Hélène Miraillet LLM’24 had a truly global upbringing: she was born in Belgium, grew up in Paris, and attended high school in Abu Dhabi. She earned a bachelor’s degree in private law and a master’s degree in Common Law from Paris Est Créteil as well as a master’s in European and international intellectual property from the CEIPI (Center for International Intellectual property studies). Helene also completed internships in both intellectual property law and litigation.

The master’s programs and internships cemented her interest in an intellectual property career. Miraillet decided to pursue an LL.M. in the United States to travel and gain experience in intellectual property law outside of France. “I have always wanted to try to live in the United States [because] it’s such a huge country and has so much influence over the world,” she explained. “I [also] knew that I wanted to specialize in intellectual property.”

Miraillet arrived at Vanderbilt a month early to participate in the Summer Program, which welcomes international students from many different countries and helps them acclimate to campus, Nashville, and the United States. She also appreciated Orientation Week, which helped her to meet more of her LL.M. classmates as well as J.D. candidates. “It really helped me to arrive in Nashville without the rush of going to classes,” she recalled.

Once classes started, Miraillet was struck by how accomplished and accessible the professors were. She especially appreciated the support from LL.M. Faculty Co-Director and intellectual property expert Daniel Gervais. She also enjoyed taking Joseph Fishman’s class on intellectual property law. “Even the principle of office hours, I wasn’t expecting that at all, because we don’t have this in France,” she said. “There’s a lot of work, and [the professors] have high expectations for us, but at the same time, they’re really there to help us.”

When it came time to explore her post-LL.M. career options, Miraillet took advantage of the many resources and opportunities offered by Career Services, such as working with Nicholas Alexiou, the director of LL.M. career advising. Having a dedicated career coach was extremely valuable, not only for resume and cover letter feedback, but also for one-on-one advice and answers to her questions about the U.S. job market. “He directed me to the type of law firms I should apply to because of my international background,” she said. “It was really helpful to be able to just have someone who can tell you what’s up.”

After graduating, Hélène aims to pass the New York bar exam and stay in the U.S. for a year to work at a firm, focusing on intellectual property. She then plans to return to the EU, pass the bar equivalent there, and pursue a job in intellectual property law either at a law firm or in-house counsel.

Looking back on her time at Vanderbilt Law, Hélène credits the program with opening up new opportunities and helping her build personal and professional relationships. “Just having an LL.M. — I got interviews that I know I have never gotten before. So that is nice, but the relationships with the people that I met here —my roommates or the other LL.M. students — that is the biggest thing that I got from Vanderbilt,” she said.