U.S. Teen Is Youngest Ever To Pass Britain's Bar Exams

By NPR Staff

Published August 4, 2013 at 4:06 PM CDT

At 18, Gabrielle Turnquest is the youngest person in the history of the English legal system to be admitted to the bar.

At 18 years old, Gabrielle Turnquest has become the youngest person to pass Britain's bar exams.

The Florida native told NPR's Jackie Lyden her family influenced her decision to study law in the United Kingdom. Her mother had studied in the U.K. and she joined an older sister who was also studying law.

She graduated from college early, too — at 16, she was the youngest person to ever get a psychology degree from Liberty University in Virginia.

Turnquest plans to return to America to sit for the U.S. multistate bar exam and hopes ultimately to work in the fashion industry.

"I've always been interested in it," she said, "Because, honestly, I don't see how you can't be. We all wear clothes. It's around us all the time."

The average age to take the British bar is 27. To practice law in the U.K. Turnquest would need to undergo a year's training, known as a pupillage, before she could be certified to work as a barrister.