Kim Kardashian is one step closer to her dream role as a trial attorney. For several years, Kim has acted as an advocate in the criminal justice realm, as seen on The Kardashians. As to why, she wants to help bring reform to a very broken system. And she sees no better way to do this than to insert herself into this field as a fully qualified attorney.
Already, Kim has used her studies to advocate for clemency (meaning pardons or reduced sentences) for non-violent offenders. She has also highlighted individual inmates, doing her best to share their stories to help humanize their cases. And soon, Kim hopes to make things official by finalizing her status in the system, which will allow her to jump headfirst into this arena. And if you’re curious about how Kim made this jump from reality television to real-life advocacy work, here’s an explainer.
Kim Kardashian is chasing a legal career
Kim’s late father, Robert Kardashian, was a well-known and highly connected attorney. And now, Kim is trying to follow in his footsteps. In 2018, Kim stood as an advocate for Alice Marie Johnson. Alice was a first-time, non-violent offender who had fallen on hard times, so she began passing coded messages between drug dealers to help make ends meet.
After her arrest, prosecutors offered Alice a plea deal of three to five years in jail. When she declined, they added new charges to her case and sought the maximum sentencing possible. As a result, the judge sentenced her to life in prison without the possibility of parole. But thanks to Kim, Alice is now a free woman.
However, while Kim was working on this case, she realized that her legal knowledge was limited. So, in 2018, Kim began a four-year law apprenticeship. California’s Law Office Study Program allows aspiring lawyers to bypass traditional routes, including law school. It took her four times, but Kim passed the First-Year Law Students’ Examination, also known as the “baby bar,” in 2021, while she was still an apprentice in this program.
Kim next passed the Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination (MPRE) in March 2025. And shortly after, in May, Kim finally completed her apprenticeship.
Kim is just a couple of weeks out from becoming a fully qualified attorney
With this apprenticeship behind her, Kim still had one task left to complete. She needed to pass the brutally hard California bar exam. This test is among the most challenging in the nation, and it comes with one of the lowest pass rates in the country. Nevertheless, in late July, Kim sat for this test, as she noted on the October 24 episode of The Graham Norton Show.
According to their official website, this exam spans two days. It includes “five one-hour essay questions and one 90-minute Performance Test question.” On the first day of testing, hopefuls take the written portion, which covers “three essay questions in the morning,” followed by “two essay questions” and “the Performance Test” in the afternoon.
“The multiple-choice portion of the exam” happens “on the second day of the exam, with 100 questions given in the morning and 100 questions given in the afternoon.” And now, Kim is awaiting these results, with an expected arrival date set for November 7. As for when Kim, alongside her fellow test takers’ outcomes, will be made public, the state releases the searchable results two days later, which means November 9
When this happens, Kim will hopefully have a new title to add to her resume: licensed lawyer.
Kim has her sights set on a career as a trial lawyer
As Kim further explained on The Graham Norton Show, she “will be qualified in two weeks. I hope to practice law. Maybe in 10 years, I think I’ll give up being Kim K. and be a trial lawyer. That’s what I really want.”
But of course, Kim will not settle for working at just any old law firm. As she revealed to Vogue Hong Kong, “I’m very passionate about Criminal Justice Reform, and I want to advocate for those who I feel were wrongfully convicted.” To do so, Kim now dreams “of one day creating a successful law firm,” with a focus on prison reform.
From her early learning experiences and her advocacy work with Alice to now, this “experience [has] taught [Kim] so much.” In fact, she has “never worked so hard on something in my life. I had to be really diligent about studying,” Kim stressed. And since Kim “dedicated every spare minute I had,” all so that she could one day possibly serve as a voice for those in need, I will always wish Kim my best as she continues trudging along this path to her next career.
Catch Kim on The Kardashians streaming on Hulu every Thursday.
TELL US – HAVE YOU BEEN FOLLOWING KIM’S ADVOCACY WORK FOR PRISON REFORM? WOULD YOU HIRE KIM AS YOUR TRIAL LAWYER?
