At 25, I’m at the young end of the “young lawyers” spectrum. I was one of those kids who went straight from college to law school and, in the back of my mind, I had high hopes law school would be an extension of college.

Those dreams were crushed the day I looked at my course syllabi, all of which had reading assignments due on the first day of class (in College Park, this was blasphemy!), but I digress. I started law school at 21, and turned 22 toward the end of first semester of my first year.

Although I was young, I’m no Doogie Howser, and I certainly was not the youngest person in my class – in fact, one poor fellow from my first-year section celebrated his 21st birthday on the day we took our first law school exam.

I first became painfully aware my age was going to work against me when I was a summer associate. I was on the phone with an opposing pro se party, who stopped me mid-sentence to say, “I’m not sure this is a real phone call. You don’t even sound old enough to be a lawyer!” Granted, I wasn’t a lawyer at the time, but I was scarred, wondering if my phone voice was too high a la Nina, the Office Space secretary.

When I started at the firm in September 2010, there was one day marked on my calendar that filled me with dread. Yes, the day bar results came out was labeled “Doomsday” on my Outlook calendar, but there was another date that seemed far worse: November 16, my birthday. You see at my firm, everyone’s birthday is celebrated – a cake, the “Happy Birthday” song, candles, the works.

So I knew on November 16, I was going to be asked the question that I had tried to avoid from day one: ”So how old are you?”

In a world where everyone is trying to be younger, I find myself wishing my away my youth. I often wonder if clients find it difficult to trust the advice of a person half their age and whether the bench views young lawyers differently.

I’ve been told by some older attorneys that us young lawyers have an advantage, that often judges cut us a break they wouldn’t give to more experienced practitioners. For now, I’ll just have to accept the benefits of being a young lawyer (MSBA CLE discount!) and work on my baritone phone voice.

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