Johnna Jones is currently in her final semester at Vanderbilt Law School! She will be taking the Tennessee Bar in July. She also just completed her second season as a Tennessee Titans Cheerleader! 

Throughout law school, Johnna has been very involved. In her first year, she was the 1L representative for the International Law Society, Criminal Law Association, and the Law Students for Social Justice organization. She was also a general member of the Black Law Students Association, Legal Aid Society, and Law Students for Veteran Affairs. The summer after her first year, Johnna was a summer associate at Butler Snow, and she clerked for Federal Magistrate Judge Newbern in the Middle District of Tennessee. Johnna says, “both experiences were amazing and pushed my intellectual curiosity.”    

While still a general member of all the organizations she was a part of during my 1L year, during her second year of law school Johnna became the Social Chair for the Black Law Students Association. She planned all social events for BLSA including Thanksgiving dinners, brunches, welcome events, and more! She also became a Co-Counsel Mentor for three lovely 1Ls. Johnna shared the advice and knowledge that she gleaned, and she is happy to say they are all very successful students. In the spring semester of 2L, she clerked for Judge Calloway at Davidson County Juvenile Court. That internship has pushed her to become heavily involved in children’s advocacy, and she plans to do guardian-ad-litem work once she becomes a licensed attorney. She describes the summer work after her second year as “exhilarating.” Johnna was a summer associate at Thompson Burton, and she was a clerk for the Tennessee Attorney General’s Office in the Law Enforcement and Special Prosecutions division. 

Johnna’s last year at Vanderbilt has deepened her intellectual development and is preparing her to practice law at Thompson Burton. She will be practicing Family Law and doing a few appointed cases as a guardian-ad-litem on the side. Johnna says, “I am so excited for the future, but I know I would not be in this position without my education and experiences at the University of Illinois. I am forever thankful that I attended UIUC, and even more thankful for my degree in Economics and History with my minor in Jewish Studies. I lean on that education every day and will always be a proud Illini Alum.”