Can a person become a lawyer by passing the bar exam through self-study without any formal legal education?

Answer 1

In the USA, there is currently no exception to the requirement of attaining a juris doctorate (or equivalent) from an accredited law school in order to even qualify to take the bar exam of any state. Historically, one could take the exam without any official/formal legal education that one normally associates with law school, but that was in the early 20th century.