Omar Perez, Class of 2008
After graduation: Omar will join Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed in Orlando.
Undergraduate: Brown University
Hometown: Orlando, Florida
Omar Perez chose Vanderbilt for two reasons. "I wanted to be at a small law school where I would have personalized attention, prominent professors, and intelligent peers," he says. "I also wanted a top school that was well-known in my home state of Florida, which has a great alumni base of people who truly love their school and enjoy seeing Vanderbilt grads among their ranks."
After his graduation in May, Omar will return to Orlando to become an associate focusing on property law with Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, a position he was offered through Vanderbilt’s On-Campus Interview program.
Omar became interested in property law after taking the required course from Professor Jon Bruce during his 1L year. During his 2L and 3L years, he chose to take a number of elective property law courses, including Real Estate Finance and Land Use Planning, from Professor Bruce and environmental law from Professor Mike Vandenbergh. “I’m also taking a short course in Commercial Real Estate Transactions this spring,” he said.
He also found the opportunity to take courses in other Vanderbilt Schools helpful. “I took a construction law class through the engineering department during my 2L year that really prepared me to read and analyze AIA (American Institute of Architects) contract documents,” he said.
During his 1L year, Omar joined the VULS Ambassadors, a student group that hosts prospective students and visiting alumni and publishes the Obiter Dictum, a guide to life at Vanderbilt Law School for incoming 1Ls, who receive a copy when they accept Vanderbilt's offer of admission. "Vanderbilt Law is a community of students who are extremely intelligent, talented and friendly," Omar says. "We take learning very seriously, but we're also willing and ready to help each other."
Omar believes his legal education at Vanderbilt has been excellent preparation for legal practice. “The amount of critical thinking we did here on a daily basis will have a big impact on my future as an attorney,” he says. “My classes at Vanderbilt encouraged me to look beyond the black-letter law and create my own solutions for the cases I read."
