Abraham Lincoln studied law on his own. He borrowed law books from John Stuart’s law office in Springfield. On September 9, 1836, he was licensed to practice law in Illinois.
On November 5, 1855, Isham Reavis asked him how to become a lawyer. Lincoln answered: “If you are resolutely determined to make a lawyer of yourself, the thing is more than half done already.” His method was simple: “Get the books, and read and study them till, you understand them in their principal features; and that is the main thing.”