Anna Coplon’s passion for human rights and the legal systems designed to protect them blossomed while teaching in a South African township after high school. “I was confronted with the stark injustices still riddling the country – thousands awaiting the land, education, healthcare, and the civility they had been promised.” Leaving South Africa to attend college, the experience inspired her to study South African land rights and craft her own major in Global Justice: Equality, Law and Human Rights at Brandeis University. Coplon tailored her courses to unpack the complexities of human rights on an international stage and explore how international law could facilitate the recognition of rights and offer redress for injustices.

Desiring more first-hand experience, she studied abroad in São Paulo, Brazil, where she coupled coursework with immersion in favelas, religious communities, and uprooted indigenous tribes living in urban reservations, discovering the undeniable similarities between citizens in South Africa and Brazil struggling to secure their basic human rights. Coplon also studied abroad in The Hague where she learned about transnational methods by which human rights are enforced, focusing on international law and tribunals. She took courses at Leiden University and interned at the International Criminal Court.

After working for a few years, she decided to pursue a legal career. In searching for a law school, Coplon was initially drawn to Vanderbilt’s small class size. A conversation with an alum was “the most personal interaction” of her application process and speaking to a current student solidified her interest in attending Vanderbilt. After she received the Raymonde I. Paul Scholarship and spoke with the Director of the International Legal Studies Program, Professor Michael Newton, “there was no question in my mind that this is where I wanted to be,” she recalls.

Her first year at Vanderbilt felt like a “whole new world,” and Coplon relied on her classmates and professors to navigate the rigors of law school. She spent her 1L summer interning at the American Bar Association Center for Human Rights and TN Justice for Our Neighbors, working on matters related to Ukraine and Afghan clients in Nashville, respectively. “I wanted to dedicate the summer to my social justice passions,” she explains.

Through coursework, peers, and faculty, Coplon found a way to merge her interest in international law with a corporate legal setting. She credits Professor Newton, her legal writing Professor Meghan Phillips, and the Vanderbilt in Venice program with connecting the dots. “Without those resources, I don’t know if I would have ended up on this path,” she recalls, “but looking back, I can’t see another one that would have made sense.”

Coplon participated in OCI and accepted a 2L summer internship at the Palo Alto office of Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett, drawn by the California location, small office size, and Vanderbilt alumni. The intimate setting afforded her the mentorship and personal feedback she desired as an associate. “For the first five weeks of the summer, I was the only litigation summer associate in the office,” she says. “I received individualized feedback, developed my legal writing and research skills, worked with numerous junior and senior associates, and learned so much.” Coplon is excited to return after graduation as a Litigation Associate.

After a largely lock-step first-year curriculum, Coplon took full advantage of the diversity of courses, experiential opportunities, and student organizations that Vanderbilt Law has to offer. She took several international law courses and participated in the International Law Practice Lab. “One of my favorite classroom experiences was working with a judge at the High Anti-Corruption Court of Ukraine,” she recalls. “Collaborating with a small group of talented students, under Professor Newton’s instruction, we created a list of recommendations for improving the efficiency of the court and combating corruption within the system.”

Coplon’s passion for Social Justice led her to participate in the Youth Opportunity Clinic and serve as Symposium Editor of the Social Justice Reporter, Vanderbilt Law’s newest publication that was created in the spirit of the school’s Race Relations Reporter from the 1970s. She is planning the Reporter’s inaugural symposium, inviting speakers from across the country to discuss the intersection of race, economics, and the carceral system.

Reflecting on her law school experience, Coplon emphasizes the impact that the Raymonde I. Paul Scholarship and Professor Michael Newton have had on her education and career development. “Professor Newton has had a dramatic impact on my legal education and career goals. He reached out before I enrolled at Vanderbilt, as part of my scholarship program, and has since been an incredible resource academically, professionally, and personally. His insightful career advice has helped shape my short-term and long-term career goals while he has also facilitated unique opportunities both within and outside the classroom.”

She believes Vanderbilt offers a truly unique law school experience. “I have made lifelong friends and met professors who I will speak to for years to come. I honestly wasn’t expecting to gain so much outside the classroom from law school.”