After earning her undergraduate degree in business administration from UNC-Chapel Hill, Jane Morrison JD/MBA’25 worked at Ernst and Young for two years. While there, she was staffed on an anti-money laundering engagement for a bank. Halfway through the project, banking regulations changed, which had cascading effects across the entire project. “The centrality of the law really struck a chord and inspired me to learn more about it,” she recalled. “With my work at Ernst & Young, I realized how a future career could benefit from the combined depth of legal and business acumen.”

Morrison began a grad school search for JD/MBA programs and was drawn to Vanderbilt by the location, flexible program design, and strength of Vanderbilt Law and the Owen Graduate School of Management.

After she was accepted, she opted to do her first year at the law school and second year at the business school. She took a mix of classes at both schools in her third year; the proximity of the buildings (located next to each other) meant that she didn’t have to worry about rushing across campus to make it to her next class.

Administrators at both schools also worked with Morrison to design class schedules that allowed her to take as many courses that interested her as possible without being overwhelmed. “For my third year, I was excited about business courses offered in the fall and spring. The academic advising team allowed me to spread my course load over the year instead of one semester, while ensuring I would still meet the Law and Business Certificate requirements” she explained. “It has been very manageable, and academic advising ensured I could register for every class that excited me.”

Morrison recalls several standout courses: Federal Tax Law with Jeffrey A. Schoenblum, Corporations with Randall Thomas, Corporate Financial Policy with Josh White, and Corporate Strategy and Managerial Decision Making with Brian McCann. “If I like a professor, I stick with them,” she said, “when I understand their teaching style and how it fits with my learning style, I get the most out of a class.”

Each school’s smaller cohort made it easier for her to get to know professors and fellow students. “The size of the school is instrumental to the type of experience you have,” Morrison said. “You can really know everybody [here]… it made me feel more comfortable asking questions in class and not being afraid to actually voice my opinion in a discussion.”

Morrison participated in law school recruiting and used her summers to intern at different law firms. This summer, Morrison will be a summer associate at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP, splitting her time between the firm’s New York office and Houston office. The position will afford her the opportunity to explore multiple practice groups, including M&A, private funds, banking and credit, and real estate.

To round out her resume, Morrison also completed two externships at Shore Capital Partners and worked part-time at Holton & Mayberry, PC during the school year. “I was able to get hands-on experience in both business and law environments without disrupting the Law School recruiting cycle,” she said.

Morrison encourages prospective JD/MBA students to talk with as many faculty, staff, current students, and alumni as possible. “My biggest piece of advice is to ask as many questions as you can to receive as much input as you can before even applying… four years is a lot of time to dedicate for these degrees,” she said. “Talk to mentors and find people that are in the position that you’re applying for to determine whether you could see yourself in their shoes.”