Jimmy Chilimigras finished high school at home when he was 12, earned a master’s degree by 14 and passed the four-part CPA exam at 15 years old.
NEW ORLEANS — A teenager from the Mississippi Gulf Coast is making history. While most teens his age are preparing for their high school graduation, one Bay St. Louis kid has already been through several graduations for advanced degrees.
Jimmy Chilimigras finished high school at home when he was just 12 years old. He went on to earn his college degree and master’s in accounting from Western Governors University by 14. Then, at 15, he became the youngest person in the U.S. to pass the four-part Certified Public Accountant exam. He entered Loyola Law School that same year.
The dean remembers one of his first law school events at a restaurant.
“Students were ordering drinks at the bar, and Jimmy walked up and ordered a milk, and it caused everybody to like turn and look at him and remember that he was 15,” said Dean of Loyola College of Law Madeleine Landrieu.
Over the weekend, 18-year-old Chilimigras earned his law degree, graduating summa cum laude, the highest academic distinction.
“It’s really all about putting in the work,” he said. “I think it’s so important with enough hard work and perseverance, you can accomplish pretty much anything.”
The colorful cords around Chilimigras’ neck at graduation represented a first in Loyola Law School’s 112-year-old history — the five certificates of concentration he earned in tax, immigration, social justice, technology and international law.
In other words, it’s like graduating with a quintuple major. The large accomplishment required extra classes, legal papers, and hours of pro bono work. On top of that, Chilimigras also participated in many extracurriculars and earned many honors, including a top-eight finish in the National Moot Court Competition.
“He’s a once-in-a-generation talent and just an exceptional person. As extraordinary as his intellect is, as exceptional as his talent is, what really stands out to me is the character,” noted Law Professor and Associate Dean of Mission and Identity Blaine LeCesne, who has been teaching law for 36 years.
Professors described him as talented, loving, kind, generous, compassionate, humble, joyful, gritty and determined, all wrapped into a grounded young man with endless curiosity and respect for human dignity.
“He’s a gift to humanity,” LeCesne said. “I don’t know if a tax lawyer’s ever won the Nobel Prize, but it would not surprise me if Jimmy is the first to do so.”
He helped a classmate co-found and run the Society of Law and Technology and always had time to help fellow students.
“He’s a great study partner. He actually helped me build my study strategy. He has been getting me through all of law school and preparing for the bar,” said Cameron Johnson, 25, president of the Society of Law and Technology and a classmate who recently graduated from Loyola College of Law.
This fall, Chilimigras is headed to Northwestern University in Chicago to get an advanced tax law degree, but first, this summer, he’s going to take the universal bar exam. Even this straight-A student is not allowed to take the Mississippi bar exam, where he’s from, because he’s not 21 years old yet.
“I think the impact of the law is really immense,” Chilimigras said. “Law touches all aspects of society, from kind of broader governance, like our legal system, down to just simple things like marriage and family law and immigration law.”
His professor said whatever Chilimigras ends up doing, it will be a meaningful contribution to mankind.
Chilimigras said he plans to return to the New Orleans area to practice law and possibly teach a class at Loyola.