Bar” exam after your first year as an apprentice to make sure you’re learning at the same rate as your law school peers. Vermont, on the other hand, makes you fill out semi-annual progress reports. So in the end, maybe law school is worth the extra bucks. According to the L.A. Times, just 20% of California’s apprentices have passed the bar exam.