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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Cooley Law School Professors Matthew Marin and Amanda Fisher’s article, "Asynchronous Teaching Methodologies: Pandemic Reflections and Best Practices,” published in the Summer/Fall 2021 issue of The Learning Curve, a publication of the AALS Section of Academic Support . It includes well supported advice for the use of asynchronous methods, even after the return to the physical classroom.
Cooley Law School graduate Jon Kohler (Adams Class, 1997), is the founder of Jon Kohler & Associates, the #1 plantation brokerage in the United States. Kohler attributes the work ethic and education he gained at Cooley Law School with his continued success. Read below Mr. Kohler’s interview with writer Adam York in this Dec. 6, 2016 blog.
What are the keys to a successful law practice? For family law attorneys Nikki Maples (Sibley Class, 2011) and Meagan Jones (Nelson Class, 2018), the answers are easy – fostering professional relationships and a strong interest in the people who show up on the doorstep of Maples | Jones, PLLC, in Austin, Texas.
James Turgal stared at his phone in shock. In just five minutes, his life had been completely changed. Settled in nicely to his post as Special Agent in Charge for the FBI in Phoenix, Arizona, moving across the country was not on his to-do list. But when your boss – who happens to be FBI Director Robert Mueller – calls and tells you he needs you back in Washington, D.C., ASAP, you just start packing up your house and go.
Choi T. Portis (Wilkins Class, 2011), a Detroit native and deputy general counsel for the city of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, will tell people affectionately and with a laugh that her day job is centered on “fighting over sewer water.”
Nurisha Azizi Harvey graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor and concentration in litigation from Cooley Law School. She shared the day with the William Strong Class during a virtual graduation ceremony on Sunday, December 6, 2020. Then she was sworn in on June 11, 2021 as a new attorney during a ceremony held at the historic Sarasota County Courtroom in Sarasota, Florida by the Honorable Charles E. Williams. The next month Harvey was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Never tell Heather Silcott she can’t achieve success—whether in the legal field, hockey arena, or pageant world. A comment from an employer that she could “always be a legal assistant,” gave Silcott the impetus to apply to law school—and she is now a rising 3L at Cooley Law School with an exciting legal career in her sights.
When offices started closing down back on March 16 of 2020, John Desmond (Person Class, 1994) remembered thinking at the time that this whole thing would only last two to three weeks, maybe four weeks max.
Growing up, Erika Weiss’ (Livingston Class, 2014) family didn’t talk much about their Native American ancestry. While In middle school, Weiss remembers often being asked, “what are you?” She wasn’t sure how to answer what seemed like a strange question, often saying to herself “I’m a human,” while realizing she “stuck out like a sore thumb” to those asking the question.
