Former OC Student Is Youngest Ever To Pass CA Bar Exam

VISALIA, CA — A former Orange County high schooler has become the youngest person in California history to pass the state bar exam, acing the test at age 17, according to the district attorney’s office where he works.

Peter Park, now a law clerk for the Office of the Tulare County District Attorney in the Central Valley, took the test in July and got his results last month, passing on his first try. He recently turned 18 and was sworn in as a practicing attorney last week in Visalia.

“It was not easy, but it was worth it,” Park said in a news release from the district attorney’s office. “I aspire to become a prosecutor because I am driven by a moral obligation to uphold liberty, equality, and justice in society. I admire how prosecutors keep our community safe and bring closure to victims.”

Park started high school at Oxford Academy in Cypress in 2019, when he was 13, while simultaneously enrolling in a four-year juris doctor program at Northwestern California University School of Law, having previously completed the College Level Proficiency Exams.

He finished high school in 2021 by taking the California High School Proficiency Exam, graduated law school in 2023, and started in August as a Tulare County law clerk.

The state bar said Friday in an email to The Associated Press that it could not confirm that Park is the youngest to pass the test, but it hailed his achievement.

"Passing the California Bar exam is a major accomplishment at any age, and for someone as young as Mr. Park, it is quite an extraordinary feat and one worth celebrating," Executive Director Leah Wilson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.