Most practicing attorneys graduate from an ABA-accredited institution with a Juris Doctor. California offers an alternative path through its Law Office Study Program (LOSP), governed by Rule 4.29 of the Rules of the State Bar. Under this framework, applicants apprentice directly inside an active law office or judge's chambers, trading tuition debt and lecture halls for practical casework and self-directed reading.
The apprenticeship requires rigorous state oversight. Mentoring attorneys must possess at least five years of active, good-standing California practice. Every six months, supervising counsel must submit detailed logs and exam reports outlining the apprentice’s curriculum, study hours, and monthly assessment grades to the State Bar Committee of Bar Examiners. A single administrative slip or missing audit can invalidate months of credit.
Kardashian’s program was anchored by two prominent attorneys: Jessica Jackson, human rights lawyer and former national director of #cut50 (now Dream.Org), and Erin Haney, an experienced criminal defense and appellate litigation attorney. Both mentors guided Kardashian through statutory analysis and criminal appellate briefs, integrating abstract doctrine with active clemency litigation.
