Decide which of the "nontraditional" requirement states you would like to live and work in. The states that currently do not require you to attend law school to take the bar exam are California, Virginia, Vermont, Washington and Wyoming. Maine and New York will allow you to take the bars without actually graduating from law school, but they still require a year or two of traditional law school study.
Contact both the state's Bar Association and Board of Law Examiners to find out what the specific requirements are for taking the bar exam in your nontraditional state. Each state has different requirements. For instance, California requires that you take a "Baby Bar Exam" during your first year of nontraditional law study and act as an apprentice to a licensed attorney or judge for a minimum of four years before your are eligible to sit for the bar exam. Other states require some traditional legal education at an ABA-accredited law school and passage of a "Professional Responsibility Exam" before allowing you to sit for the bar. A directory listing contact information for all state "Boards of Law Examiners" is located in the Resources section below.
Study for the bar exam. In order to practice law in any state or jurisdiction, you must take and pass the bar exam in your state. The best way to prepare for the exam is by enrolling in a Bar-Bri course. Bar-Bri will provide you with text materials and outlines that cover every topic included on your state's specific bar exam. It also provides lectures that are condensed versions of law school courses. Most law students enroll in Bar-Bri to prepare for the bar exam. The course is not inexpensive, and ranges from $2,000 to $4,000 depending on your state and the depth of the program that you sign up for. However, compared to a $100,000 legal education, it's worth every penny. If you decide not to enroll in a bar prep course, you can use commercial outlines, horn books, state statutes and case books to study the law.
Complete all state requirements and sign up to take your state's bar exam. You will register for the bar through your state's Board of Law Examiners. Refer to the directory in the Resources section below for board contact information for all states. Most bar exams consist of two to three days of testing. Regardless of which state's exam you take, you will likely encounter the MBE (Multistate Bar Exam) as one of your testing sections. The MBE generally consists of 200 questions in multiple choice format. The greatest challenge regarding the MBE is time. Practice MBE questions regularly under timed conditions to ensure that you will be able to complete this section of the bar exam. Most exams also include an essay section and a "performance test" where you are asked to analyze a set of facts and discuss the potential outcome based on legal principals.