Recent Cooley Law School graduate Aimee Lorencz is turning years of professional experience and a passion for justice into a future career in criminal law. In a feature published by Legal News, Lorencz reflects on her journey from working as a correctional officer and CPS investigator to earning her law degree while balancing family, work, and leadership responsibilities. As a weekend/blended student, Lorencz immersed herself in hands-on learning opportunities including externships, moot court competitions, the Cooley Innocence Project, and student leadership roles. Her experiences strengthened her passion for criminal law, ethics, and advocacy. Read more about Aimee's story here: https://legalnews.com/Home/Articles?DataId=1606383.
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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.
Neena Sterling (Gray Class, 2022) knew she wanted to be a lawyer since she was a young girl. When she graduated from college she was on track, but ended up hitting some bumps and taking time off to work for a year. In 2016, she had a daughter, and her dream of law school was put on the back burner.
Krysten Hergert earned her undergrad degree in scientific and technical communication from Michigan Technological University, starting her studies in environmental engineering.
Cooley law student Nancy Zieah serves Double Duty as editor of the Law Review and as president of the law school's moot court program. Eight years of owning and operating a liquor store in downtown Detroit shaped the way Nancy Zieah sees the law. “I had to find a balance between a neighborhood at odds with itself and the multiple law enforcement divisions in the downtown area,” she says. “This gave me an opportunity to see how the same series of events can lead to a wide variety of conclusions.” Now a 3L student on the Dean’s List and Honor Roll at Cooley Law School and due to graduate this year, Zieah was drawn to the law by its ability to provide aid and assistance. “Regardless of whether my future client is on trial for a criminal offense, hoping for an amicable divorce, or seeking compensation owed to them, the legal profession is one that helps people,” she says. She is particularly appreciative of the Cooley Law School faculty. “Our professors have dozens of students and a life beyond the classroom, yet they have time to get to know us, share an opportunity, or link us with a professional who might help us get to where we want to be,” she says. Zieah—who also previously spent 5 years as a credit card processing agent—appreciates the fact that many students at Cooley are—like her—not traditional law school students right out of undergrad. “Many are balancing law school with other responsibilities like being a parent, working a full-time job, or taking a chance on a drastic career change,” she says. “There is nothing more inspiring than surrounding yourself with people who have that kind of drive and determination.” Zieah started her academy trajectory with an undergrad degree from the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where she was on the honor roll for all terms; and did data entry and research for “Correlates of War.” Fluent in Arabic and Chaldean, she was a delegate in the Model Arab League; and was a member of Amnesty International. “I studied political science because it casts a wide net over societal problems and solutions,” she says. “I particularly liked studying international politics and social justice reform. This is probably what drew me to things like the Jessup International Moot Court competition at Cooley, and the expungement fairs.” The current president of the Melissa Mitchell Moot Court, Zieah earned the Trinity Term Top Advocate Award in 2021 for the highest score in a single round. Last year she was a member of the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court team that ranked amongst top 30 national teams in Advanced Rounds. “My first term was particularly difficult and I wasn’t sure if this was the right career path for me, but Moot Court reassured me that law school is exactly where I was meant to be,” she says. “In our first year, we get so bogged down with preparing for finals that we don’t realize how much we have learned. Moot Court is where students are able to apply the material, and this helped us see how to approach those daunting exams.” Her experience with expungement came from volunteering for Safe and Just, an organization that hosts expungement fairs in the metro-Detroit area. “The most memorable clients were those who were motivated by principle and sought expungement for offenses that dated back to the ‘70s and ‘80s,” she says. “Today’s sentencing programs and options would have yielded very different results and while we can’t turn back the hands of time, it was humbling to see them find some solace.” Last September, Zieah started an externship at the Washtenaw County Office of Public Defender in Ann Arbor. “I appreciated my supervisor for approaching this position with a ‘sink or swim’ mentality,” she says. “I didn’t spend weeks observing and conducting an endless amount of legal research. By the second week, she had me on the record and let me be uncomfortable. “I have an awful habit of over-preparing for everything, but this externship helped me gain confidence in what I already know and helped me see that I didn’t have to have every single ‘what-if’ covered to be a good advocate for my client.” She enjoys serving as editor-in-chief of Law Review; and last year was honored with the Dawn C. Beachnau Award, presented to members of the Law Review Board of Editors who made the most significant contributions through their leadership and dedication. “After the pandemic forced everyone to rethink what works, I’ve been dedicated to improving student organizations at Cooley,” she says. “With the Law Review, I had the privilege of leading students who were dedicated to modernizing how the Law Review published scholarly articles by restructuring the organization, changing the publication process, and creating more access.” Zieah—who in the fall of 2021 earned a Certificate of Merit in Scholarly Writing for the highest grade in the course—co-founded and serves as president of the law school’s Chapter of Scribes, a national organization dedicated to encouraging legal authors and improving legal writing. “The founder of Scribe-Auburn Hills reached out to me and explained that Scribes takes an informal approach to helping students move away from archaic legalese like ‘thereinafter.’ I believed in the long-term advantage of helping students shift into succinct writing styles and thought it would be a great addition to the Lansing organizations,” she says. She also has enjoyed serving as a Teaching Assistant for Evidence, and for Criminal Procedure. “The best part of being a TA is relieving students from their exam anxiety,” she says. “Everyone is troubled by the unknown, so it’s nice to give students a little insight into what they can expect and that helps them focus on the material that matters.” During the pandemic, Zieah found the challenge of remote learning was actually a benefit. “Remote learning appears to be a disconnected method of learning, but my peers and I have had a very different experience,” she says. “Our group chat of students turned into a 25-member family because virtual learning brings down those walls that the classroom restricts to who sits next to you. Since then, we’ve supported organizations we probably wouldn’t have had interest in, celebrated weddings, consoled losses, had picnics, and held holiday parties. “I think this has a lot to do with how intimate online learning can be. Our computer screens were a window into one another’s personal lives. We saw family members pass by, where people lay their heads, the pets they love, their children, and so on. For me, it was an advantage to getting through law school.” Her 8-year-old twin boys, Dylan and Nolan, were 5 when Zieah started law school. “While their father didn’t enjoy how virtual classrooms took over our home, sharing the remote learning experience with them helped all of us get through it,” she says. A Youth Education Committee Member of the Oakland County Bar Association, Zieah also is a student associate of the Oakland County Inns of Court where teams of legal professionals and students give presentations on different areas of the law. “This experience exposed me to the relationships that judges and attorneys have outside of the courtroom and helped me see how supportive the legal community is,” she says. “The opportunity to get advice from working professionals has helped shaped the career path I plan on taking.” She plans on launching her career in the field of criminal defense. “Hopefully, that helps set the foundation for appellate work. I enjoy areas of the law that are geared towards appellate work—specifically, criminal appeals. This area of the law is where I can combine my passions for writing and oral advocacy,” she says. “The most important thing about my career goals is that I’m able to maintain a healthy work-life balance. I’ve met too many attorneys who are unhappy because they chose an area of the law or a place of employment for all the wrong reasons and I plan on doing everything I can to avoid this predicament.” The Detroit native, who now calls Sterling Heights home, was a volunteer coach for Detroit PAL, a volleyball program for 7th to 12th grade girls. The team, at that time, earned Best Academic Team and was runner-up for the championship title. “I’m a firm believer that sports show us how effective we can be when we work with others,” Zieah says. “As a teenager, I always believed that if I wanted it done right, I should do it myself. Playing volleyball helped me see how much people can improve over short periods of time and it helped me learn how to trust other people and their abilities. “In classrooms, we can’t see grades evolve and improve over time, but we can watch our teammates go from shanking every ball to hitting their target or getting closer with each day. Because this valuable lesson can’t be taught in a classroom, coaching was my way of paying it forward.”
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.
At the end of his first year elected the 115th President of the New Jersey State Senate, Senator Nicholas Scutari is leading the upper chamber for the 220th Legislative Session. Scutari was first elected to the State Senate in 2003 to represent the 22nd District, which includes the Middlesex County municipalities of Dunellen and Middlesex, the Somerset County municipalities of Green Brook and North Plainfield, and the Union County municipalities of Clark, Fanwood, Linden, Plainfield, Rahway, Scotch Plains, and Winfield. A lifelong Linden resident, Senator Scutari began his career in public service in 1994 when he was elected to the Linden Board of Education. Senator Scutari was elected to the Union County Freeholder Board in 1996. He served as Union County Freeholder Vice Chairman in 1998 and as Union County Freeholder Chairman in 1999. He is the youngest person ever to serve as Freeholder Chairman in Union County. As Senator to the 22nd Legislative District, Senator Scutari has spearheaded several initiatives that benefit both the citizens within the 22nd district and the State of New Jersey as a whole. He is a strong advocate for insurance reform and has sponsored legislation to create a more consumer-friendly environment. Another priority for him is having a fair, competent, and qualified Judiciary in New Jersey. Senator Scutari was the longest serving Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee in New Jersey history. He continues to be committed to the thorough vetting and scrutiny of judicial nominees, cabinet nominations, and other gubernatorial appointments. He also recognizes the importance of caring for the ill and infirmed in the State. To that end, was the primary sponsor of the ‘New Jersey Compassionate Use Medical Marijuana Act,’ which allows New Jersey citizens suffering from chronic and debilitating illnesses, for whom currently available treatments and medications have proven ineffective, to receive medicinal marijuana to treat and help alleviate their symptoms. Senator Scutari has been a long-standing opponent of draconian drug policies and this landmark piece of legislation served as a first step in getting cannabis outside of the underground. In 2021, Senator Scutari spearheaded legislation that would create the legal and regulatory framework for the cannabis industry in the state of New Jersey. This landmark legislation helped to create thousands of jobs in a new industry sector while righting countless legal injustices that people have faced generationally. Also, a strong advocate for quality education, Senator Scutari has supported a number of pieces of legislation that would provide funding and expand programs to ensure that New Jersey citizens receive the high-quality education they deserve. Senator Scutari is a graduate of Linden High School where he was captain of the Varsity Wrestling Team. He received his Bachelor’s Degree from Kean College in less than three years at the age of only 20. He received his Masters Degree in less that one year at Rutgers’s University at the age of 21. He earned his Law Degree from Cooley Law School and was awarded the John D. Voelker Award as the school’s Outstanding Law Review Associate. A practicing attorney with an office located in Linden, Senator Scutari is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey. Finally, Senator Scutari is also an Eagle Scout since 1984.
Roger and Marilyn Grove had been donors and supporters of Cooley Law School. Roger was also a good friend of Judge Brennan’s. Both avid sports fans and athletes, they often met up for a match of tennis or racquetball or pickle ball, or a friendly duel in almost any sport. Roger was also a musician. He was a tenor and first baritone horn for the MSU Concert Band.
The do-it-yourself tradition at Thomas M. Cooley Law School survived its growth and success.
Cooley Law School Assistant Dean and Professor Erika Breitfeld was selected by her peers as Michigan Lawyers Weekly’s Lawyer of the Year for 2022. Breitfeld said she picked up on a common theme as she heard about her fellow honorees’ achievements.
