I have never heard of eight years of law school. You usually spend four years to get a bachelor of science degree in "whatever" (ie secondary education, Accounting, biology, political science, name your poison) and then apply to law school after that which usually takes 3 years and is a graduate school.
So, it's at least 7 years worth of schooling.
In most states, however, if you can get an attorney to bascially "sponser" you and if you can learn the law from law books, you don't have to have a bachelor's of science or law school to take and pass the bar.
But it helps.