Meet the Irish woman among the youngest-ever to pass the New York bar exam

At the age of 22, Irish law graduate Aoife Moore Kavanagh has become one of the youngest-ever people to pass the New York bar exam.

Ms Kavanagh, who comes from Louth and graduated with a 2:1 in law from Dublin City University, told Irish Legal News that she started considering a career in the US when she worked in San Francisco on a J1 during her final year at university.

But it was only when she discovered that her Irish law degree would allow her to sit the New York bar exam without attending a US law school that she said she decided to “embark on my American dream”.

Recalling her studies, she told ILN: “It was challenging getting to grips with Federal Civil Procedure because it was completely unfamiliar to me. It took a while for me to wrap my head around the concept of federal rules versus state law rules and the sheer enormity of America, especially coming from such a tiny country myself.

“However for the most part I felt like I had a decent foundation to build on in the majority of my bar exam subjects.

“With Ireland and America both sharing a common law system a lot of the principles in core subjects like criminal, torts, property and evidence were already familiar to me. The biggest challenge for me was developing an understanding of how and why the American system interprets the rules the way it does.”

On receiving her letter of certification from the New York State Board of Law Examiners, Ms Kavanagh submitted her application for admission to the Appellate Division and is now awaiting a date for her swearing-in ceremony in Albany, the state capital.

Her “current mission” is to secure a job offer in an entry-level legal opportunity in New York which will allow her to secure a Professional Career Training visa, the most immediately attainable option.

Ms Kavanagh said: “My areas of interest are matrimonial/family law, medical negligence/personal injury or criminal defence. I would definitely like litigation to be a part of whatever practice area I go in to.

“There is no shortage of opportunities for attorneys in New York, it’s getting there that poses the biggest obstacle.”

She added: “I now know that John Steinbeck was right, once you have lived in New York and made it your home, no place else is good enough. And so the journey continues.”