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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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  • Tampa Student Proves It: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way!
    Tampa Student Proves It: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way!

    Tampa Student Proves It: Where There’s a Will, There’s a Way!

    Cooley Law School has a reputation for giving to its students, to its communities and to the underserved. Through this legacy, students and graduates multiply the giving by undertaking their own initiatives to lend a helping hand when needed. During the recent hurricane disasters in the United States and Puerto Rico, one student, Amanda Mendez, found out just how much one person on a mission can accomplish with the help of friends and peers.

  • A Discussion on Immigration Policies and its Effects on Children
    A Discussion on Immigration Policies and its Effects on Children

    A Discussion on Immigration Policies and its Effects on Children

    Of all the timely and contentious issues facing the legal profession today, immigration law ranks at or near the top. On November 14, a Cooley Law Review Symposium addressed the topic and how children are impacted.

  • Cooley Security Guard an Institution and a Treasure
    Cooley Security Guard an Institution and a Treasure

    Cooley Security Guard an Institution and a Treasure

    Aspiring lawyers are often drawn to the law because it offers the opportunity to serve others, to make things right and to help those who cannot help themselves. But as law students become immersed in the rigors of their education, they sometimes find they are the ones who need a shoulder to lean on. At Cooley’s Tampa campus, that shoulder belongs to Willie Damon. Damon is a campus security guard who is “the face” of the law school every time you enter the facility. He started out at Cooley during construction and has been there ever since, welcoming new students, befriending those who need a listening ear, and wishing graduates well as they move forward in life. As the father of five daughters, a son and grandfather of 12, he’s a natural when it comes to giving.

  • Professor Burt Burleson Honored on Veterans Day with Adjunct Faculty Award
    Professor Burt Burleson Honored on Veterans Day with Adjunct Faculty Award

    Professor Burt Burleson Honored on Veterans Day with Adjunct Faculty Award

    Throughout its development and growth, Cooley Law School has been fortunate to engage the services of very gifted and dedicated adjunct (part-time) professors. Twenty years ago, the school initiated a way to honor one outstanding adjunct professor each year with an award recognizing them before their students and peers.

  • Emily Horvath: Advocate for the Unconventional
    Emily Horvath: Advocate for the Unconventional

    Emily Horvath: Advocate for the Unconventional

    Cooley Law School is not cut from the same cloth as traditional law schools; rather it’s fashioned to be a little unconventional—like many of our students—providing the structured flexibility other law schools can’t.

  • Cooley Law School: It’s all about the real world
    Cooley Law School: It’s all about the real world

    Cooley Law School: It’s all about the real world

    Attending law school gets to be like living in a vacuum, with little time allowed for anything beyond attending classes and studying. At Cooley Law School, however, faculty go to great lengths to make law school a broadening, inclusive experience. They feel strongly that immersion in the law must include immersion in the world, and understand how essential that experience is.

  • New state bureau overseeing Michigan medical marihuana program
    New state bureau overseeing Michigan medical marihuana program

    New state bureau overseeing Michigan medical marihuana program

    In effect for almost a year, Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Facility Licensing Act (MMFLA) is under the auspices of the new Bureau of Medical Marihuana Regulation, which also oversees administration of the 2008-initiated Michigan’s Medical Marihuana Licensing Act. Activities delegated to the Bureau include licensing medical marihuana growing, processing, transporting, provisioning (selling,) and safety compliance.

  • Mother of Five Stops to Smell the Lilacs in Toronto
    Mother of Five Stops to Smell the Lilacs in Toronto

    Mother of Five Stops to Smell the Lilacs in Toronto

    Cooley Law School student Christy Hauter-Nichols never thought study abroad was an option because of her hectic schedule as a wife, mother of five, businesswoman and law student. However, a chat with Valerie, her good friend, fellow law student, and a mom herself, changed everything.

  • Kyona McGhee chosen for leadership event at Harvard Law
    Kyona McGhee chosen for leadership event at Harvard Law

    Kyona McGhee chosen for leadership event at Harvard Law

    For some people, excelling in law school is enough to keep their plate full. For others–Kyona McGhee included–their plate is never full enough; so, they keep piling it on. McGhee, of Flint, Michigan, a third-year student at Cooley Law School's Auburn Hills campus, was recently chosen to attend the National Women’s Law Students Organization’s (NWLSO) inaugural Ms. JD Leadership Academy at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Described as an “initiative created to further the mission of supporting and improving the experiences of women law students,” the Academy admitted just 50 students nationwide to attend the intensive workshop in September.