Julie Sandine has been the Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the Vanderbilt Law School since July of 2002. Before assuming this position, she served as one of the Law School's legal writing faculty for seven years, during which time she was also an associate with the Nashville law firm of Dodson, Parker, Dinkens & Behm. She represented birth parents, adoptive parents and adoptees as amici in the landmark case that resulted in the opening of Tennessee adoption records to adopted individuals. Her article about the case, “Tennessee’s Adoption Law: Balancing the Interests of the Adoption Triad,” was published in Family Courts Review in 2001. Dean Sandine has also worked with the ACLU as local counsel in appellate matters and continues to represent pro bono clients in both juvenile and probate court. She is a member of the American Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association (TBA), the Nashville Bar Association (NBA), and the Lawyers' Association for Women. She is a member of the Attorney Well-Being Committees of both the TBA and the NBA.

In her efforts to enhance the law school experience for students and counteract some of the possible negative impact that can result from its unique challenges, Dean Sandine has implemented a number of innovative programs at Vanderbilt Law School. One example is the Professionalism in Practice non-credit offering, now in its seventh year, which provides 1L students the opportunity to explore and discuss in small group settings their role in the legal profession and the ethical dilemmas often encountered by lawyers. Her special student well-being programs provide students with information and exposure to valuable resources such as mindfulness meditation, Positive Psychology, qi gong, yoga, lawyers’ assistance programs, and alternative practice areas, as well as the benefits to be derived, which will enhance their law school and legal careers.

Dean Sandine is a member of the Section on Student Services and the Section on Balance in Legal Education of the Association of American Law Schools and currently serves as the Chair-Elect of the Balance Section.

Dean Sandine graduated cum laude in 1992 from the Wake Forest University School of Law. Before attending law school, Dean Sandine earned a B.A. in psychology and an M.A. in sociology from the University of Memphis, and worked in the areas of women’s health, counseling and crisis intervention.