Did Kim Kardashian pass the bar exam?
Our research cannot confirm that she has.
The State Bar of California sources we read do not state her license status, and her widely reported baby bar result was not checked against a State Bar pass list.
What we can map, fact by fact, is the route this page explains: California's Law Office Study Program and its first-year gate, the FYLSX — the exam known as the baby bar.
Did Kim Kardashian pass the bar exam?
Straight answer: we can't confirm it.
The State Bar of California sources our research read do not confirm that she has passed the California Bar Exam or holds a California law license — and we make no claim about her status in either direction.
News reports in December 2021 described her passing the First-Year Law Students' Examination after earlier attempts; our research did not check that report against a State Bar pass list.
Treat any passing score, attempt count or "bar exam results" figure you see quoted about her as unverified.
The exam in those reports is also not the general bar exam.
The FYLSX is a first-year checkpoint; a California law license takes more.
The State Bar of California's Office of Admissions administers admission, with the California Supreme Court holding ultimate authority to admit attorneys and set the passing score.
The general route requires passing the California Bar Exam — given in February and July, with a passing total scale score of 1390 out of 2000 — plus an MPRE scaled score of at least 86 and a positive moral character determination.
What route is she using?
Our research did not verify which program, if any, she is enrolled in — and we did not check her standing with the State Bar of California's Office of Admissions, which administers admission.
What the rules do establish: the exam her reports describe is the one California requires after the first year from three groups — students at State Bar–unaccredited registered law schools, Law Office Study students, and students at accredited schools who lack two years of college.
One of those routes — the one this page is really about — is California's Law Office Study Program, the state's formal version of "reading the law": you qualify for the bar exam through four years of study in a law office or a judge's chambers instead of law school.
California does not require a J.D. from an ABA-approved law school to sit for its exam; Law Office Study is one of its alternative routes, alongside California-accredited and registered unaccredited schools.
Our law office study guide walks through how these apprenticeship routes work, state by state.
What is the baby bar?
The "baby bar" is the nickname for the First-Year Law Students' Examination — the State Bar abbreviates it FYLSX, and its own pages don't use the nickname.
It is a 100-question multiple-choice exam on three first-year subjects: contracts, criminal law and torts.
It runs twice a year, in June and October, with results generally released in August and December, and the application fee is $925 (late fees of $50, then $250).
Who takes it: the three groups above, after their first year.
Students at ABA- or California-accredited schools who reach second year with at least 60 semester units or 90 quarter units of college are generally exempt — "generally" is the State Bar's word.
And keep the stakes straight: passing the FYLSX admits no one to the practice of law.
It keeps eligible students on track toward the general exam.
Our baby bar guide covers the exam in full — format, fees, and what a failed attempt does to your study credit.
Can anyone do this?
In California, the route exists and does not run through law school — but "anyone" overstates it.
The program's gates are concrete:
- A qualifying supervising attorney. One who has continuously practiced law for at least five years in any U.S. jurisdiction and actively practiced law in California — or taught in a California law school — during the two years immediately before supervising. (A judge's chambers is the program's other study setting, described above.)
- A real study load. At least 72 hours of study a month, with the supervisor directly supervising at least 20 hours a month — including at least 10 hours in person per six-month period — and giving a written exam every month.
- Fees along the way. A $933 application, filed at least 30 days before study starts, then $556 per semi-annual report.
- The FYLSX gate at the end of year one, covered above.
It is also not a job.
The State Bar states that simply working in a law office does not count — the Law Office Study Program is not a work program.
And it is a small group in practice: on the July 2025 California bar exam, 13 first-time takers came from Law Office/Judge's Chamber study and 10 passed (76.9%); the February 2026 figure for the route was redacted because fewer than 11 takers sat.
The State Bar itself warns that bar pass rates are generally lower for Law Office Study students than for law school graduates.
Rules change — confirm with the State Bar of California
How long does it take?
The study program alone is four years — at least 72 hours of required study a month, every month, under supervision.
The FYLSX sits inside that timeline, and its credit rule makes early passing matter: Law Office Study students must pass the exam after one year, and passing within the first three eligible administrations preserves credit for all study completed to that point, while a later pass leaves only one year of study counted.
After the program comes the licensing exam itself: the California Bar Exam, given in February and July, with a passing total scale score of 1390 out of 2000 — plus the MPRE at a scaled score of at least 86 and a positive moral character determination.
The apprenticeship route is a four-year commitment before you even sit the exam that actually licenses you.
Career information, not legal advice. Admission rules, fees and dates change — confirm current requirements with the State Bar of California's Office of Admissions before you apply.