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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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  • Courtney Yonker: Cooley Law School Dean’s Fellow Feature
    Courtney Yonker: Cooley Law School Dean’s Fellow Feature

    Courtney Yonker: Cooley Law School Dean’s Fellow Feature

    “It was just a feeling,” said Cooley Law School student Courtney Yonker, when she tried to explain how she ended up going to law school and why she chose Cooley Law School. At first the thought of law school was scary, but then she remembered that her father, Marc Yonker, not only got through law school, but has loved his career ever since. “It’s just like what you see in the movies when everyone talks about law school, it’s like this nightmare,” explained Yonker. “I used to hear everyone talk about the cold calling in class, and, oh my gosh, it seemed so terrifying. But then I thought of my dad who went to law school – he went to Cooley’s Lansing campus – and he had such a great experience.”

  • The Semi-Legendary, Borderline Spectacular, Mostly Memorable Seniors–Faculty Basketball Games
    The Semi-Legendary, Borderline Spectacular, Mostly Memorable Seniors–Faculty Basketball Games

    The Semi-Legendary, Borderline Spectacular, Mostly Memorable Seniors–Faculty Basketball Games

    For a little more than a decade beginning in the late 1980s, on the morning of graduation, the Cooley Law School graduating seniors and the faculty engaged in a game of basketball.

  • Modern Legal Education: What It Is and Why It Is So Important
    Modern Legal Education: What It Is and Why It Is So Important

    Modern Legal Education: What It Is and Why It Is So Important

    WHAT IS “MODERN LEGAL EDUCATION”? Does it describe a particular program? Is it a term that outlines a specific set of programs with rules and protocols to follow? Or does “modern legal education” simply encompass anything since the time when the fictional Professor Kingsfield terrified first-term students in John Jay Osborn Jr.’s “The Paper Chase.” The answer is a little bit of all of the above, plus the opinions, projects, and ideas of a vast number of legal scholars dedicated to putting forth their ideas in publication.

  • Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci
    Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci

    Journey to Esquire Podcast: Krystle Cacci

    In this episode of Journey to Esquire, founder of Diversity Access Pipeline Inc. and WMU-Cooley Law School Professor Joseline Hardrick passes the mic to WMU-Cooley Law School graduate Krystle Cacci. She is an Appellate Attorney, Statewide Guardian ad Litem Office and is an experienced policy analyst with a demonstrated history of working in the public and private sectors. Fun fact: Krystle's mother is also a lawyer and was a judge on the Florida 1st District Court of Appeals from 2010-2016.

  • Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media
    Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media

    Cooley Law School Prof. & Ret. Brig. Gen. Michael C.H. McDaniel Gives Balloon Analysis to Media

    Early in February the nation was introduced to the world of surveillance balloons as the U.S. Military shot down what was believed to be a Chinese balloon off the east coast. And a few days later three more balloons, which we have since learned were most likely not part of China’s surveillance program, were shot down by military fighter jets.

  • Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals
    Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals

    Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo: Education key to reaching goals

    To describe the most recent couple years in Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo’s life as a whirlwind would be an understatement of epic proportions. Many people in the world went into a sort of hibernation during the pandemic. Not the Hon. Jigisa Patel-Dookhoo (Coleman Class, 2009).

  • Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success
    Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success

    Kara Hope: Talking – and especially listening – key to success

    Kara (Henigan) Hope has come a long way since that fateful day when she was called upon to stand and recite in the late Professor Peter Jason’s Contracts I class. An introvert by nature, Kara was beyond nervous as she responded, but she learned something important about herself that day – she could do it.

  • Neena Sterling: Cooley gives extra push, fight, and motivation to excel in law school
    Neena Sterling: Cooley gives extra push, fight, and motivation to excel in law school

    Neena Sterling: Cooley gives extra push, fight, and motivation to excel in law school

    Neena Sterling (Gray Class, 2022) knew she wanted to be a lawyer since she was a young girl. When she graduated from college she was on track, but ended up hitting some bumps and taking time off to work for a year. In 2016, she had a daughter, and her dream of law school was put on the back burner.

  • Engineering a career: Cooley student sets sights on environmental law
    Engineering a career: Cooley student sets sights on environmental law

    Engineering a career: Cooley student sets sights on environmental law

    Krysten Hergert earned her undergrad degree in scientific and technical communication from Michigan Technological University, starting her studies in environmental engineering.