The Oldest Law Student & Why This 87 Year Old Wants A Legal Career

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At 87, this retired police colonel is about to embark on a new career, training as a lawyer  

But at 87, Ibarra Mariano  is not yet done ticking off his checklist in life as he pursues his dream.

On Sunday afternoon, Mariano was among the first to come out of University of Santo Tomas after finishing the second set of Bar examinations in his journey to become a lawyer.

Wearing a transparent backpack and I.D. while holding a reviewer in his right hand, Mariano is one of the oldest among the 8,701 bar examinees this year.

“It is not really that hard but it is confusing and time consuming. All the important provisions of law are not even asked in the bar [examination],” Mariano told ABS-CBN News, referring to the Civil and Taxation Law, with the latter being considered as among the hardest subjects in the test.

He is concerned that his handwriting is not good, having been affected by his age. 

“I have a problem with my right hand. Sometimes it’s aching. Even orthopedic doctor wanted to operate me but I said no, I may not be able to write during the exam so the operation will be done after the examination,” he said.

Although he graduated from the Philippine Law School in 1967, he only had the opportunity to take the bar examination in 1995 after his retirement from the Police and then he failed the course with a 70 per cent mark, just short of what he needed. 

Now 51 years after school, Mariano is still optimistic on his second attempt to be admitted to the Bar in order “to help other people, especially the unruly cops.”

With the remaining two sets of examinations this month, Mariano doesn’t mind spending hours reading provisions of the laws and the Constitution in order to make the grade and become a lawyer – at last.

“I am praying to God that I’ll be given good health to finish the bar examination so that, I hope, I become a lawyer by next year.”

There are other student who have graduated ‘later’ in life, although few as late as Mariano.

At 70, long-time Hawai‘i businesswoman Kay Lorraine became the oldest student to graduate from the UH Law School when she graduated in 2017.

Late Blooming Lawyers

In the United States, the  typical law school student is between the ages of 23 and 26, according to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC).

Almost 22 per cent of law school applicants were over 30 in the early 2000s and generally throughout other jurisdictions, the age range for students continues to rise as older students head for  law school.

In the mid-2000s in the US around 20 per cent of applications were from students over the age of 30 and 10 years later over 40 per cent of students were 25 to 39 according to the US National Center for Education Statistics.

While Mariano may be pushing the upper limits of law school age-range, his commitment and ambition is undimmed.  As it should be.


Cravath’s Steps Towards The Firm’s Gender Equality: Helping Lead the Way

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Cravath Swaine & Moore's women lawyers

Achieving gender equality is one of the law profession’s major issues and so when a major firm – particularly one as gold-plated as Cravath Swaine & Moore – announce that their latest partner intake not only comprises mainly women, but only women, then it’s three cheers for them.

It isn’t the first time Cravath has had a diverse partnership intake as they had another all-women class in 2016 and thus the firm is clearly demonstrating its desire to right the ledger on this front.

It is also a move that several Big Law firms have attempted, although the success has been somewhat uneven.

Twenty three percent of Cravath’s partners are currently women, but that figure is trending closer to the much-vaunted 50/50 with two-thirds of the last two partner intakes being women.

Faiza Saeed, Cravath's chief
Image: WSJ

Faiza Saeed in 2016 became the firm’s presiding partner – the first female in that leadership post in the history of Cravaths, which will next year celebrate its bicentennial.  

  • Lauren Roberta Kennedy is a graduate of Columbia Law School. She practices in the firm’s litigation Department, with a focuses on general commercial litigation matters
  • Sasha A. Rosenthal-Larrea also got her J.D. from Columbia Law School. She’s a corporate lawyer with a speciality in capital markets matters.
  • Allison M. Wein went to Northwestern University School of Law. Her practice is in the corporate department with a focus on mergers and acquisitions.

And the firm’s presiding partner, Faiza Saeed (the first woman to lead Cravath, had a statement in support of the firms newest members:

All-female partner classes are noteworthy as Big Law continues its push to integrate women lawyers into top earning and decision-making spots, often with mixed success.

Cravath’s elite reputation also gives the promotions extra weight. The firm, which has offices in New York and London, has topped the Vault 100 most prestigious law firm rankings for three years running.

In 2016, Cravath also advancedthree women and no men to partner. The promotions included two litigators and one tax lawyer.

Cravath has taken other steps in recent years to advance its women lawyers. 

On its Women’s Initiative web page, the firm notes that “we have remained committed to ensuring that women are represented and supported at all levels of the Firm.”


In 1971, Cravath became one of the first “Wall Street” law firms to elect a woman partner. Since that time, we have remained committed to ensuring that women are represented and supported at all levels of the Firm. Currently, our Presiding Partner, Managing Partner of our Litigation Department and the Chair of our Antitrust practice are all women.

Cravath ‘Womens Initiative’ Page

The firm’s initiative has included women’s recruiting receptions, and dinners at partners homes for mid-level associates, the firm says.

Achieving gender equality is a long road for most firms.  Seeing an establishment firm as entrenched in matter Big Law like Cravaths take substantial steps towards the goal has got to be a win for women . . it’s just that there remains a long way to go.  

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