Category: Law School Spotlights

As a third-year law student, Brianna Vaughn knew she was interested in probate. To get more experience in the field, she spent her last semester at Drake Law School working as a judicial intern for Polk County Associate Probate Judge Craig Block.

Food trucks can now operate in downtown Des Moines thanks to the work of Drake Law School students. In a Drake Law course on sustainability and law, students were tasked with writing ordinances for issues related to entrepreneurship, energy efficiency, waste management, and water management.

Poppy Davis, 2014 graduate of Drake Law School, interrupted a strong career path to attend law school. She has now been hired by SAGE (Sustainable Agriculture Education) as program director.

Before graduating from law school, Austin Mouw, a third-year law student at Drake, has already won two jury trials and a case before the Iowa Supreme Court.

Ryan Rohlfsen, LW’99, graduated law school having accomplished a lot: member of Drake Law Review, a C. Edwin Moore winner, the Rodney L. Hudson Supreme Court Oral Argument top advocate, and high honors.

Through an internship with the Iowa Appellate Defenders Office and working in the Advanced Criminal Law Clinic, Mouw tried (and won) his first jury trial and he argued in front of the Supreme Court of Iowa.

From Beijing to Des Moines, Brooke Yang has had quite the law school experience. She has gobbled up every experience possible in her first two years of law school – including a clerkship with a federal judge and an internship with a high profile firm in Hong Kong.

As Andy Duffelmeyer prepares to start his third year of law school, he’s spending his summer immersed in the realities of stormwater management, urban sprawl, energy efficiency and waste reduction.

Paul Foo, BN'00, and Daniel Herting, LW'11, have formed an organization to help immigrants in Iowa find access to professional services, so they can lead successful personal and professional lives.

One program unique to Drake Law is the Legislative Practice Certificate Program. The program gives Drake Law students a first-hand look at the legislative process in Iowa. One student not only glimpsed the mechanisms of law-making, but helped shape policy in Iowa.