Skip to content

Isabel Zagazeta: From Toronto to Tampa, Building a Future in Law

Isabel Zagazeta: From Toronto to Tampa, Building a Future in Law

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.

Read More
  • Passion Over Tradition: Ahmad Saifi Finds His Calling in the Law
    Passion Over Tradition: Ahmad Saifi Finds His Calling in the Law

    Passion Over Tradition: Ahmad Saifi Finds His Calling in the Law

    Ahmad Saifi grew up in his traditional family knowing that his family expected him to go into medicine. That pressure was compounded when one brother decided he was going to be a doctor, and the other brother made the decision to go to dentail school. Unfortunately for his family, Saifi wasn't interested in following any profession in the medical field.

  • Cooley Graduate Adriannette Williams: Fighting for Justice
    Cooley Graduate Adriannette Williams: Fighting for Justice

    Cooley Graduate Adriannette Williams: Fighting for Justice

    Adriannette Williams fights for justice as a George Floyd Foundation founding board member, updates The Florida Bar handbook and is now the DEI connector for students and faculty at Lincoln Memorial Law School.

  • Paul Millenbach: Be Prepared
    Paul Millenbach: Be Prepared

    Paul Millenbach: Be Prepared

    As a shareholder of Foster Swift Collins & Smith, PC and past president of the Detroit Bar Association, Paul Millenbach shares a piece of advice that has stuck with him since graduating from Cooley Law School over 30 years ago: Be prepared.

  • Cooley Law Professor Jeffrey Swartz Provides Analysis on Trump Case and the Southern District of Florida
    Cooley Law Professor Jeffrey Swartz Provides Analysis on Trump Case and the Southern District of Florida

    Cooley Law Professor Jeffrey Swartz Provides Analysis on Trump Case and the Southern District of Florida

    I have listened to many of the "experts" on the national networks describe the length of time it will take to bring the indictment against Donald Trump to trial. The estimate of up to a year is just not accurate. I am a former Miami judge, who, before and after the bench, practiced as a criminal defense attorney in the Federal Courts before the judges of the Southern District of Florida (SDFL) and many other districts around the country. Every district is different and every judge within those districts have different demeanors.

  • Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci
    Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci

    Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci

    In this episode of Journey to Esquire, founder of Diversity Access Pipeline Inc. and WMU-Cooley Law School Professor Joseline Hardrick passes the mic to WMU-Cooley Law School graduate Krystle Cacci. She is an Appellate Attorney, Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office and is an experienced policy analyst with a demonstrated history of working in the public and private sectors. Fun fact: Krystle's mother is also a lawyer and was a judge on the Florida 1st District Court of Appeals from 2010-2016.

  • Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media
    Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media

    Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media

    Early in February the nation was introduced to the world of surveillance balloons as the U.S. Military shot down what was believed to be a Chinese balloon off the east coast. And a few days later three more balloons, which we have since learned were most likely not part of China’s surveillance program, were shot down by military fighter jets.

  • Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals
    Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals

    Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals

    To describe the most recent couple years in Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo’s life as a whirlwind would be an understatement of epic proportions. Many people in the world went into a sort of hibernation during the pandemic. Not the Hon. Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo (Coleman Class, 2009).

  • Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success
    Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success

    Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success

    Kara (Henigan) Hope has come a long way since that fateful day when she was called upon to stand and recite in the late Professor Peter Jason’s Contracts I class. An introvert by nature, Kara was beyond nervous as she responded, but she learned something important about herself that day – she could do it.

  • Cooley Law Librarians Help Prepare Students For Real World Research
    Cooley Law Librarians Help Prepare Students For Real World Research

    Cooley Law Librarians Help Prepare Students For Real World Research

    THE STORY BEHIND THE CLASSES Nearly 10 years ago, I knew the Librarians had to do more than we were to help students be practice ready with research skills beyond what they learned in Research and Writing. Previously, the Librarians team taught an advanced legal research three-credit course. This was in the 90s. As our student body grew and the campuses expanded, we ran out of time to cover more than the basic classroom support so many of you experienced in classes like Research and Writing, Advanced Writing, Estate Planning, Pre-Trial Skills, the Externship classroom component, and many more.