Recent Cooley Law School graduate Aimee Lorencz is turning years of professional experience and a passion for justice into a future career in criminal law. In a feature published by Legal News, Lorencz reflects on her journey from working as a correctional officer and CPS investigator to earning her law degree while balancing family, work, and leadership responsibilities. As a weekend/blended student, Lorencz immersed herself in hands-on learning opportunities including externships, moot court competitions, the Cooley Innocence Project, and student leadership roles. Her experiences strengthened her passion for criminal law, ethics, and advocacy. Read more about Aimee's story here: https://legalnews.com/Home/Articles?DataId=1606383.
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Life experiences are what make us who we are. From time spent with family and friends, to education and entertainment, we never know when a seemingly ordinary experience will open a door to amazing possibilities.
Cooley Law School graduate Ogenna Iweajunwa recently accepted a clerkship with Justice Richard Bernstein at the Michigan Supreme Court. However, less than 10 years ago, she was learning how to tackle basic tasks such as expressing herself, pumping gas, or ordering food at a drive-through restaurant.
Hassan Abdallah was born and raised in Dearborn, Michigan, but knew his story started long before then. As a U.S. citizen, he started to realize as he got older what a sheltered life he had lived. Listening to stories his parents told about how they struggled and sacrificed to come to America, he recognized that it was through their suffering that he is the person he is today. His father left Lebanon first, in the name of freedom and opportunity, but it was his mother's selfless actions that taught him humility and gave him the work-ethic he has today. His mother had to leave everything she knew, and nearly everyone she loved, to follow her husband to a place she only knew by name.
On Thursday, July 22, 2021, Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced the appointment of OCBA member Kwame L. Rowe to the 6th Circuit Court of Oakland County. Kwame L. Rowe currently serves as an assistant prosecutor for Oakland County. In his current role, Rowe is a special assistant prosecuting attorney with the Trafficking Unit working on felony cases involving human trafficking, complex narcotics, and homicide. He previously served as a clerk under Judge Leo Bowman of the 6th Circuit Court. Rowe earned his Juris Doctor degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and holds a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University’s James Madison College. He is a member of the Oakland County Bar Association, Straker Bar Association, and Wolverine Bar Association, and he serves as a volunteer at Pontiac High School. Kwame lives in Pontiac with his wife, Gabriel, and children. On Friday, August 13, 2021, Judge Rowe was sworn in at a private swearing-in ceremony held at the Oakland County Commissioners Auditorium in Pontiac, Michigan. Judge Rowe with Cooley Professors Martha Moore (left) and Joan Vestrand (right).
For some of us, life takes us down roads we planned all along to take, leading us directly to the destination we desired. For others, taking one road leads to another, and then another, until suddenly we figure out that the path we are on has been a direct route to our self-actualization. For one Cooley couple, Michael and Antonia Lamb, their roads were known and unknown, but both found the road to law school, then to each other, the path to a destination that has been fulfilling, both personally and professionally.
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.
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.
I entered Cooley Law School after an established career as a high school English teacher, one of the few career options for women at that time. I had three young children at home when I started making the drive to Lansing from Grand Rapids, when Lansing was Cooley Law School's only campus option. It was interesting times, and I wanted to do more. I wanted to be an attorney.
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As a founding member of Dearborn, Michigan’s At Law Group, Dewnya Bakri-Bazzi’s (Chipman Class, 2011) journey into law began as a child and included influences from her family and faith.
