Western Michigan University Cooley Law School Blog

“Calm” is not a word that typically springs to mind when thinking about the practice of law – particularly criminal law. From stressed attorneys to frantic defendants, looming deadlines, over-crowded trial calendars, and high-stakes courtroom drama, “calm” just isn’t an adjective that typically gets put into play in the legal arena.

WMU-Cooley Law School graduate Jon Kohler (Adams Class, 1997), is the founder of Jon Kohler & Associates, the #1 plantation brokerage in the United States. Kohler attributes the work ethic and education he gained at WMU-Cooley Law School with his continued success. Read below Mr. Kohler’s interview with writer Adam York in this  Dec. 6, 2016 blog. 

What are the keys to a successful law practice? For family law attorneys Nikki Maples (Sibley Class, 2011) and Meagan Jones (Nelson Class, 2018), the answers are easy – fostering professional relationships and a strong interest in the people who show up on the doorstep of Maples | Jones, PLLC, in Austin, Texas.

James Turgal stared at his phone in shock. In just five minutes, his life had been completely changed. Settled in nicely to his post as Special Agent in Charge for the FBI in Phoenix, Arizona, moving across the country was not on his to-do list. But when your boss – who happens to be FBI Director Robert Mueller – calls and tells you he needs you back in Washington, D.C., ASAP, you just start packing up your house and go.

Choi T. Portis (Wilkins Class, 2011), a Detroit native and deputy general counsel for the city of Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, will tell people affectionately and with a laugh that her day job is centered on “fighting over sewer water.”

Nurisha Azizi Harvey graduated cum laude with a Juris Doctor and concentration in litigation from WMU-Cooley Law School. She shared the day with the William Strong Class during a virtual graduation ceremony on Sunday, December 6, 2020. Then she was sworn in on June 11, 2021 as a new attorney during a ceremony held at the historic Sarasota County Courtroom in Sarasota, Florida  by the Honorable Charles E. Williams. The next month Harvey was admitted to the Bar of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

When offices started closing down back on March 16 of 2020, John Desmond (Person Class, 1994) remembered thinking at the time that this whole thing would only last two to three weeks, maybe four weeks max.

Growing up, Erika Weiss’ (Livingston Class, 2014) family didn’t talk much about their Native American ancestry. While In middle school, Weiss remembers often being asked, “what are you?” She wasn’t sure how to answer what seemed like a strange question, often saying to herself “I’m a human,” while realizing she “stuck out like a sore thumb” to those asking the question.

Samuel A. Onyegam (Wilkins Class, 2011) would be the first to say he had a good time as a student at WMU-Cooley Law School. But that didn’t mean he was into partying or the bar scene in Lansing, Michigan. He had one priority as a law student. He would make as much out of his law school education and experience as possible, and a good time meant staying focused on “learning the law the right way.”

Southfield, Michigan tax attorney Chelsea Rebeck (Ellsworth Class, 2012) could see the handwriting on the wall as soon as the first news reports of the Covid-19 pandemic shutdowns started streaming in.