Anna Espinoza joined her Phoenix high school’s Mock Trial team as a sophomore, unaware how much that experience would shape her future. The summer before her senior year, the coach—also a county judge—invited Anna to shadow her. She watched a capital murder trial, which sparked her interest in public defense.

The judge helped Anna understand the role of the attorneys in the courtroom. “Don’t just look at the prosecutor,” she recalls being told. “’Look at the defense attorney and how important their role is,’ she said.” Watching a capital murder trial at such a young age gave Anna an unfiltered view of the legal system. “I got thrown into the deep end of the pool,” she said. “Maybe that was helpful, because I never had any illusions about how tough the work could be emotionally.”

That early exposure stayed with Anna as she considered her future. She knew she was interested in law but unsure which area she would pursue. As an undergrad at Arizona State University, she double-majored in fashion and philosophy and briefly considered working for a fashion house or as an intellectual property attorney.

Anna was ultimately drawn to Vanderbilt because of the strength of the faculty, particularly in criminal law. “Going into public defense, you need a strong foundation in evidence,” she said, noting that Professor Edward Cheng’s work caught her attention as an undergrad. She even listened to his podcast, “Excited Utterance,” before enrolling.

Once at Vanderbilt, Anna committed to public defense. She said Professor Cheng’s six-credit Evidence course was extremely formative. “It’s a full year of Evidence, going really in-depth into the rules,” she explained. That class readied Anna for her 2L summer internship at the Metropolitan Public Defender in Portland, Oregon. “When I was preparing for a trial, having all of that background knowledge in evidence was really helpful,” she said.

Anna recently finished an externship with the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition under the leadership of Spring Miller, a practitioner-in-residence at Vanderbilt. “It’s amazing to receive credit and do work that I am interested in,” she said. “The organization fights for issues I am really passionate about.” She is also a student leader for the Community Justice Legal Project. “We go to a community resource center in north Nashville once a month and give limited scope legal advice with an attorney,” she explained.

Anna has also taken on leadership roles within the law school community. She was elected Executive Editor of the Social Justice Reporter, a journal with deep roots in civil rights history. “The fact that the journal has evolved into something with an explicit social justice mission is really special to me,” said Anna, who wrote a note entitled “Until Death: Subsequent Execution Attempts and the Double Jeopardy Clause.”

Her commitment to service extends beyond publication. Anna is also involved with La Alianza, the Hispanic and Latino affinity group. As the Public Interest Stipend Fund Director for the Legal Aid Society, she helped implement Donate a Day, a program that encourages students to contribute a day of their Big Law salary to support classmates entering public interest careers.

Anna explored opportunities in public defense and immigrant rights impact litigation. She describes her time in law school as “a period of growth at a breakneck speed,” crediting both the academic rigor and her summer experiences with shaping her understanding of the profession. Going to school in the South was impactful too, she said, “because it’s really important to understand the legacy of slavery in the U.S. and how that impacts the criminal justice system today.” After graduation, Anna will be joining the litigation team at Innovation Law Lab in Portland, Oregon, as a fellow, focusing on immigration habeas.

For Anna, public defense is deeply personal. Her psychiatrist father urged her to think critically about culpability and mental illness. “He raised me to understand all the reasons why someone might be put in a position where they then make contact with the criminal legal system,” Anna explained.

Her advice to future law students reflects that perspective. Law school, she said, is about recognizing “that you are building skills to directly fight for people and issues you care about. Knowing that should give you peace of mind throughout your law school journey.