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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Congratulations! Your article has been researched, written, edited, and—hurray!—published. After all that work, why stop with one article? With some imagination, you may be able to develop one or more spin-off pieces for other publications. Sometimes this may involve a reprinting of your article in full. More often it will take the form of an excerpt or abridgment.
What does the word “scribes” call to mind? For most people, it evokes the image of medieval monks copying manuscripts with quill pens. But modernly it also refers to a society of legal writers.
Cooley Law School alumnus Rick Conklin always had a passion for the law—and while earning his undergrad degree in communications from Grand Valley State University, realized Lady Justice was calling his name.
During this age of the Coronavirus, numerous industries have been taking the necessary steps to adapt to the current realities, which has caused nearly everyone to do things differently within their working environments. And while many of these activities were already being done before the pandemic, years of change were packed into a very short amount of time. Yet these very changes may actually stick going forward, especially in the realm of legal education and the law. Consider these:
My fervent hope is to provide some historical perspective of the past year and the last three months. The title I came up with “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Maybe it should have been “These are the times that try men’s souls”
Maya Smith knew from childhood that her purpose was to give back and make an impact – and saw the legal field as the way to effectuate change. Clearly it was the right choice.
Charles Ford has lived life large, not only as a star athlete, but as an attorney and a successful sports and life coach for kids. He is without question a man of many talents with many gifts to share.
As beginning law students soon learn, what we call “legal reasoning” can be expressed by the formula IRAC. It’s the law’s version of the deductive syllogism. It stands for Issue, Rule, Application, and Conclusion. First, identify the salient issue (“Is Socrates mortal?”). Then, state the applicable rule (“All men are mortal”). Next, apply the rule to the relevant facts (“Socrates is a man”). This leads inexorably to the conclusion (“Therefore Socrates is mortal”).
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The 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award was presented to Amy Rombyer Tripp (Blair Moody Class, 1996) and Karen Truszkowski (Richard H. Flannigan Class, 1999). The coveted award is presented at the annual meeting of the Cooley Law School Alumni Association, and this past year, the virtual ceremony was held on November 19, 2020. Recipients are chosen by the Past President's Committee of the Alumni Association and awarded annually.
