Bingham decided to pursue a career in law and attended the Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California at Berkeley. During his first year, he married Gretchen Spreckels, the granddaughter of Adolph B. Spreckels and whose family founded the Spreckels Sugar Company, after a six-month relationship. The couple joined the Peace Corps and were assigned to Sierra Leone. After spending two years in West Africa with the Peace Corps, they returned to Berkeley in the fall of 1967 where Bingham resumed the study of law. In 1969, he received a J.D. degree from Berkeley. He was admitted to the California bar in January 1970. The couple divorced in May, 1969.