Don't know the facts of this issue or if he claimed to have "practiced" law but, in some states (maybe all, I don't know) it's a felony to practice law without a license. And passing the bar exam is usually a prerequisite to being licensed.
JOHN SEMMENS: Semi-News http://www.azconservative.org/Semmens1.htm “Lawyer” Controversy Plagues Ford Campaign
In his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-Tenn) is reported to have falsely claimed to be a lawyer. Ford was awarded a law degree by the University of Michigan Law School in 1996. Ford took the Tennessee bar exam in February 1997 but failed.
The allegation that Ford falsely claimed to be a lawyer stems from the following quote that appeared in the newspaper: “I told Senator (Lamar) Alexander, I said, ‘I won’t hold it against you if I’m elected, and there’s two lawyers in the delegation who try their hardest to work through the issues.”
Ford contends that the reporter misunderstood what he had said. “The word I used was ‘lawer’—you know, a person who makes laws, which is what I do in congress,” Ford said.