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.
Read More
“Distinguished both at the lectern and on the bench” Cooley Law School established the Frederick J. Griffith III Adjunct Faculty Award in 1997. It is named for the late Rick Griffith, who was a Lansing lawyer and long-time adjunct professor at Cooley. Cooley is enriched by the dedicated, experienced, and talented members of our adjunct faculty They blend teaching with active careers in a great variety of law practice settings.
EGRESS? You are in a crowded restaurant. The fire alarm goes off and diners rush for the doors. One door is marked EGRESS and one is marked EXIT. Which one leads to safety? Answer: both. But head for the Egress. It could have life-or-death consequences. Here’s why. Most of the diners likely do not know the word egress. The Plain English Lexicon says of egress that only 2/3 of Americans who completed grade 16 (four years of college) are likely to understand its meaning. It’s a college-grad word. Yet according to the Literacy Project Foundation, the average American reads at a junior-high grade level. This level of literacy might well result in a backup of diners trying to get through the Exit door and clear sailing at the Egress door.
A national ranking of 200 small college towns by Preply.com selected Lansing, home of Cooley Law School, as the fifth best in Michigan. The ranking was based on economic and social environment factors including having a college or university, a vibrant community, and affordability. Lansing is first and foremost a small college town because it has two small colleges: Cooley Law School and Lansing Community College. What makes Lansing a great small college town—and a great place to live and visit—is that it has a small college-town feel. It has the sense of being in an artistic community, with students pursuing higher education, trying to discover themselves and what they will do with the rest of their lives. Every small college town is different, even when they’re located right next to each other. That doesn’t make one better than the other. Better yet, you don’t have to choose. Michigan State University in East Lansing is a boon to the Greater Lansing Area, but so is General Motors' historic investment in Lansing. Lansing is also the state capital, with a lot of history in museums—art, history, and science—as well as its buildings, parks, streets, and a walk-through sculpture garden. The Cooley Law School campus is an artifact and attraction, with historic structures that were renovated (the classic exterior) and updated (the modern interior). It also has a dedicated greenspace that helped it achieve an environmentally responsible designation from the Society for Environmentally Responsible Facilities in June 2013. Preply rated the small college towns on 13 different indicators in three categories that affect college students including: Wallet Friendliness: The cost of apartment rental, a meal in an inexpensive restaurant, a beer, and a fitness club membership. Social Environment: the per capita rate of cafes, parks, nightlife venues and diversity as measured by foreign-born residents, as well as crime. Economic Opportunities: the average salary, the employment and unemployment rates, and the cost of buying an apartment. The social environment includes: Live music and theater, including little-known and local talent. Art galleries that feature work by local artists, sometimes the owner of the shop. Other unique shops full of character with quirky names (Elderly Instruments: “New, Used & Vintage Musical Instruments,” plus electronics and other accessories). Non-college classes where anyone can learn ballet or belly dance, acting, or art. You don’t even need to take a class; there are art parties where everybody creates a painting or screen print on the spot. Come see for yourself! Check out the Cooley Law School campus and discover Lansing’s other hidden treasures.
With the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the law school, it seems fitting to look back at where we have come from through the eyes of the Library. The Law Library has a substantial Cooley Law School Archives collection relating to materials collected that are historical in nature containing various publications created and distributed by the school. The collection is large with nearly 1,000 items. While there is little new material being added to this collection due to the role the internet plays in creating a communications presence, you might be surprised to know that it does continue to grow. Links have been added when possible to online additions and there are some messages that are best conveyed in a print format. That is where this collection becomes invaluable.
The first person in her family to attend law school, Alyssa Emery will graduate from Cooley Law School in August—and after receiving a federal clerkship through the “Just the Beginning” Program, will do legal writing and research this summer for a district court judge out of Washington, D.C. “I interviewed with another candidate before deciding on the one with D.C, but there was something about the way the staff talked about the judge that I knew this was the position for me,” she says. Emery launched her academic trajectory with undergrad and master’s degrees in philosophy, cum laude, from Wayne State University. “I’ve always been someone who has asked ‘why’ and philosophy showed me I wasn’t alone,” she says. “I love learning and obtaining knowledge. Philosophy is a bottomless well of knowledge.” That same passion for knowledge drew Emery to the legal field.
Below is a conversation surrounding Standard 303. Curriculum with Demetria Frank, Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion, University of Memphis Law In February, 2022, the ABA adopted a new Standard for Legal Education. The new Standard, 303(c), provides:
Of course, everything is online. While that statement is not actually true, most materials a practicing attorney are looking for can be found in a digital format. The questions are where to look and what resources are available?
Elizabeth Devolder (Hughes Class, 2016) was nothing short of a superstar in law school. She excelled in classes and student competitions, even winning a national championship in the American Bar Association’s 2015 Client Counseling Competition. On top of that, she was selected as one of National Jurist’s 25 future lawyers honored in the national publication’s inaugural “Law Student of the Year” feature in 2016.
Coolcat has been around since 1990, yet whenever I write about it, I say “Coolcat, the library online catalog.” It replaces the paper card catalog which is now something that very few current students even remember. When the Library developed its first version of the online catalog, it was likely one of the first 25 academic law libraries to do so. The visionary leadership of Judith Ansbach, with librarians Pam Bartlett and Rita Marsala, as well as staff member Susan Oliver, helped us quickly transition to the newly emerging high-tech record-keeping system that we still call Coolcat.
