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Derek Matthews gives next generation of Cooley Law School students a start in legal profession in Tampa

Derek Matthews gives next generation of Cooley Law School students a start in legal profession in Tampa

Derek Matthews (Vinson Class, 2017) is no stranger to giving back to Cooley Law School in the Tampa Bay region. Outside of legal practice, Matthews sponsors the annual Cooley Alumni Golf Outing in Tampa and participates in alumni events and mentoring programs to build relationships with faculty and fellow graduates.

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  • President of Women’s Law Association Eyes Career as Administrative Law Judge
    President of Women’s Law Association Eyes Career as Administrative Law Judge

    President of Women’s Law Association Eyes Career as Administrative Law Judge

    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.

  • ABA Standard 303(c) Causes Buzz in DEI Programming in Law Schools
    ABA Standard 303(c) Causes Buzz in DEI Programming in Law Schools

    ABA Standard 303(c) Causes Buzz in DEI Programming in Law Schools

    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:

  • Online? Which Database to Use?
    Online? Which Database to Use?

    Online? Which Database to Use?

    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: Connecting Love of Art and Law
    Elizabeth Devolder: Connecting Love of Art and Law

    Elizabeth Devolder: Connecting Love of Art and Law

    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 - Where It All Begins
    Coolcat - Where It All Begins

    Coolcat - Where It All Begins

    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.

  • There's No Point in Having Dreams if You're Not Going to Fulfill Them
    There's No Point in Having Dreams if You're Not Going to Fulfill Them

    There's No Point in Having Dreams if You're Not Going to Fulfill Them

    Pauline (Polly) Brennan was used to her husband, Tom — the late Michigan Supreme Court Justice Thomas E. Brennan Sr. — coming up with ideas — and plenty of them. Some were good, some not so good. “But some of his ideas were visionary,” she says, “And Cooley Law School was one of those.”

  • Helper Hyphens Aid Comprehension, Prevent Confusion
    Helper Hyphens Aid Comprehension, Prevent Confusion

    Helper Hyphens Aid Comprehension, Prevent Confusion

    I have blogged about the problem of excessive commas. Now I want to tackle the problem of a missing punctuation mark: the hyphen. I’m talking specifically about the hyphen that belongs in the middle of phrasal adjectives.

  • Honoree: Cooley alum named recipient of prestigious federal award
    Honoree: Cooley alum named recipient of prestigious federal award

    Honoree: Cooley alum named recipient of prestigious federal award

    Recent Cooley alumna Veller Morris almost went into a career in radiology—and it was sheer serendipity that she instead took a legal studies program.

  • Student Profile: Scholarship winner stays true to her longtime dream
    Student Profile: Scholarship winner stays true to her longtime dream

    Student Profile: Scholarship winner stays true to her longtime dream

    Riley Stheiner dreamed of becoming a lawyer as early as seventh grade, but after finishing her undergrad degree in legal studies and criminal justice from Grand Valley State University, she had second thoughts.