Law Schools

You're Never Too Old To Pass The Bar Exam

He's not dead, he's just a lawyer.

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Ugh, the bar exam. Yes, we know — it’s only a test (god, it’s infuriating to hear that, isn’t it?) — but it also determines your ability to earn a living in the profession you’ve spent three years and $100,000+ on, so it’s pretty important. But rather than bring you horror stories (at least, not yet), as we head into bar prep season, we thought it’d be nice to hear inspiring stories that offer encouragement that you, too, can pass the bar exam.

Take the story of John VanBuskirk. He was 71 when he graduated from the University of North Texas Law School. The retired Army major was actually in the school’s inaugural class, and going to law school was an opportunity he thought he’d missed out on. But when UNT opened its doors — at the low, low price of $12,500 per year, a steal for law school — he seized his opportunity:

“When I saw that this new law school opening up, I thought here’s an opportunity to do community service, but on another level,” VanBuskirk said. “I had the bug to go to law school parked in my brain when I was in the military.”

Though he’s the school’s oldest graduate, he’s not alone in being a non-traditional law student. The average age of a UNT law student is 33 — significantly older than at most law schools:

“Traditional is right out of college,” he explains. “Non-traditional means you’re old.’’

“In the day classes, there was another retired Army officer, another retired major. And I sat the first two semester next to a former Marine, and there were some veterans in the night classes,” he said. “And by the time there was a full law school with three full classes, we had 42 veterans.”

VanBuskirk spent his time in law school doing more than just studying. Beginning as a 1L, he began working at a Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program legal clinic. By the time he’d graduated, he’d racked up an astounding 800 pro-bono hours.

After all the work he did in law school, it’s nice to hear that he went on to pass the bar exam. But his classmates, they’re keeping it real:

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“Two of my classmates were talking, one said, ‘Did you hear that John VanBuskirk passed?’ And the other classmate said, ‘That’s too bad, I really liked that guy,’” he said. “By ‘passed,’ he thought I had died.”

He’s not dead, he’s just a lawyer.

headshotKathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).

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