As Law.com previously reported, Kardashian is far from alone in having struggled with the test. Fewer than a quarter of test takers typically pass the so-called "baby bar."

The overall pass rate for the November 2020 exam was just 21%, according to data from the state bar. That figure remained flat this past June. Meanwhile, only 15% of 159 repeat baby bar takers, Kardashian among them, passed the spring test. (Data for the most recent November exam is not yet available.)

California is the only jurisdiction that administers the baby bar—a byproduct of its unique law school landscape. Nearly all other jurisdictions require aspiring lawyers to have a J.D. from an American Bar Association-accredited law school in order to sit for their bar exam. California has  18 ABA-accredited law schools plus another set of 24 state-accredited law schools. Graduates of those state-accredited law schools do not have to sit for the baby bar, but are only eligible to take the actual bar exam in California—not in other states.

Finally, California recognizes another set of 16 law schools that are not accredited by the ABA or the state bar. Some have physical locations, some are distance learning schools, and some are correspondence schools. Students enrolled in these unaccredited programs must pass the baby bar within three administrations of completing their first year of study. (Those taking the exam during COVID-19, like Kardashian, were given one extra crack at the test. The California Supreme Court last spring ordered a rule change that gave examinees four opportunities to pass if the June 2020 exam was among their first three attempts.) Kardashian took the exam in June 2020, November 2020, June 2021 and, finally, November 2021.

To complicate matters further, California also allows would-be lawyers to study the law for four years under the supervision of a licensed attorney or judge, which is often referred to as an apprenticeship. Those "reading the law" must also pass the baby bar. Few people opt for that route, but Kardashian is one of them.

The baby bar is a one-day exam that is given twice a year, typically in June and October, though the October 2020 exam was postponed to November due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It consists of four one-hour essay questions and 100 multiple-choice questions covering contracts, criminal law and torts.

Kardashian went public with her plans to become a lawyer in April 2019 in an interview with Vogue, saying she was inspired by the work she has done on criminal justice reform. She pushed President Donald Trump to grant clemency to Alice Marie Johnson—a 63-year-old grandmother who had been in an Alabama prison since 1996 for a nonviolent drug conviction, and advocated for the First Step Act, under which an estimated 4,000 federal prisoners will be released.