Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Blog

Read how WMU-Cooley Law School graduate Mitch Zajac became a Good Samaritan during an early morning commute to work as an attorney with Butzel Long in this Legal News story by Sheila Pursglove below.

Recent WMU-Cooley Law School graduate Devin Blue loved law school, and is even more excited about beginning her career with the Grand Traverse Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Read Devin's story in this month's Legal News story by Sheila Pursglove below. 

After graduating from WMU-Cooley Law School in January, Geofrey Bilabaye will work as a research attorney at the Michigan Court of Appeals. Read about Geofrey's journey from Tanzania to a legal career in the Legal News story by Sheila Pursglove below. 

Growing up along the AuSable River, a young Colin Hunter watched as the AuSable River International Canoe Marathon would run alongside his family’s home in Grayling, Michigan, aspiring that one day he would enter and compete. In 1996, at the age of 15, he did. The grueling, 120-mile non-stop canoe race starts in Grayling and ends near the shores of Lake Huron in Oscoda, Michigan. What Hunter didn’t realize then was that training and competing in canoe racing would prepare him for success in law school and his career now as judge of the 46th Circuit Court in northern Michigan.

It’s hard to imagine when Kendra Smith (Person Class, 1994) and John Smith (Bird Class, 1995) attended WMU-Cooley Law School that they would end up being the real-life protagonists in a book written about an environmental case they defended, which would go all the way to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

Barbra Bachmeier (Fisher Class, 2007) has spent her life caring for others and is willing to go wherever, and do whatever she can, to help others in need. From working as a nurse across the globe in the U.S. Army National Guard to helping victims of interpersonal violence and advocating for children, Bachmeier is up for the task.

When Kevin Thomas (Witherell Class, 2010) began seeing rules protecting consumers being turned back and funding cut at the federal level, he decided to make a run for the New York Senate, a seat he was elected to during the November 6 general election. Thomas, a Democrat, beat out a 28-year incumbent for the state’s sixth district (Nassau County) seat, making him the first Indian-American to serve in the Empire State’s Senate.

Back in 2010, Rashida Tlaib was elected as the first Muslim woman to serve as a Michigan State Representative. On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, Tlaib made history again as one of the first two Muslim women, and the first Palestinian-American woman, to be elected to Congress. Below is a story that ran in the law school's July 2010 alumni publication Benchmark Column. 

It’s long been said that people in the Midwest are pretty laid back, friendly and helpful. Maybe that’s why so many people from other parts of the country look back with fondness on the time they spent learning the law in Michigan.

When you graduate from law school, you may have your eyes on only one prize, the bar examination. But it would do every new grad and every veteran alum well to take advantage of their alma mater’s alumni services, not just for a while, but for their entire career. Here’s why.