Eighth-generation Floridian and UF student Emma Towler follows her passion for law
Emma Towler – a soon-to-be double Gator and current second-year student at the University of Florida Levin College of Law – has loved the courtroom since she was young. It was during a fourth-grade field trip to the capital city of Tallahassee, when she took part in a mock trial at the Supreme Court of Florida and served as the chief justice, that solidified her passion for law.
“I loved it. I loved the whole process of the law and the trial and how it all worked,” said Towler, who is a proud eighth-generation Floridian. “I came home and I said, ‘Mom, how do I get to do this one day?,’ and she said, ‘Oh you have to go to law school.’ I said, ‘Deal.’ It’s been very full-circle to have that happen now that I’m actually at UF Law.”
Towler spent her undergraduate years studying political science and economics, and she earned a bachelor’s degree in 2023. When it came time to apply to law school, UF had recently launched the Gator Scholars program, which allowed undergraduates to gain admission into the Levin College of Law without a Law School Admission Test (LSAT) or Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) score. The program offers scholarships and limits enrollment to 10% of the previous year's class, with the most competitive candidates typically holding a cumulative grade point average of 3.9 or higher.
“I think, being from Florida, there are a lot of people in the state that went to UF Law and they always had such wonderful things to say about the school that it made me want to be a Gator even more,” Towler said.
As a law student, Towler is involved in the Moot Court team, which gives students opportunities to participate in intramural, state, and national appellate competitions. She is also a beginning editor for the Florida Law Review – an entirely student-edited publication with articles, essays, lectures, and other scholarly work from professors, practitioners, and students throughout the world.
“I feel like all the professors here really believe in you. So when you are kind of struggling or having a tough day, you know that the professor has your back. And I think that means a lot,” Towler said.
Off-campus, Towler served as a judicial intern for the Honorable Patricia Barksdale – a double Gator and Jacksonville-based magistrate judge in the Middle District of Florida – last summer. Barksdale has been on the bench for about 10 years, offering invaluable experience to interns by encouraging them to watch legal proceedings, learn firsthand how a judge’s chambers work, and go into the community to see how the legal system operates.
“I got to see the Jacksonville legal community from a different perspective than I had ever seen growing up, and so it was cool to kind of be part of that,” said Towler, who grew up in Jacksonville. “And a lot of my other classmates from UF Law were in the courthouse as well, so we got to all work together, which was really fun. It was nice to have familiar faces and meet new people along the way.”
Next summer, Towler will spend time in New York, working for the law firm Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP. Not only is Towler excited about the prospect of working in a big city, but she also looks forward to being a part of the cutting-edge legal issues the firm handles alongside some of the best lawyers in the country.
“I have been really proud of just getting to see that the hours that I put in each day in my work are going towards something,” said Towler, who will graduate from UF with a juris doctor degree in Spring 2026. “It's making me better, and when that day comes where I take the bar and hopefully pass it and get to become a lawyer, all of those years and hours spent are really going to be worth it.”