Student On Track To Be Youngest Lawyer In America
A teenaged lawyer in the making.
Prepare to have the very definition of “gunner” raised to new heights. Everyone thinks they know the real gunner. The biggest gunner is always the kid in the front row of your section, never anyone else’s. It’s a fact of law school life.
But let’s all agree that this woman is the apotheosis of gunner evolution.
A high schooler in Ohio has set her sights on becoming the youngest lawyer in America and she’s on track to pull it off.
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In less than a month a 15-year-old Danya Hamad will graduate from both Reynoldsburg High School and Columbus State Community College.
Hamad attends high school in the morning and college classes in the afternoon, but said she does not mind the extra workload.
“My goal is to become the youngest lawyer in America and from there I want to change the world,” said Hamad.
Oh great! I’m sure her classmates will be thrilled to watch Doogie blow up their curve. Especially at Capital University, where she’s set to finish her bachelor’s next year and then begin law school. You just know a teenaged wunderkind is going to do unspeakable things to the grades of a class with an average LSAT score of 148. If you want our advice, steer the professors toward a lot Lizzie McGuire and Wild Thornberrys issue spotters that she won’t understand because those references are literally too old for her.
It’s not like Capital offers a great employment outlook either. But she’s not looking to work in a firm. Take one guess what career a hard-driving child prodigy is considering…
“I want to help people in third-world countries because I want to be a foreign affairs and international law lawyer, and human rights attorney,” Hamad said.
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Obviously. Because when I think about practicing in The Hague, I think of Capital. I’m not sure what kind of deal Capital is offering, but Hamad should seriously consider playing the field after next year… for everyone’s sake. We’ll do a special episode of The Decision on it.
In case you’re curious, it turns out graduating law school at 19, which Hamad is on track to do, would seemingly make her the youngest lawyer in America right now. It’s not enough to make her the youngest lawyer in American history — Stephen A. Baccus graduated from Miami Law in 1986 at the age of 16 — or even the youngest person licensed as a lawyer that we’ve written about — Gabrielle Turnquest, who was called to the Bar in the UK at 18 — but she is the youngest American we’ve heard of looking to be a lawyer in over 30 years.
At least she’ll have her whole life ahead of her if she ends up regretting this decision. Take Baccus for example. After seven years in practice, he bailed on the law to get a doctorate in neuroscience.
In the meantime, look out, Capital class of 2021.
Reynoldsburg teen plans to be youngest high school, college and law school graduate [NBC4i]
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Joe Patrice is an editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.