The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

A TEENAGER whose parents are from the Bahamas became the youngest person called to the Bar of England and Wales through the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn.

Gabrielle Turnquest has passed her examinations and qualified as a barrister at 18 years old, a feat not normally accomplish until the late 20s.

Gabrielle, from Windermere, Florida, will return to the US in the fall and hopes to sit the Multistate Bar exam and qualify as an attorney there, before becoming a fashion law specialist.

Her success means she is also called to the Bahamas Bar, and she hopes to work here too. She is the youngest person to qualify as a barrister in England and Wales in the 600-year history of the profession. Gabrielle and her 22-year-old sister Kandi took the exams together while at the University of Law in the UK. Her sister passed her exams too.

Breaking the status quo seems to be the norm for Gabrielle, who was the youngest person to finish an undergraduate degree at Liberty University in Virginia. She was 16 and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in psychology.

Up until 2009, a trainee lawyer had to be 21 to be eligible to be called to the Bar.

She said it was an honour to have achieved such accomplishments.