Ben Berlin
Ben Berlin took an unusual route to law school. His first military assignment after graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy was graduate school at the Air Force Institute of Technology, where he earned a master’s degree in astronautical engineering, after which he was part of an engineering team designing a “maneuverable re-entry vehicle” for the Air Force.
Ben traveled extensively during his Air Force service and after his service ended. “Everywhere I went, I saw that people who don’t have an advocate usually get the raw end of the deal,” he says. “I want to make a difference, and at Vanderbilt, I’m learning the skills I need to do that.”
After his 1L year, Ben spent the summer of 2008 interning with the World Organization for Human Rights in Washington, D.C., where he worked on cases addressing corporate accountability for human rights violations. “I got a stipend from a special program Dean Rubin established for international summer internships,” he says. “The experience really helped confirm my interest in litigation.”
During summer 2009, Ben was an associate with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York. “Law school is great mental exercise,” he says. “But I really enjoyed spending time with a firm and getting some substantive experience in legal practice.” Ben also gained some practical experience during law school as an intern for Judge Aleta Trauger, ’76, on the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in fall 2008, and as articles editor of the Journal of Transnational Law.
Ben lived alone during his first year, and soon discovered “I was going out all the time to study with a group or for dinner.” As a 2L,, he and four other classmates rented a five-bedroom house where they lived for the remaining two years of law school. “We started with a group of three, and we quickly discovered that five people could rent a much nicer house,” he says. Among the five roommates were two Democrats, two Republicans and a Libertarian. “We had some interesting discussions,” he says.
One benefit Vanderbilt offers, according to Ben, is an ample number of student organizations, as well as assistance in organizing new groups. Ben was co-chair and a founding member of the Law Students for Social Justice and was also active in the Legal Aid Society. “We also started a military veteran’s law student organization,” he says. “Even though Vanderbilt is a relatively small law school, it offers opportunities to join organizations based around your career interests, pro bono work, social causes or just a social and support network.”
Another benefit is the opportunity to work as a research assistant. Ben worked with Professors Michael Vandenbergh and Daniel Sharfstein on separate research projects. "I had Property with Professor Sharfstein and Environmental Law with Professor Vandenbergh, and really enjoyed both classes," he says. "I wanted to do research and thought they would be the best fit for me. They proposed the projects, and I did them for credit. Professor Sharfstein was working on a book about the three families that were considered African-American at one point, but through generations became white. He tells the story of these three families to paint a picture of the history of race in America. I enjoyed digging through old newspaper articles and government records about individuals in the families he's following. Professor Vandenbergh was co-authoring a paper with Professor Brooke Ackerly about how equitable offsets can help solve climate injustice. Developing countries are bearing the brunt of global warming even though they aren't primarily responsible. Professors Vandenbergh and Ackerly suggested that developed nations can help sponsor projects in those countries that improve their quality of life but don't lead to an increase in carbon emissions, including solar-power technologies, training in organic farming techniques, and retro-fitting old two-stroke motors."
After earning his law degree in 2010, Ben was one of 44 Vanderbilt Law graduates who served a judicial clerkship during 2010-11; he clerked for Judge David M. Dawson on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan, based in Detroit.
Ben Berlin, Class of 2010
Clerk, Judge David M. Lawson, U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, 2010-11