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Isabel Zagazeta: From Toronto to Tampa, Building a Future in Law

Isabel Zagazeta: From Toronto to Tampa, Building a Future in Law

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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  • Sept. 14, 2001 on the Cooley Law School Steps: Remarks by Then President and Founder Thomas E. Brennan
    Sept. 14, 2001 on the Cooley Law School Steps: Remarks by Then President and Founder Thomas E. Brennan

    Sept. 14, 2001 on the Cooley Law School Steps: Remarks by Then President and Founder Thomas E. Brennan

    After closing down the law school immediately following the tragic events of September 11, 2001, then-President and Founder Thomas E. Brennan gathered the Cooley community — a family of students and faculty, staff and graduates, family and friends — to share in their heartbreak, fear, disbelief, and grief surrounding the horrific events that happened a few days earlier. Below are Judge Brennan's remarks.

  • You can do anything; it all comes down to what you want
    You can do anything; it all comes down to what you want

    You can do anything; it all comes down to what you want

    To say Victoria McCormick is dedicated to her country, her legal studies, and to service is to state the obvious. Not only did she work as a JAG Corps Paralegal Specialist for the Michigan Army National Guard, she worked as a paralegal for the Loomis Law Firm and Cooley Law School's Innocence Project, all while attending law school at Cooley Law School's Lansing campus.

  • Force. Fear. Coercion. How human trafficking victims fall prey and how to stop modern day slavery.
    Force. Fear. Coercion. How human trafficking victims fall prey and how to stop modern day slavery.

    Force. Fear. Coercion. How human trafficking victims fall prey and how to stop modern day slavery.

    This blog was originally published on June 23, 2015. There are plenty of myths and misconceptions about human trafficking. Some believe that human trafficking does not occur in the United States. Others think that human trafficking victims are only foreign born, or that they are always poor. Some have the misconception that human trafficking is only sex trafficking. Nothing could be further from the truth.

  • Cooley graduate Josh Mikrut: Huge, Gaping Hole and Need for Immigration Attorneys
    Cooley graduate Josh Mikrut: Huge, Gaping Hole and Need for Immigration Attorneys

    Cooley graduate Josh Mikrut: Huge, Gaping Hole and Need for Immigration Attorneys

    Josh Mikrut spent his entire academic career in West Michigan, including his undergrad years at Grand Valley State University majoring in political science and philosophy (with a minor in Spanish), and his master’s degree in international development administration at Western Michigan University, where he also met his wife.

  • Cooley Graduate Andrew Hudson: Path from Teacher to Lawyer Inspired Choice
    Cooley Graduate Andrew Hudson: Path from Teacher to Lawyer Inspired Choice

    Cooley Graduate Andrew Hudson: Path from Teacher to Lawyer Inspired Choice

    This blog was originally published on Sep 9, 2016. It made sense for Andrew Hudson, now an assistant attorney general for the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, to go into education for his first career.

  • Virginia Cairns: Graduates understand exactly what is meant by Cooley's rigorous curriculum and standards
    Virginia Cairns: Graduates understand exactly what is meant by Cooley's rigorous curriculum and standards

    Virginia Cairns: Graduates understand exactly what is meant by Cooley's rigorous curriculum and standards

    My name is Virginia (Susie) Cairns. I graduated from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in 1982 as a member of the Brooke Class. Some time ago I was reading some offputting remarks about TMC as it relates to a graduate from the law school at that time. I do not recall him from my days at Cooley, but I do know TMC.

  • The Importance of Definitions
    The Importance of Definitions

    The Importance of Definitions

    New students will quickly learn that first-term courses do not include Vocabulary 101. Rather, students are expected to master the law’s terminology on their own, by looking up every word in their assigned cases that they don’t understand.

  • The Real Truth About Law School
    The Real Truth About Law School

    The Real Truth About Law School

    First, in the interest of full disclosure, I am an academic paid by way of student tuition dollars. I make a good living doing what I do, but I teach because I love the challenge and the students and faculty I work with. If I wished, I could leave my current position and make more money in private practice if I went that route. It might take me a couple years to get up and running, but I have worked in sales on commission very successfully in the past and I know how to produce income were that my only goal in life.

  • Cooley graduate Brandon Moultrie: Forging lasting memories and lifelong friendships
    Cooley graduate Brandon Moultrie: Forging lasting memories and lifelong friendships

    Cooley graduate Brandon Moultrie: Forging lasting memories and lifelong friendships

    This blog was originally published on May 17, 2017 Cooley Law School graduate Brandon Moultrie knew he wanted to go to law school, and knew that he wanted to do it Florida. Ever since he did his undergrad in the Sunshine State, he relished the opportunity to come back. It took one campus visit to Cooley's Tampa Bay campus to be convinced. Everybody made him feel like he was already home.