18-year-old graduates college with a law degree

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE/Gray News) - An 18-year-old just became Louisiana’s youngest law school graduate, and he already has his sights set on another degree.

Jimmy Chilimigras has been expanding his education rapidly for most of his life.

“It all happened pretty quickly. He just buckled down,” Jimmy’s mother, Erin Chilimigras, said.

At 12, he graduated from high school. At 14, he took the LSAT. By 15, he had a bachelor’s and a master’s in accounting and became the world’s youngest CPA.

And on Saturday, he walked across the stage with his fellow Loyola University New Orleans Law School graduates.

“I’m extremely proud. Jimmy has put in a lot of work and no matter how he finished or what he did I’d be proud of him but just to see all the work he put in pay off and he accomplished the things he talked about and just he kind of dreamed of is — just watching that happen is something,” Jimmy’s father, John Chilimigras, said.

He finished in the top 2% of his class and wants to start a law practice one day. Jimmy said he wants to make tax filing less stressful for families.

“I love tax. I have a few world records there. It’s phenomenal,” he said.

Jimmy is used to being the youngest at school. But at home, he is the oldest of seven children, and there is already a bit of early-education competition.

“I have one little sister, Azelie, who thinks she may be able to break some of my records,” Chilimigras said.

Azelie is 12 and looking to best her older brother by graduating from law school slightly younger than he did.

“Probably around 17 or 18,” she said.

“I wish her all the luck. She may need only a little bit of it,” Jimmy said

Jimmy began law school at 15 and would carpool from his home in Bay St. Louis to New Orleans for classes at Loyola.

“I want to make my hometown proud,” he said at the time.

Three years later, Jimmy said the most valuable lessons were unexpected, rebounding from disappointment and testing the limits of learning.

“I think if there was anything I’d want people to know, it would be maybe a little bit less about me and more just about with enough hard work and perseverance what you can accomplish is truly limitless,” he said.

“I think we can all do more than we expect. I think the most important thing is to take action and kind of get started on things. I found that a lot of times, I’ll take on a lot of work, often times I’ll expand as a person to fill the work and responsibilities that I take on,” Jimmy said. “We only have a very short amount of time and I of course try to make the most of it.”

Jimmy said he will next pursue an advanced tax law postdoctoral degree at Northwestern in Chicago.