# Can someone practice law without a degree? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2020, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-practice-law-without-a-degree/915797 "2020-07-20T04:45:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-practice-law-without-a-degree/915797/21 "2020-07-26T08:27:47Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > But - can they sit there and do that without an accredited lawyer to be the official mouthpiece? Can they even address the court? “I have an urgent bail hearing. My articling student Karen will deal with this case. See you at the first tee at 3PM sharp, Judge,” Nope, she simply sat and assisted. I think that in cases where there are multiple lawyers, most of the lawyers don’t address the court. Actually, I know a tax officer who has spent a lot of time in court. When he gets a junior lawyer, him and the judge run the case, and his lawyer speaks when the judge tells him to. He says that his lawyers don’t mind how much of the case direction he takes, because they know that, not being a qualified lawyer, _he is not in competition for promotion or higher duties._ ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2020, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-practice-law-without-a-degree/915797/22 "2020-07-26T09:15:42Z")
> [@md-2000](#): > > But - can they sit there and do that without an accredited lawyer to be the official mouthpiece? Can they even address the court? “I have an urgent bail hearing. My articling student Karen will deal with this case. See you at the first tee at 3PM sharp, Judge,” The law school I attended in Canada had a legal clinic. We had not yet graduated from the school, much less studied for and passed the bar, but we were allowed to speak in court all by ourselves, on behalf of accuseds. There were parameters, of course: we could only speak to certain offenses, for example; all of which were mostly small stuff. We did have a few experienced and licensed lawyers at the clinic who offered advice and occasionally stepped in as the situation demanded. Still, being law students from the local university allowed us to do this; ordinary people could not speak for others. I think your question is more a jurisdictional one. In my province, and others in Canada, this kind of thing is common. It is worked out between the provincial courts, the Law Society (that is, the bar association), and the school. But I understand that it may not be the same elsewhere. Perhaps there is no one-size-fits-all answer to your question. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2020, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-practice-law-without-a-degree/915797/23 "2020-07-27T15:56:18Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > The law school I attended in Canada had a legal clinic. We had not yet graduated from the school, much less studied for and passed the bar, but we were allowed to speak in court all by ourselves, on behalf of accuseds Same in the U.S. (at least most places, maybe all). I appeared in several courts as a law student. Washington, for example, has Rule 9 Interns: [http://www.courts.wa.gov/court\_rules/?fa=court\_rules.display&group=ga&set=APR&ruleid=gaapr09](http://www.courts.wa.gov/court_rules/?fa=court_rules.display&group=ga&set=APR&ruleid=gaapr09) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-practice-law-without-a-degree/915797.md?page=1)