Some recent social media bantor about Kim Kardashian West working at a law firm has led to questions about whether she will soon be working as a lawyer. We want to put the world at ease by saying that if she does decide to follow in her father’s footsteps, she won’t be working as an attorney without a great deal of training first.
In a social media exchange with one of his most famous clients, entertainment lawyer Michael Kump said that Kim Kardashian West would make a great attorney. He explained that Kim has “got the perfect instincts, great judgment, and knows how to present her position… and convince people of her point of view.” He went on to ask her join his law firm (jokingly, we assume). In response, Kim said that she’ll be happy just being, “an intern on, like, a really exciting Howard Weitzman/Shawn Holley case.”
Ms. Kardashian West has been quoted in the past saying that she’d like to go to law school someday, but rest assured that Kim cannot just be hired as attorney on the spot and begin doing legal work. Although she may have the “instincts” and “judgment” to be an attorney there are numerous prerequisites before becoming a licensed attorney. Law school typically lasts three years, but nearly every law school requires a four year bachelor’s degree before enrollment (which she does not yet have). In addition, applicants are required to take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) for entry into most schools.
Once admitted, law schools normally require students to pass classes in: contracts, torts, property, civil procedure, criminal law, professional responsibility, legal writing/research, and constitutional law, in addition to some elective courses. Unlike high school and college, in these classes, the final exam usually comprises 100% of each course’s grade. Only after graduating from law school would Kim be permitted to sit for the bar exam in whichever state she’d like to practice. Until she actually passes the bar exam and is sworn in to a state bar, she cannot call herself an attorney.
So, before Kim Kardashian West is ready to take on clients as a lawyer, she will need to graduate from a four year college, take the LSAT (or GRE), pass numerous required law school courses, graduate from law school, and then pass a state bar exam. Mr. Kump’s advice for Kim may have been tongue-in-cheek but, until Kim passes the bar exam, she won’t be permitted to practice law.