Kim Kardashian often makes the headlines for her gorgeous looks, great fashion choices, and occasional controversies, but as some of you might remember, the Keeping Up With the Kardashians star has also been in the news due to her dedication to qualify as a lawyer.
But what happened to this dream which the 42-year-old reality TV star first revealed in 2019? Did Kim successfully pass her exams and qualify as a lawyer? Or has the star moved on from her desire to represent clients beyond her social ad campaigns? HELLO! has all the details…
Is Kim Kardashian a lawyer now?
Whilst Kim Kardashian is not yet officially qualified as a lawyer, she is well on her way to qualifying with the TV star passing her baby bar exam in 2021.
Her journey to this success was not an easy one, however, as it took the budding lawyer four attempts in order to pass.
Kim's first baby bar failure was revealed during an episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians. She scored 474 on her exam, which required 560 or more for her to pass. In November 2020 Kim tried again, but this time scored lower: 463.
When the reality star tried again in the summer of 2021, she revealed on the We Are Supported By… podcast: "I think I did well, so if I don't pass, I am going to be so [expletive annoyed] you have no idea." Sadly, Kim was unsuccessful again, but she picked herself up and took the exam again in October 2021, which she discovered she had passed that December.
Taking to Instagram to announce her achievement, Kim inspirationally penned: "I failed this exam 3 times in 2 years, but I got back up each time and studied harder and tried again until I did it!!!" In February 2023, another social post, this time from the socialite's Instagram story, revealed that she had begun studying further topics in preparation for the big bar exam, including Constitutional Law and Community Property.
In April 2023, Kim provided a further update on her progress towards achieving her legal qualification. "I'm probably going to take the bar [exam] in February 2025," she told the TIME 100 summit in New York City, admitting nervously: "I think it's like a 36 percent pass rate." But despite the challenge ahead, it seems clear Kim is not a quitter.
On May 16 2023, Kim confirmed she is still working hard to qualify as a lawyer during an interview with The Today Show's Savannah Guthrie. "I'm still studying. I'm actually in constitutional law 1 and 2 right now," the reality show star revealed, before explaining she was finding this her toughest studying so far. However, she continued: "With that said, I took a midterm yesterday. I got 100 percent and then I got a 95 percent on my other midterm. So I feel — that gives me that boost of confidence again just to push through."
Can Kim Kardashian become a lawyer?
Yes, as long as the LA-born model passes her examinations, Kim Kardashian can become a lawyer. This is because California does not require all its hopeful lawyers attend a law school, just as is the case in the states of Washington, Vermont and Virginia too.
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With that being said, there are additional hurdles which Kim must pass as a result of her not being educated at a law school. In addition to the examinations which she must take, Kim must also undertake a one-to-two years-long legal apprenticeship as a replacement for the teaching she is missing out on in law school. As a result, The Kardashians star has been studying and working with the attorneys Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney.
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Since beginning her studies, Kim has become involved in the advocacy group #Cut50's work to shine a light on issues such as the mass-incarceration crisis in the US. Her and Jessica's work was also featured in the Oxygen two-hour documentary film Kim Kardashian West: The Justice Project in 2020.
As Kim's struggles with the baby bar have proven, the reality TV A-lister's journey to becoming a lawyer is not proving an easy one, and will require a great deal of further study and commitment. However, her journey is also far from impossible, and has so far progressed positively over time.
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In a 2022 episode of The Kardashians, the TV star rallied against those who've questioned her ability to qualify as a lawyer. "No one's ever really respected a reality star with a sex tape, and I've always had to break through this stigma, and I want to prove this to myself that I can do it," she said, before continuing defiantly: "And, ultimately, [this is] a huge '[expletive] you' to everybody too who thought that I can't grow or move beyond where I was."
What has Kim Kardashian achieved as a lawyer?
Despite not yet having qualified as a fully-fledged lawyer, Kim has already been able to achieve some successes in her legal career. The mom-of-four was first inspired to pursue a career in law after successfully helping to free a grandmother, Alice Marie Johnson, from a life sentence in prison from a 1997 non-violent drug charge.
Since then, through her work alongside Jessica Jackson and Erin Haney, the model and TV star has continued to advocate for prison reform, and uses her huge platform to bring attention to issues within the system. She also partnered with Lyft to help individuals who have recently left prison to secure jobs and get re-integrated into society.
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Despite a long wait to pass her baby bar exams, the A-lister's efforts were rewarded with more than just a pass mark. One of her essays was revealed to have been a top scoring answer on the paper, and was selected for featuring as a model answer to give to those studying for the next baby bar exam.
Kim remains committed to gaining her qualification in order to continue working hard for good causes, as she told Hong Kong Vogue in April 2022: "I'm very passionate about Criminal Justice Reform and I want to advocate for those who I feel they were wrongfully convicted," she said. "I dream of one day creating a successful law firm."
After revealing she had recently scored excellently on some midterm exams in May 2023, Kim gave further indication of when she can be expected to sit her final bar exam. "Hopefully in the next year or so, I can take the official bar and be done," she told Savannah Guthrie.