Each state has its own requirements for admission to the bar. Prior to the 20 th century law was treated as any other trade. A prospective attorney would clerk (apprentice) for a law firm, and when the firm was satisfied with his performance he would be certified for practice before the bar. In the late 1800's Law schools became more common place. For a time both graduation from an accredited law school and certification were acceptable. At the present time  most if not all states require graduation from an ACCREDITED law school and passing the bar exam to qualify for practice. Wisconsin used to have an interesting practice of allowing graduates of Wisconsin law schools full admission to the state bar without the need to take the state bar exam. ..not sure if they are still allowing that.Graduates of out of state law schools had to take the bar exam. Those that passed the exam used to laud it over those that had not.

In selecting a law school the student needs to consider its accreditation. Some of the newer schools start to train students before they have received full accreditaion based on the representation that the school will receive it by the time the student graduates. The student needs to think this through carefully before attending the law school