Rachel Michelle Dodge, from Greenville, South Carolina, is this year’s Founder’s Medalist for the Law School.
Dodge earned a B.A. in History from Erskine College. She and her husband Vincent decided to pursue law school together and were drawn to Vanderbilt Law after visiting the school on Admitted Students Day.
“As cliché as it may sound, the warmth, collegiality, and genuine enthusiasm of the Vanderbilt Law community were immediately apparent—and ultimately what sealed our decision,” Dodge said.
During her time at Vanderbilt Law, she served as a Notes Editor for the Vanderbilt Law Review, a Co-Counsel mentor, Philanthropy Coordinator for the Women’s Law Student Association, and Chair of Service for Law Students for Life. Dodge won the Robert F. Jackson Memorial Prize and scholastic excellence awards for highest grade in Torts, Property, Constitutional Law I, Constitutional Law II, American Legal History, Corporations and Business Entities, Environmental Law, and Professional Responsibility.
Vanderbilt Law Review published her student note, “Dismantling a Marketplace for Private Violence: Reclaiming the Modern Weapons of War to Forestall Filibusters of the Web.” Dodge also received the Candidate’s Award from the Law Review for her positive impact on the 2L staff.
Dodge credits Professor Brian Fitzpatrick’s Textualism and Originalism seminar, which she took in her 3L fall semester, with changing her career trajectory. The experience and Professor Fitzpatrick’s guidance prompted her to apply for federal clerkships; she eventually received an offer from Chief Judge William H. Pryor Jr. on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit. She also transitioned her post-graduate practice group from Healthcare Transactions to Litigation.
“That course didn’t just influence me—it reshaped my entire career plan,” she said.
During her 1L and 2L summers, Dodge worked as a summer associate for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings in Nashville where she accepted an offer to return following graduation. In 2027, she will begin clerking for Judge Pryor.
Dodge is grateful to her parents and husband for their support and to the law faculty who inspired her to not only pursue excellence but also invest in others and take joy in their successes.
“My experience at Vanderbilt Law exceeded every expectation I had when I first stepped onto campus,” she said. “I knew law school would be demanding, but I didn’t anticipate just how transformative these three years would be.”
