What does being a Cooley grad mean to me? In a word, Everything!
Shemia Francisco Washington, Esq. is a May 2002 Cooley Law School graduate, and works for the City of Atlanta's Office of City Solicitor. She shares her From Where I Stand story below.
Isabel Zagazeta is a 3L J.D. candidate and Dean’s Fellow at Cooley Law School in Tampa, Florida. Originally from Canada, she earned her undergraduate degree at Wilfrid Laurier University before moving to Florida to study law at Cooley. She has earned book awards, served on Law Review, mentored incoming students, and was part of Cooley’s Moot Court team that recently won first place at the 2026 Robert Orseck Moot Court Competition. With a passion for legal writing and healthcare compliance, Isabel is building a strong foundation for a future in law at Cooley.
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Shemia Francisco Washington, Esq. is a May 2002 Cooley Law School graduate, and works for the City of Atlanta's Office of City Solicitor. She shares her From Where I Stand story below.

This blog was originally published on Nov 5, 2015 Blog author Professor Tonya Krause-Phelan is WMU-Cooley Law Review’s Legal Consequences of Police Militarization Symposium moderator. Professor Kraus-Phelan teaches Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, Defending Battered Women, Criminal Sentencing, and Ethics in Criminal Cases. She assists with the West Michigan Defenders Clinic and coaches national mock trial and moot court teams, and is frequently appears as a commentator on numerous radio, television, print, and internet media sources regarding criminal law and procedure issues.

Less than a decade out of Cooley Law School, Amber Cervantez is finding her way, making her mark as an attorney, and as an advocate for other up-and-coming Hispanic lawyers as well.
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Ross Berlin, (Kavanagh Class, 1981), middle of his three brothers and a sister, admits to identifying with the middle-child personality: a compromiser, bringing people together to reach mutually acceptable results. Middle children are also willing to take risks and to make friends easily and keep them for life. His rich and varied career makes it clear that these positive traits have served him well.

This blog was originally published on May 20, 2016. On March 17 and 18, 2016, Western Michigan University’s Center for the Study of Ethics in Society presented a conference called “Bioethics: Preparing for the Unknown.” Cooley Law School professors and law students were well-represented among the speakers, presenting on topics such as informed consent, medical quarantines, youth health care, and drug addiction. The conference sparked important conversations surrounding the theme of uncertainty, a fundamental reality in bioethics. The study of bioethics brings to the forefront concepts of right and wrong, good and bad; blending and blurring the areas of philosophy, theology, history, law, and medicine.

This blog was originally published on February 14, 2015. “Who needs just red roses and dark chocolate when what I really love is working together and solving problems with my husband as a team,” exclaimed Elizabeth Devolder about the couple’s Valentine win in the ABA Client Counseling Regional Competition in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Feb. 8th.

Guest blog writer Jaebadiah Gardner is a 2012 Cooley Law School graduate and Founder and CEO of GardnerGlobal, Inc. and Managing Partner of Onpoint Real Estate Services. He is a real estate developer in Seattle, Washington. He shares his recent trip to Singapore to share and discuss best business practices.

This blog was originally posted on July 21, 2015. Dogs and Cooley faculty, staff and law students are teaming up with the Oakland County Animal Control and Pet Adoption Center to hit the trails this summer for Fitness Unleashed, a cooperative program to help shelter dogs. If you ask participants though, they not only love the idea of giving their shelter dog a much-needed walk in the park, they also appreciate roaming the beautiful trails among the spacious 67 wooded acres on Cooley’s Auburn Hills campus.

An Oakland County Deputy Sheriff for over 12 years, Chad Engelhardt initially saw law school as a means to further his law enforcement career. Read Chad's journey from sheriff to lawyer in the Detroit Legal News story by Sheila Pursglove below.