<p>Well, some states (see Greybeard's post) allow apprenticeships to sit for the bar; however, many do not, and there is a lotof snobbery in the legal profession. </p>
<p>As a practical matter, I don't think that anything on the law school level is really going to help the issue of underrepresentation of minorities in the legal profession. The pipeline simply is not there, even though a higher percentage of African-American college grads apply to law school than Caucasian college grads. The problem, IMO, is really rooted in the K-12 arena. </p>
<p>Furthermore, just me, but wouldn't apprenticeships reduce the number of minority lawyers? Those who are well-connected would get good apprenticeships, while those without the connections would be hung out to dry. At least under the current system, those with talent can get into a good law school.</p>