Yes it's terrible the ABA has created a system that rigorously weeds out unqualified individuals, polices it's professional members ethics and uses education and testing to ensure all lawyers have a solid baseline education. Terrible!
I wish software engineerers had an actual equivalent to the ABA, and no the ACM doesn't count.
I was not implying letting unqualified individuals practice law. They still have to pass the bar apprentice. Are we seriously going to claim school is the only way people can learn?
I would also like to see some certification for actual software engineers. Also wish that businesses would not be allowed cheap out and rush software development. Partly, why I prefer hardware. The timelines why still may be fast are more reasonable.
There is a fair bit more nuance to the law than just memorizing some stuff and passing a test. I have a couple close family members that are lawyers and their general thought is law school is:
1.) shaping a person's mind to be critical of presented facts and evidence.
2.) develop good skills in the art of arguing.
3.) develop good skills for legal research and dealing with changing laws.
Personally, I am skeptical someone who has not gone to law school is going to be good at those things and that's why I think law school sets a high baseline and is a good thing even if it is expensive.
There's a software engineering PE exam now, fwiw. I don't know anyone who's taken it though. I took the computer engineering exam the year before the SE exam was offered; I would imagine the two have a lot of overlap.
An exam is useless if nobody hiring uses it. Good luck getting a job as an lawyer if you have not passed the bar exam because the bar exam and the ability to practice as a lawyer are linked by law.
I wish software engineerers had an actual equivalent to the ABA, and no the ACM doesn't count.