Katrien Mierlo was born in 1964. Her professional life developed within Belgium's legal system, which organizes lawyers into local bar associations linked to the country's judicial districts. Her admission to the bar in 1988 placed her within that system at the start of her working life.
Mierlo studied law at the University of Ghent, where she obtained the Lie. Juris degree, completed in 1988. Ghent University was founded in 1817 under King William I of the Netherlands, and its Faculty of Law was one of the four faculties that opened that year.
The university's language of instruction changed several times over its history, moving from Latin to French in 1830 and becoming permanently Dutch by 1930. Her legal training therefore took place at one of Belgium's oldest state universities, within a long-established law faculty.
Mierlo's documented professional life is centered on legal practice in Belgium. She was admitted to the bar in 1988, and her later work was carried out as a partner of R. & L. Schuermans.
A Belgian law firm of the same name, Schuermans advocaten, was founded in 1931 and has offices in Turnhout and Antwerp. The firm serves businesses, authorities, and private individuals, and it describes its practice as covering litigation, corporate, and insurance matters.
Mierlo was admitted to the Belgian bar in 1988, which made her a member of the bar association for lawyers practicing in Belgium. Belgian bar associations regulate the legal profession locally and admit lawyers who have completed their legal training.
