Timoteo L’Esperance’s search for the best law school ultimately came down to a single practical criterion: good employment outcomes. “I started out looking at highly ranked schools in cities where my fiancée and I would enjoy spending three years. But as I got closer to deciding, my priority became more focused on choosing a school where I could graduate with a job at a Big Law firm.”

A visit to Nashville helped confirm Timoteo’s decision to choose Vanderbilt. “My fiancée received a good job offer here, so we spent a weekend exploring Nashville and had fun watching the Predators [Nashville’s professional hockey team] in the playoffs and talking to people. I was confident that I would land a good job if I went to Vanderbilt, and its relatively small size reassured me that I could make friends here,” he said.

Before he arrived for Orientation Week as an entering 1L, Timoteo was invited to join the first cohort of OneElevate, a leadership mentoring program that connects first-generation law students with upper-level student and alumni mentors. “It felt nice to have a sense of community as soon as I arrived on campus, and I met a bunch of students I don’t think I would have met otherwise, since we didn’t end up having many classes together,” he said.

He also joined the Vanderbilt student chapter of the American Constitution Society as a 1L, which helped him connect with other students and with lawyers nationwide, and he served as the organization’s vice president as a 2L. “We were able to bring in a ton of interesting speakers, who included judges and lawyers from ACS and other organizations, to give talks, and they often gave great advice on the practice of law that you don’t necessarily get in the classroom,” he said.

Timoteo majored in political science in undergraduate but plans to focus on corporate and finance law. He particularly enjoyed his class in Corporations and Business Entities with Professor Amanda Rose. “Professor Rose is a wonderful teacher, and her courses in Corporations and Securities Regulation have done a really good job in preparing me to practice,” he said. “The classes I excelled in surprised me, and I found myself enjoying corporate transactional work.”

To increase his understanding of finance, Timoteo applied to Vanderbilt’s JD/MSF program, a dual-degree program that allows current J.D. students to earn both their J.D. and a Master of Science in Finance at Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management, in three years. Students in the JD/MSF program take law electives throughout their 2L year and then spend the first semester of their 3L year as full-time finance students at Owen, which is directly adjacent to the law school. Students divide the final semester of school between finance and law electives. “The JD/MSF gave me a great opportunity to gain a better understanding my future clients and their needs and priorities,” he said.

He found his finance courses an interesting contrast to law classes. “Business students work on projects in teams, while you’re working individually in most law classes,” he said.

Timoteo and his fiancée wanted to return to a large legal market near their home state of New Mexico. He worked at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in Denver as a summer associate in 2022 and 2023 and plans to join the firm’s Denver office permanently after graduation.

In addition to the availability of the JD/MSF program, Timoteo found the strong community a major advantage of attending Vanderbilt. “People here are thoughtful and kind, and I like being surrounded by hardworking individuals who push me to do my best. Being in this environment, attending different events on campus, having student mentors, speaking with professors, and making lifelong friends all contributed to my success in finding a career I am excited about after graduation,” he said.

He advises incoming 1Ls not to worry about ‘imposter syndrome.’ “Realize that everyone else is in the same position as you. Keep up on your readings and try to prioritize understanding the big concepts from the cases over the small details. Anxious avoidance is a killer, so remember that whatever you’re working on is probably better than you think!”