Three LaRoe siblings from Dallas currently are attending South Texas College of Houston, and they are set to graduate in May of 2024, 2025, and 2026.
Though their parents are attorneys, James LaRoe IV, Jagger LaRoe and his twin sister Savannah LaRoe (seven minutes younger!) knew they could follow their own paths. Turns out, they all wanted to be litigators — and they felt confident South Texas Law was the place to prepare them.
“I told them to come here after my first year because of the rich heritage of the advocacy program and the connections you make here,” said James, a third-year law student. “We joked that we’ll become the litigating LaRoes.” Their dad James LaRoe III works in subrogation law and their mom Nicolette LaRoe does guardian ad litem work.
Originally from Highland Park, the LaRoe family spent most of their growing-up years in Preston Hollow. They all attended private Catholic high schools, but not together. James attended the all-boys Jesuit High School, Jagger attended the co-ed Bishop Lynch High School, and Savannah attended the all-girls Ursuline High School.
The siblings, while independent and uniquely talented, have much in common as well. All were successful, multi-sport athletes since childhood. When James was 12 and 13, he played futsal (similar to indoor soccer) on professional clubs in Argentina and Brazil in the summers. He was a leader on the 6A state championship soccer team for Jesuit. He had opportunities to play sports at several universities but chose to attend the University of Alabama for its academics and community.
Jagger started his Division I football career at Texas A&M then transferred to Ohio State to play football and complete his bachelor’s in economics. He earned an MBA from Texas A&M-Commerce while still playing ball, and his college success earned him a spot on an American professional football team in France: the Catalan Grizzlys. He played overseas a year before starting law school this fall.
Savannah — a second year law student — played several sports and was a soccer superstar, but after sustaining multiple injuries, she changed her focus to cycling in the gym. At age 16, she started teaching spin classes — the youngest instructor in Texas — and continued to do so through high school and college.
After starting at Auburn and attending community college, Savannah graduated from Southern Methodist University with a degree in psychology with minors in law and legal reasoning and in philosophy. At SMU, she discovered her love for advocacy while competing on the NCAA debate team.
“Mom and Dad attended every game, every recital… every activity… and they coached every sport we played when we were young,” Savannah said. “They taught us that hard work is the only way to succeed; they taught us time management tools and study skills; and they encouraged us to push beyond our comfort zone.”
Their lawyer-mom practiced at the law firm where she met James LaRoe III, then made a serious career of raising children once James was born. “In my first-year classes, I am realizing how much of our parenting came straight out of lawyering,” said Jagger, a 1L law student. “When each of us got a cell phone, we signed a contract with our parents after being required to read every line. They got a copy, and we got a copy.”
Rules in their home were statutes with clear, written punishments, and breaking those statutes might result in a typed, multi-page document clarifying expectations. However, there was no “failure” in the LaRoe home — only opportunities to learn from mistakes and become better as a result.
“Our lives were structured to a T,” James recalled. The law students say their parents taught them the value of teamwork, determination, hard work, and being an integral part of the community.
Growing up, they spent a lot of time with their older sister, Sydney LaRoe, who has special needs. When James, Jagger, and Savannah were younger, they frequently volunteered for Sydney’s school and for Camp Summit — organizations that opened their eyes and hearts to a part of the community a lot of people never see. Now, Savannah loves to volunteer for Easter Seals.
The siblings experienced and demonstrated compassion in their family interactions with Sydney and with the broader community of families who cared deeply about their loved ones with special needs. They say their mom and dad taught and modeled genuine compassion, and it was an emphasis at their schools as well.
“We learned to show compassion to one another — though we still have normal sibling fights,” Savannah said. Jagger said that closeness with his brother and sister is essential to his success. “We just support each other here, and we push each other to be better. We talk each other through things because law school is hard.”
The siblings live in the same apartment building, but each have their own apartment. “That’s absolutely essential,” Jagger said, and they all laughed. “I’m the neat one, and my apartment reflects that. Savannah’s is controlled chaos.”
Sibling digs don’t dim the smiles among the three as they talk about their lives in law school. “Jagger’s right, my apartment is controlled chaos. I have severe ADHD. It looks messy, but I know exactly where everything is!”
Among these disciplined and competitive law students, sibling rivalry definitely pushes them. Jagger said he is lucky to have James and Savannah for examples, noting, “These are my biggest opponents… since we were younger. I wouldn’t have been able to get as far as I did without them pushing me. Not only here but in our lives.”
James has competed in the Mock Trial Program for a year now. “It’s going very well; the skills you learn are immense,” he said. “The more competitions you have, the more reps you have, the more dangerous you are — meaning, when you go into a career, you can bring more to the table. You’ll be ‘dangerous’ because you can take a deposition on your first day on the job; you’ll be able to move around a courtroom; you’ll establish an evidentiary foundation. You’ll be ready to advocate — to effect change in our community.”
Savannah stated her desire directly, “We want to try cases to win.” “But,” James noted, “we know we are in the learning process.” Jagger added, “I feel like we’ve been preparing to become lawyers our whole lives.”
