TRINITY SANDIFER UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE COLLEGE OF LAW, CLASS OF 2025

2022 was a good year for imports from Georgia to the University of Tennessee College of Law. Most all of DICTA’s readers are aware that UT made the excellent decision to hire the University of Georgia School of Law’s Associate Dean Lonnie Brown to serve as our new Dean. Along with Dean Brown, the College of Law was pleased to welcome to our ranks several new law students from the state of Georgia, and today, I want to introduce you to one of those outstanding students: rising 2L, Trinity Sandifer.

Trinity hails from Snellville, just outside Atlanta. As a young child, Trinity had quite the “inclination to debate” her family members, prompting them to often remark that she would make a good lawyer. These comments stuck with Trinity, piquing her interest in becoming an attorney, and while in high school, she attended a pre-law summer workshop which further solidified her desire to pursue a career in law. After high school, Trinity attended Georgia Southern University in Savannah, where she distinguished herself in a number of ways. She was a member of the Southern Leaders organization for three years, where she developed valuable leadership skills and put those skills to use through service on various campus committees. She volunteered on the Student Activity Budget Committee, serving as a student voice to vote on campus committee budgets alongside university professors and the Dean of Student Affairs. And she worked as both a group fitness instructor and fitness supervisor at the campus Recreation and Intramurals facility for two years. Despite this busy schedule, Trinity found ample time to study, graduating summa cum laude in 2022 with a degree in Political Science, concentrating in Law and Politics, and a minor in English.

Knowing that law school had long been her calling, Trinity selected the University of Tennessee College of Law in large part because of the College’s dual degree programs. Trinity was particularly intrigued by the joint J.D./Master of Public Policy and Administration (MPAA). In making her selection, Trinity was also seeking a large university experience to contrast with the small academic institutions she had attended for college and for her primary/secondary schooling. Moving to Knoxville was not without some concerns: she would be living in a new state for the first time in her life, and she knew no one in Knoxville. Her concerns were quickly allayed, however, when she was embraced by the law school community.

During her first semester, she was elected as the 1L Representative for both the Student Bar Association (“SBA”) and the Black Law Students Association (“BLSA”). Those roles gave her the chance to serve as the voice of her class in Executive Board Meetings, in addition to coordinating events and introducing her classmates to unique and helpful opportunities within the College of Law. In the spring semester, Trinity’s service in both of these organizations led to her election, for the upcoming school year, as Secretary and Academic Success Chair of BLSA and 2L Representative for the SBA. In addition, Trinity serves on the Public Interest Fellow Service Committee, has participated in the College’s Pro Bono Virtual Legal Aid Clinic, and was recently hired as the student assistant in the College of Law Career Center.

In addition to her work in the College of Law Career Center, Trinity will spend the summer interning for the Honorable William T. Ailor on the Knox County Circuit Court. Trinity came to law school with an interest in real estate law, but over the course of this first year, she discovered that she is open to many more practice areas and is looking forward to the exposure to the variety of areas of civil practice that she will receive through her judicial internship. Her geographical preferences for post-law school opportunities currently include Tennessee, Georgia, and Mississippi, and she is particularly excited to spend this summer working in Knoxville to lay the foundation for her legal career.

In Trinity’s sparse free time, she enjoys participating in group fitness training and exercise, and she loves watching – and rewatching1 – movies (particularly Marvel and Disney movies). She enjoys listening to audiobooks (a welcome break from the significant amount of reading required during your 1L year), and when asked, she recommended Daring Greatly by Brené Brown. Trinity is also devoted to her family and friends, with whom she loves spending time and who serve as a constant source of motivation.

When asked what she would want future employers to know about her, Trinity responded that she is “highly disciplined and dedicated” and that “failure is never an option” for her. Rather than see a setback as an obstacle to overcome, she views it as an opportunity for growth. This growth mindset has instilled in her a great deal of confidence in herself and her abilities, knowing that she can succeed at whatever she puts her mind to. She is also an incredibly reliable and efficient team-player who focuses on ensuring that those around her “feel valued.”

Trinity’s strengths of compassion, diligence, and industriousness would be major assets in a number of careers. So why law? Trinity responded thusly:

I want to be an advocate. As an attorney, I will have the unique opportunity to educate and help the people around me develop their ideas and reach resolutions. I have observed many missed opportunities from the people around me simply because of discomfort and lack of knowledge about the law. I deeply desire to bridge the gap for those I can help so their growth will never be stifled by a lack of legal understanding.

With skills and ideals like these, we are fortunate that Georgianative Trinity decided to come to Tennessee for law school. Now, we just need to convince her to stay.

“Are you hiring?” Chances are, you have received an email or phone call from a student or attorney asking this question – and it’s possible that the interested party has attempted to locate the proper hiring contact for you and has been unable to find it. If your firm or entity has a website, find a prominent place on the site to include information on who applicants should contact regarding job inquiries.

By: Paula Schaefer Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Art Stolnitz Professor of Law University of Tennessee College of Law