Jason Hutchison, Class of 2007
Vice Consul, U.S. Embassy, Manila, The Philippines
Undergraduate: Northwestern University (International Studies, Political Science)
Jason Hutchison has achieved a career goal he has cherished since high school: In fall 2008, he joined the U.S. Foreign Service, and he is currently serving as his first posting in the U.S. Embassy in Manila.
During law school, Jason spent a semester as an intern at the U.S. Embassy in Vientiane, Laos, an internship he garnered with the helped of Professor Michael Newton. He also took Professor Newton's International Law Practice Lab. “In Professor Newton’s Practice Lab, we worked on practical lawyering skills while preparing hugely important products for the biggest of real-world clients," he says. "The opportunity to apply your knowledge in a lab setting, where your mistakes become teaching points and your briefs become the next day's newspaper headlines was something special.”
As a Vanderbilt law student, Jason served as Co-President of the International Law Society, Co-President of the Foreign Service Legal Society, and was a Fellow in the Cal Turner Program for Moral Leadership in the Professions. He also met his future wife, Deborah Rubbens (LL.M. 2006).
In addition to benefitting from Vanderbilt's strong International Law Program, Jason appreciated the law school's culture. “It’s laid back and friendly," he says. "Everyone here is intelligent and has different interests. We all know we’re going to get good jobs, but we don’t need to engage in unnecessary competition to do so. Adaptability is also important, and the faculty and staff are not afraid to venture into new territory.”
