The best words to describe Iowa Law are “friendly” and “familial,” according to second-year student, Kabi Palaniappan.

These characteristics were especially important to Palaniappan. Three weeks before he started his first semester of law school, his mother passed away from stage 4 cancer. Earlier, before he was about to graduate from the Ohio State University, he had decided to go to law school and began studying for the LSAT. In consideration of his mother’s illness, he decided to pause his legal education endeavors and spend time at home with his mother and family.

This meaningful time that he spent with his family reinforced his desire to go to law school and become a successful lawyer. His mother was so proud of him for getting to that step, and although it was an extremely difficult time, it made him even more motivated to pursue this opportunity.

Palaniappan moved around quite a bit growing up, spending time in Arizona, New Jersey, New York, and India, but his family settled down in the Midwest once he got to middle school. He attended high school in Ann Arbor, Michigan and eventually attended Ohio State for his undergraduate degrees, where he studied political science and English.

Writing is very important to Palaniappan. The University of Iowa has a world-renowned creative writing program, and he has noticed that the emphasis on writing transcends the whole university. This is something that he cherishes, especially as an English major. He notes that Iowa Law’s state-of-the-art legal writing program is an aspect of the school that sets it apart from its peers. “Once I started researching the law school, I realized that it was a big deal.”

Another part of Iowa Law that initially sold Palaniappan and continues to encourage him is the Iowa Law alumni network. After being admitted, he met with several “inspiring” alumni in Arizona, where he has family ties, who were excited to give him advice and guidance before he even committed to Iowa Law. Already having narrowed it down to a couple final schools, Palaniappan found his interactions with Iowa alumni impressive and unique.

And the alumni support continues to this day. Just recently, a passionate alumnus met with one of Palaniappan’s student organizations, expressing a strong desire to help and mentor current students. “This is really cool when alumni are that excited to help you out and talk with you.”

Not only have alumni been generous with their time, Palaniappan deeply appreciates the Iowa law professors for guidance throughout his first two years. One of his first-year writing professors is a consistent mentor who he seeks out regularly for advice. One of his favorite things about the faculty is that “they give me honest feedback.”

“Iowa’s push to keep bringing strong faculty to the school is something I think prospective students should focus more on when considering what law school to attend.”

Between its location in the heart of the Midwest, the school’s emphasis on writing, and the engaged and supportive alumni network, Palaniappan knew Iowa was the best place for him.

Palaniappan spent his 1L summer in Arizona working for Judge Susan R. Bolton, who is an Iowa Law graduate. “I was able to focus on improving my legal writing and research, and that was meaningful to me.” His favorite things about the experience were seeing how court orders came to fruition, what things are like within the chambers, and observing court proceedings.

Although becoming a lawyer was never something that was presented to him while growing up, he now has a desire to help people who may also be unfamiliar with the legal profession.

Palaniappan is one of the founding members and the current treasurer of the South Asian Law Students Association at Iowa Law and is passionate about bringing more Indian students to Iowa Law. “Not only do we want to bring more south Asians to the legal profession but also to the Midwest in particular.” He is also the co-president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association and a student writer on the journal of Transnational Law & Contemporary Problems.

“I think the convention in law school is to promote competition and grades. And yes, Iowa does challenge students when it comes to academics, but the school also makes students feel at home. I have noticed little things like every time I send an email to an administrator on a question I have, I get a call from them ASAP, and professors have open door policies and want to know what’s going on in your life.”

Because of this culture at Iowa Law, “you know you’re at home.”