Neha Joshi’s career goal is to become a successful international corporate attorney. After two years of practicing corporate law at a full-service firm in Mumbai, she decided to pursue LL.M. at Vanderbilt to learn about the U.S. legal system. “Earning my LL.M. was a great opportunity to learn about U.S. laws and get international exposure,” she said.

At Vanderbilt, she earned the LL.M. degree and the Law and Business Certificate, which allows students to concentrate on corporate law, taking such courses as Mergers and Acquisitions and learning about securities market in US. She was particularly impressed with Vanderbilt’s law faculty. “They were all approachable, helpful and supportive—and brilliant,” she said. “I recommend Vanderbilt’s LL.M. program because of the opportunity to study and work with the outstanding faculty.”

She especially enjoyed her course in Securities Regulation with Professor Yesha Yadav. “It was the most interesting, stress-free class—she’s an excellent teacher, and makes the class very enjoyable,” Joshi said.

She also had an opportunity to work as a research assistant for Professor Randall Thomas, who heads Vanderbilt’s Law and Business Program. “I conducted research on a newly introduced class action provision in the (Indian) Companies Act, 2013 and looked at how it compared with the U.S. class action framework,” she said.

Joshi found Vanderbilt’s LL.M. program particularly valuable because “it packs a lot into a single year of study–it was definitely challenging!” she said. “Usually, master students complete 30 credit hours of coursework in two years. At Vanderbilt Law, I completed 29 credit hours in just one year.”

She believes her studies have expanded her career opportunities. “I have definitely grown as a lawyer during my year at Vanderbilt, and I’m sure my LL.M. will open up some good career opportunities,” she said. “I’ve also made some wonderful friends from China, Japan and Germany, and it was a great experience to learn alongside Vanderbilt’s J.D. students and interact with them.”

Neha’s family joined her for her graduation ceremony, and she enjoyed showing them Nashville. “Being a music lover, it was an exciting experience for me to live in ‘Music City.’” she said. “I also enjoyed the scenic beauty and Nashville’s restaurants, which are great.”