• Home
  • News
  • 18-Year-Old Aces Calif. Bar, Wins 1st Trial

Careers

18-Year-Old Aces Calif. Bar, Wins 1st Trial

Posted Nov 19, 2007 2:50 PM CST
By Martha Neil

An 18-year-old graduate of the UCLA School of Law is en route to become not only the youngest lawyer in the state but possibly the country.

Kathleen Holtz, who learned Friday that she passed the California bar, has already been part of a winning trial team, reports the Wall Street Journal Law Blog.

An associate at TroyGould in Los Angeles, Holtz spent much of the last few weeks at Orange County Superior Court, along with two colleagues, successfully representing the plaintiff in a commercial litigation matter.

“It was my first trial and it was a fantastic experience,” she says. “It’s very rare for business disputes to go to trial and I was thrilled to experience that so early in my career.”

Comments

1.

www.lawdomains-us.com
Nov 19, 2007 3:49 PM CST

Wow!  .... wow.

Flag this comment

2.

Law Student in Madison
Nov 21, 2007 8:17 AM CST

Congratulations to Ms. Holtz!  I hope she continues to enjoy her success for many years to come.  Wow!

Flag this comment

3.

passed the bar at 27
Nov 21, 2007 8:32 AM CST

Dear Doogie Houser, J.D.,

I am sure you are too young to get the reference.  Then again, I would imagine other haggard unoriginals like me have used that one before.  Thanks for making us all feel like under achievers.  At least I can buy beer.  It’s delicious.

Yours truly,

Sour Grapes

Flag this comment

4.

what the?
Nov 21, 2007 8:40 AM CST

How on earth did she get through the equivalent of 7 years of higher education by the time most kids have gotten through high school?  Even if she did college in 2 years and law school in 2, when did she go to high school?  Too bad she probably missed out on her entire childhood.

Flag this comment

5.

Andrew
Nov 21, 2007 8:42 AM CST

Dear SG,

Passed the bar at 27? Hell, I started law school at 27 and turned 28 in September. When I was 18, I was in a punk rock band with absolutely no intention of going back to school.

Very impressive, Ms. Holtz. Congrats. Best of luck in the future (though I doubt you’ll need it).

ABD

Flag this comment

6.

studentforever
Nov 21, 2007 8:50 AM CST

Let the kid have fun! She can always take a break from work to live later!  Nothing wrong with doing things in reverse.

Congrats darling and hope you always enjoy what you are doing. That’s the most important thing in the world.

Flag this comment

7.

NYC law grad
Nov 21, 2007 8:55 AM CST

Wow is right.  Still, to finish college/university at 15 and law school at 18?  Taking the LSAT at 14 or 15?  Those are important years & I don’t see the need to ‘rush it.’  Then again, people used to go to the university about that age (e.g. Thomas More, Chancellor of England under Henry VIII, went to Christ Church (formerly Canterbury Hall), Oxford at 15). 

That aside, youth is an irreplaceable time.  What you do with it is your own choice.  And, hopefully, she was able to have a great childhood and adolescence.  Kudos to her but I would never have chosen that route.  I started college at 17 and I thought that was pushing it!

Flag this comment

8.

Suzanne
Nov 21, 2007 8:57 AM CST

Wow…I read about Ms. Holtz and she skipped HS completely in order to take college courses. It’s a great achievement, but I must say, I wouldn’t have traded my HS years for nothing! Hopefully she won’t burn out by 25!

Flag this comment

9.

todd
Nov 21, 2007 9:14 AM CST

When I was 18 I was trolling the dorms for coeds. I wouldn’t trade that “fantastic experience” for any day in a court.  Why waste your precious youth in a court room?  There will be plently of years of that drama to look forward to. Youth is just too precious to be spent nose to a grindstone.

Flag this comment

10.

DC Law Student
Nov 21, 2007 9:21 AM CST

She’s going to wake up one day in her mid-40’s and regret that she missed her entire youthful life.  The best days of my life were when I was a young, liberated, and independent college student experiencing the worldwith ppl MY OWN AGE.

I would never trade those years for anything!

Flag this comment

11.

Joe Sixpack
Nov 21, 2007 9:22 AM CST

Honestly, I feel kinda sorry for this girl. I will be interesting to if she can keep her head on straight and not try to be 21 when she is 38.

Flag this comment

12.

Jonathan Edwards
Nov 21, 2007 9:28 AM CST

a child that smart probably would not have had a very good high school ‘career’ as she would have been seen as a nerd and scorned by many.  Her peers need not be her age, I have known many homeschoolers who end up in college quite early because they had a better learning experience at home, and they are well able to handle adulthood because their primary associations were with adults.  The problem is not hers, it is ours.  While I grew up without TV, most now in law school are TV and internet junkies, and I have met many who I suspect probably do not fit well with society.  I know that I would not hire many of my classmates, were I a hiring partner.  A young person of ability, that is a different story.

Flag this comment

13.

David
Nov 21, 2007 9:31 AM CST

If you look at her TroyGould bio, you’ll see she is in the federalist society!  Not only is she precocious, she also knows the one correct interpretation of the Constitution.

Flag this comment

14.

Nicole
Nov 21, 2007 9:36 AM CST

Wow… and I was proud of myself for graduating law school the month after I turned 24.

Congrats to her!!! Hopefully she won’t be burned out by the time she’s 30!

Flag this comment

15.

Andrew Sussman
Nov 21, 2007 9:36 AM CST

Since she’s in civil litigation, the real question is whether she’ll hit the burnout wall before she’s old enough to vote.

Flag this comment

16.

Doug Jensen
Nov 21, 2007 9:36 AM CST

We done Ms. Holtz, you are going t have a very long career as an attorney…have no illusion about the practice of law…make a good living…Invest it…buy a boat and go fishing.

Flag this comment

17.

JohnEOla
Nov 21, 2007 9:37 AM CST

Wasn’t Thomas More decapitated?  Never mind.  This is kind of like watching Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant.  Impossible for mere mortals to fathom.  If I could, I’d take out a futures option on this young woman’s career!!

Flag this comment

18.

Brad
Nov 21, 2007 9:46 AM CST

Enjoy a nice Shirley Temple or Roy Rogers for the win!

Flag this comment

19.

Sam McVey
Nov 21, 2007 9:52 AM CST

Congratulations on an impressive show of self-discipline.  Then again, John Stuart Mill never went to school.

Flag this comment

20.

Must Be Nice!
Nov 21, 2007 10:09 AM CST

This story just made my day!  I feel so good about myself now!
:-)

Flag this comment

21.

Brian Sanders
Nov 21, 2007 10:16 AM CST

Enough of the self-comparisons and sour grapes…rock on, Kathleen!

Flag this comment

22.

Willem DeDonis
Nov 21, 2007 10:19 AM CST

Hello, will you marry me?  I need a hard working freulein to support me.  I am fat and a bit lazy, but not stupid.  I see a good catch here.

Flag this comment

23.

Ittriss Jenkins
Nov 21, 2007 10:24 AM CST

This is a great thing!!!!!  I wish her all the blessings that life has to offer.  Keep up the good work

Flag this comment

24.

Allan Huss
Nov 21, 2007 10:25 AM CST

Right on, Kathleen!  It is apparent that you have a focus and drive that will serve you and your clients well.  And to those who comment on missing high school—I disliked most of my high school experience; cheerfully went to college at 16; and law school at 20.  After 34 years of practice, I regret none of these decisions.

Flag this comment

25.

C
Nov 21, 2007 10:26 AM CST

Kathleen (and I) went through the Early Entrance Program at Cal State LA. http://www.calstatela.edu/academic/eep. It is a great opportunity for kids who are frankly too nerdy and socially outcast to get through regular high school without being teased to death and becoming suicidal, and most of the program’s graduates have turned out just fine, obviously Kathleen Holtz included.

Flag this comment

26.

H
Nov 21, 2007 11:11 AM CST

Wow, I thought I was a pretty young attorney starting out at 23, but she’s got me beat for sure.

Flag this comment

27.

ML
Nov 21, 2007 11:17 AM CST

This is such an amazing accomplishment! Congratulations!!!

Flag this comment

28.

x
Nov 21, 2007 11:25 AM CST

And I thoroughly enjoyed the comments! Even better than the article, though of course huge congrats to Ms. Holtz. But I agree with the majority that you cannot just skip youth, that craving catches up with you sooner or later.

Flag this comment

29.

Donna S.
Nov 21, 2007 11:38 AM CST

Very well done!  Hope to take time out to enjoy your accomplishments - a nice post-bar trip with some friends.

Flag this comment

30.

Catherine
Nov 21, 2007 12:03 PM CST

Congratulations to this young and bright woman! I hope she has a brilliant career. At her age she’ll have plenty of time to try something else if she “burn’s out” at what the rest of us would consider a young age. I’m curious, though, about how she got admitted to the bar before age 21. Most of the staes here in the northeast require attainment of age 21 along with passing the exam to be admitted…must be that CA youth culture.

Flag this comment

31.

WoW!
Nov 21, 2007 12:15 PM CST

Damn girl!  You do it to it!

Flag this comment

32.

Erica
Nov 21, 2007 12:17 PM CST

She will enjoy a delayed youth after earning tons of money—also known as “early retirement.”  Good thing too- considering social security will not be available to her!

Flag this comment

33.

Acbar
Nov 21, 2007 12:31 PM CST

Here is what her law firm (TroyGould) bio says:  “Activities:  During her third year of law school, Ms. Holtz served as an extern for the Honorable Stephen V. Wilson on the U.S. District Court, Central District of California. She also served as an Articles Editor on the UCLA Law Review, and as President of the UCLA Federalist Society.  Education:  University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (J.D., 2007); California State University, Los Angeles (B.A., Philosophy, magna cum laude, 2003).”
So, she took four years after college, not three, to get that JD, so graduated from college at age 14 - magna cum laude no less!  Plus law review and a clerkship while in law school.  Again, wow!

Flag this comment

34.

Unstructured Finance
Nov 21, 2007 1:02 PM CST

The good news is that she can burn out sooner, and get on with the rest of her life while she still has some good years left!

Flag this comment

35.

Craig
Nov 21, 2007 1:25 PM CST

What a nerd. Get a life. Serously.  The college years are the best and she missed them.  She’s not even old enough to drink and already stuck in the drudgery that is being a civil litigator.  This type of behavior should not be encouraged.

Flag this comment

36.

Hatin' on Holtz
Nov 21, 2007 1:59 PM CST

Never mind her age; how did she get a trial in her first year?  I bet there are a lot of angry associates and junior partners at the firm who have never had even a 3d chair trial experience.  Did the firm exploit her singularity and use her as a distraction?

Flag this comment

37.

Ed Brewer
Nov 21, 2007 3:05 PM CST

Boy, what a mess of negative attitudes and sour grapes in the preceding posts!  Ms. Holtz, the mental health professional might say that with your rare combination of age, experience, and still-forming neural circuits, you might be able to set an example for all of us about how to live as a lawyer.  Most of us, myself included, get to law school and then practice at much later ages, and are badly damaged as people by our experiences.  I hope you have avoided that so far and, if you have, that you will help the rest of us.  Thank you in advance.

Flag this comment

38.

Ms. Flint
Nov 21, 2007 3:34 PM CST

I’m impressed!  I graduated high school in only 2 years at the age of 16; but I have never known of anyone who has altogether skipped high school.  I have just graduated from law school this year, and I know what it is like to be younger than the typical law school graduate. 
Good luck Ms. Holtz!!

Flag this comment

39.

Apachelino
Nov 21, 2007 4:24 PM CST

She didn’t miss her youth, she just spent it in law school and now as a lawyer. If she wants to go back to school or spend a couple of years carousing, she can do it in her twenties or thirties. And I’m sure she will admit that at her level of intellectual geekiness, high school would not have been much fun.

Flag this comment

40.

Mr. Rabinowitz
Nov 21, 2007 4:49 PM CST

Responding to some of the earlier posts, I assume that Ms. Holtz willingly took the path that she did and that she was not forced into it by her parents or by others.  That being the case, it was an individual choice.  Lawyers, almost by definition, ascertain what strategies are available, as well as the benefits and risks of each.  If Ms. Holtz already has the skills, strengths, and character to become a lawyer at such an early age, it follows that she already has her personal values well under control. 

With that, I concur with Apachelino.  Evidently she evaluated high school as an educational path, and found it wanting.  Given the state of some of the public schools in our country, I cannot say this is unreasonable.

Flag this comment

41.

Engineer/Attorney/Investor/ Entrepreneur
Nov 21, 2007 6:42 PM CST

For most people, life is what happens to them while waiting on or for something else.  If Kathleen has enjoyed her life up to now, that’s the most she could hope for.  If she continues to enjoy what she’s doing, that’s great.  The one precious commodity in life is time.  If you spend it doing one thing, it is not available to do something else; so make sure it is well spent.  If she has no complaints, then the rest of us are in no position to second guess.

My prediction - She will not remain a lawyer forever.  Someone with her obvious abilities will be seeking new and different challenges at some point.  Just because she has missed out on some things that she might have done in the past does not mean that she has been deprived;  in today’s politically correct vernacular, she has just been “differently enabled.”

I do not know of anyone who has followed my life-path, but I do not consider that either a positive or a negative; it just is.

To Kathleen, I would say “If you are happy with the way things are going, keep going along that path; if you feel that some other course may be the better avenue to pursue, go for it!”  Life is a blessing, but time is the most precious commodity.  If, 70 years from now, you can look back and say “What a grand adventure!”, then little else matters.

Flag this comment

42.

Tina
Nov 21, 2007 9:07 PM CST

I’m surprised at all the comments that refer to 18 year olds and the age most people attend college at as “childhood” and that Ms. Holtz somehow missed her childhood be pursuing a different educational path during her teenage years.  I worked at a university before becoming a lawyer and the trend we saw at the U was parents wanting to (and some actually did) make decisions for their college age “children”.  I remember when the rationale was that if one is old enough to sacrifice one’s life for our country, then the rights of adulthood (voting & consuming alcohol) should be granted.  How can one miss what one has never experienced?  While I don’t support parents who exert undue pressure on their children to study and memorize and participate in scheduled activities to the detriment of having time to just be oneself and develop creative thinking and imaginative play, I do support allowing capable young people to be independent and follow their interests.  Kudos to you Ms. Holtz for follow your own path and the success that has brought you.

Flag this comment

43.

Ms. Carrie M. Bradley
Nov 21, 2007 11:19 PM CST

Congratulations! I look up to you, even though I am a 30 year old woman.  I am in awe of the initiative that you took in your successful achievements.  Keep up the good work!

Flag this comment

44.

Friendly
Nov 24, 2007 2:51 AM CST

I’d say those two colleagues are probably her only “friends” because she probably never made time to develop relationship.

On the otherhand, impressive nonetheless

Flag this comment

45.

LawedUp
Nov 24, 2007 2:54 AM CST

Whatever.  I am a 14 year old attorney in Kazakhastan!

Flag this comment

46.

carmel
Nov 24, 2007 10:21 AM CST

Great accomplishment. Some of the blog comments are worth a skim. I think.

Love,
Carmel

Flag this comment

47.

Nuriel
Nov 24, 2007 11:15 AM CST

Someone mentioned that Thomas More graduated at 15 from Oxford.  I can’t help but notice that More was beheaded by Queen Anne.  Maybe not the best example to follow. She has the opportunity right now to make some money and then travel the world.  When she gets back, she’ll still have a shot at the supreme court.

Flag this comment

48.

Joyce Krutick Craig
Nov 24, 2007 3:22 PM CST

Wow! Impressive I was 23 when I graduated law school and was admitted to the NY bar and in those days it was considered amazing.  Go Girl!  You’ve got good things in store for you!!!

Flag this comment

49.

Michelle
Nov 24, 2007 7:09 PM CST

Just a correction.  Sir Thomas More sacrificed his life for his convictions so he is an EXCELLENT example to follow, especially now when people are afraid to stand for their beliefs.  More was a lawyer who rose to the rank of Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII.  He was executed because he did not agree with one of the king’s commands.  One of the most intelligent men of his day (he was incredibly witty, learned, and a loyal friend), he bravely stood for his convictions even though they led to the scaffold. 

Hope our new generations of lawyers are the same: not only bright, but courageous.

Flag this comment

50.

Life Experience
Nov 25, 2007 8:14 PM CST

Just think, if she had opted for the “California Bar” alternative she could have finished 2 years of college by age 12, gone to a “California Accredited” law school and been admitted to the California Bar by age 14?  Boggles the mind.
As for me, I can’t imagine ever hiring a lawyer who is more than a few years younger than myself (and I’m closing in on 40).  I’m looking for technical expertise (which this young phenom may obtain soon enough), but also some things I doubt she’ll ever have:  strong common strong sense, people skills, and a broad scope of experience.  Maybe I’m demonstrating my age-ist prejudice, but I just can’t imagine someone with such an extraordinary childhood developing normal people skills, or being able to read and understand and relate to witnesses, jurors, other lawyers, normal people….

Flag this comment

Add a Comment

We welcome your comments, but please adhere to our comment policy.

Commenting has expired on this post.