When Kim Kardashian declared her intention to become a lawyer in a 2019 Vogue cover story, she knew the announcement “would be met with an eye roll f
When Kim Kardashian declared her intention to become a lawyer in a 2019 Vogue cover story, she knew the announcement “would be met with an eye roll for the ages.” But six years later, Kardashian is getting the last laugh.
The 44-year-old reality star turned mogul announced her graduation from a four-year legal apprenticeship on Wednesday, May 21, with the star now eligible to take the California bar exam, her representative confirmed to ABC News. The program’s completion took Kardashian six years, instead of the typical four-year window, due to COVID and work commitments, People reported.
“I finally graduated law school after six years!!!” Kardashian wrote over a celebratory video in which she donned a graduation cap at what appeared to be a backyard ceremony that featured friends and family, including sisters Khloé and Kourtney. Kardashian revealed her achievement about a week after she testified in a Paris courtroom about fearing for her life during a 2016 armed robbery.
One of Kardashian’s mentors, attorney Jessica Jackson, said Kardashian’s efforts amounted to “one of the most inspiring legal journeys we’ve ever seen.” Speaking from a makeshift outdoor stage, she continued: “Six years ago, Kim Kardashian walked into this program with nothing but a fierce desire to fight for justice. No law school lectures, no ivory tower shortcuts, just determination and a mountain of case log books to read.”
Jackson continued, “Over the course of this program, Kim has dedicated 18 hours a week, 48 weeks a year for six straight years. That’s a total of 5,184 hours of legal study. That’s time she carved out while raising four children, running businesses, filming television shows, and showing up in courtrooms to advocate for others.”
CNN political commentator and friend Van Jones also honored Kardashian at the ceremony, recalling how she was “not embraced by anybody” at the start of her legal pursuits. He then noted her commitment to criminal justice reform and her work in helping multiple people get their prison sentences commuted. “The advocates are always last in line on the other, more popular causes,” Jones said. “It’s a lonely fight.”
According to People, Kardashian began her apprenticeship with a San Francisco law firm in 2018. In 2021 she passed “the baby bar,” an exam for first-year law students, after three previous attempts. “I know my dad would be so proud and he would actually be so shocked to know that this is my path now but he would have been my best study partner,” she said at the time on social media. Her father, Robert Kardashian, was O.J. Simpson’s attorney during his 1995 murder trial. He died in 2003 of esophageal cancer. “I am told he was notorious for making fun of people who didn’t pass on their first attempt like he did, but he would have been my biggest cheerleader!” Kardashian added.
The mother of four also shared a photo of her youngest son, Psalm, wearing a tan suit and tie and carrying a briefcase, all in homage to his slow grandfather. Her daughter Chicago, meanwhile, donned a gloomy blue pinstripe suit, seemingly inspired by Kardashian’s 2023 Harvard Business School attire.
In March 2025, E! News reported that Kardashian had sat for the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), a test that prospective lawyers must take, in addition to the bar, in order to practice in California. And art has already imitated life—this fall, Kardashian will star as a divorce attorney at an all-female firm in the Ryan Murphy legal drama All’s Fair, which also features Glenn Close, Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Niecy Nash-Betts, and Teyana Taylor.
COMMENTS