Category: Law School Spotlights

Meet Chas Cahil, the newly elected 2017-18 president of the Drake Law School Student Bar Association (SBA).

In 2003, Kristina Stanger was sitting in Professor Matthew Doré’s class when she got a phone call—she was being deployed to Iraq. Stanger returned to finish law school; today, she continues to serve while practicing law and raising a family.

Shontavia Johnson has only been director of Drake’s Intellectual Property Law Center for less than six months but is already working to make the center a hub for agriculture, biotechnology, and entrepreneurship.

Drake Law third-year student Thomas Tolbert has tried six felony jury trials during his internship with the Polk County Attorney’s Office in Des Moines, Iowa.

Not many Drake Law students graduate without getting to know Professor Laurie Doré. She teaches required courses Civil Procedure I and II and Evidence, oversees the Civil Litigation and Dispute Resolution Certificate program, and coaches Drake’s National Moot Court team.

From cocaine smugglers to war criminals to high-profile bank embezzlers, John Michelich, LW'77, has prosecuted all types of criminals during his 38-year career.

Third-year Drake Law student Jenna Kirsch spent the summer in Washington, D.C. working as a legislative intern for U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.

When Eleasalo “Salo” Va’alele Ale, LW’94, left his home in American Samoa, he had the goal of someday returning to the islands to serve his community. He now serves as the Attorney General for American Samoa, a position he has held since 2014.

On July 1, Jerry Anderson, the Richard M. and Anita Calkins Distinguished Professor of Law, will take over as dean of Drake Law School. He sat down for a Q&A to discuss his goals as dean, the current challenges facing legal education, and what sets Drake Law apart.

Sable Joseph is trying to fit as many experiences as she can into her three years at Drake Law – from an externship with the Iowa Supreme Court to clerking for the Iowa Secretary of State's Office.