Charles “Chick” Hallinan credits his decision to pursue a legal career to a course he took at Notre Dame – conservation biology, where he learned about the legal aspects of environmental regulation, piquing his interest in a legal career. He applied to law schools and began at Vanderbilt Law a few months after graduating from college.

Chick was drawn to Vanderbilt because of the small class sizes, collegial atmosphere, and the coursework in environmental law. He says that two of his most memorable classes in that field were environmental law with Professor Michael P. Vandenbergh as well as property law with Professor J. B. Ruhl.

He was also able to work as a research assistant for Professor Ruhl during his first year, researching how climate physical risk could impact company’s assets under an SEC rule. His second year, Chick got a student fellowship position in the Energy, Environment, and Land Use program, working with Professor Caroline G. Cox. “It was a great experience, and I had a lot of autonomy too,” he recalled. “I had a lot of ownership of the writing and research the white paper, which was challenging but rewarding.”

Outside of the classroom, Chick has spent the most time acting as the treasurer of the Energy Environmental Law Society and serving as an Articles Editor on the Vanderbilt Law Review. During the review’s peak times, he might read up to 20 articles submissions a week, then discuss them with the committee to decide which ones make the cut for publication. “That was really exciting to decide what’s getting published and get an inside view of what legal scholars are currently writing about,” he said. “It’s very collaborative, too… trying to persuade my peers on the committee to publish something was a lot of fun, and it was probably one of my favorite law school experiences.”

To kick off his 1L summer, Chick attended the Vanderbilt in Venice program, studying in Italy for five weeks alongside a small cohort of other law students. He returned to Nashville and interned with the Environmental Division of the Tennessee Attorney General’s office, an opportunity he discovered through an on-campus recruiting event for public interest students. While there, he got hands-on experience in litigation—mostly regarding the state’s Water Quality Control Act, as well as the regulation of underground storage tanks—in addition to researching potential environmental issues related to property ownership.

For his 2L summer internship, Chick targeted Cozen O’Connor, a firm based in his hometown of Philadelphia, and scheduled an interview with them through Vanderbilt Law’s on-campus recruiting. When the firm decided to expedite their recruiting process, the Career Services Office was able to connect Chick with the firm to conduct a video interview right away. He ultimately received an internship offer from the firm and spent the summer working on active litigation related to both federal and local environmental laws.

Chick will be returning to Cozen O’Connor after graduation as a general litigation associate. Later, he’ll have the opportunity to specialize in environmental law or a related practice group such as insurance, construction, or real estate.

“I’m really interested in getting into the litigation aspects of environmental law. I think there’s a lot of room for growth,” he said. “In the future, I’m kind of interested in still working in this space, and maybe advising clients on compliance with different regulations that are not only in effect now, but are likely, or could come to be in the future.”

When asked about his advice for future law students, Chick says that they shouldn’t be intimidated by having to defend their positions in class or on the job, if they’ve researched it well and laid it out logically. “Trust yourself. Law school can make you doubt yourself sometimes, especially when professors are pushing back against you,” he said. “You can question why you think your answer is right—which is good. But you don’t necessarily need to lose your confidence when making arguments or understanding cases.”