Student Profile: Anna Gregory

What attracted you to Charleston School of Law? 

Anna Gregory: I had no idea that I wanted to go to law school. I moved here to work in a research lab and my plan was to go to medical school.  But I knew a couple of people that had gone to UGA that were current students at the Charleston School of Law. So, I texted them and asked everyone that I knew, what do you think? What should I expect? What should I do? Every person that I talked to have that same attitude across the board. So that made the decision easy for me.

Do you remember getting the call from Dean Bell?

Anna Gregory: I do. I was leaving work, and it had been a rough day. So, it was nice. Dean Bell’s sweet voice calling me, her Southern accent. It was incredible. I think I cried.

The faculty-student relationship and the “Open Door” policy.  Tell me about your experience with faculty?

Anna Gregory: I never experienced anything like this before. I mean, when you come into a class and every professor knows every student’s name, that was incredible. It made it easy to learn in depth about the subjects that we were learning and for me, I didn’t know anything about the law when I came to school. I had a lot of questions, and every professor was amenable to answer every single question I had. That was exceptional to me.

You thought you were going to go to medical school and then decided to come to law school. At what point did you kind of figure out what type of law you wanted to practice?

Anna Gregory: Every subject matter that I learn, I love it. Learning it out of a book is one thing, but will that translate to practice? What’s the day to day like? I did an externship with Mercedes Benz Vans, and I absolutely loved it. They wanted to teach me. They wanted to see me learn. So that was a welcoming environment that made working in house seemed like a really great opportunity.

Then I went straight into an internship with Cobb Hammett Law firm where that was a nice contrast to go straight from in house to working at a firm — they’re totally different environments, and everything was new. That was great. What I really learned about working at Cobb Hammett is that you can find something you enjoy in everything that you’re going to do under the law.

Are you a first-generation law student?

Anna Gregory: My biggest advocate in my family for law school is my grandmother.  She’s is Lebanese, and growing up, it was a different time, so she wasn’t really afforded the opportunity to go to any sort of school. She always wanted to be a lawyer. So, from Day One she’s always said, ‘learn to play the saxophone and go to law school.’ I’m not sure why those two — and why those two together — but that’s what her dream was. So, and every time I see her, she always says, I’m living through you. I’m living through you. Tell me about it. What’s it like? Can I read one of your books? That, for me, is special.

Imagine that a 1L student is sitting here — or a prospective law student — what should they be looking for as they’re looking at law schools? 

Anna Gregory: What I looked at is the environment. Do the people go there like it? Do they feel like they got a good education when they finished? Every single person I talk to talks about Charleston School of Law like it was the best years of their lives. Every professor was there to help them be better, to help them become an attorney and hopefully a great attorney. So, for me, those are the factors that I looked at … I was really focused on the environment and what the actual students had to say about the school.

You are in the top 10 percent in your class. What has law school taught you about you?

Anna Gregory: I think that I like to learn about people. I always said, I want to help people. I worked at 180 Place. We would help homeless people. I really learned that it might be as simple as finding someone their birth certificate, or their social security card, but that can withhold someone from getting a home, that’s someone’s livelihood. So that taught me that you can take small strides and to really make a difference in someone’s life. Anyone that would come into 180 Place to our clinic and you could tell they were troubled. They’d bring it all in, sit at the table … you felt their stress. We’re talking about their house — their home. It was always something that needed to be solved. Not that they wanted — but needed. So that was interesting. To see and to learn how to deal with to get them there and what do you do in the interim when you’re waiting on things, so that was impactful.