By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Wayne State University Law School student Marie Reimers set her sights on law school at a tender age.
“I was seven years old when I asked my mom if she had enough money to send me to law school,” she says with a smile.
With one uncle as an assistant prosecutor and another as a magistrate, both in Saginaw County, Reimers comes naturally to the field of law.
She started on her career path with a triple major in women’s studies, political science and sociology from Central Michigan University.
“I discovered feminism in high school, and it changed my life,” she says. “I realized that many of the things I was experiencing were experienced by women all over the world – negative body image, sexism, lack of self-esteem. I wanted to learn more about the experiences of other women. I also wanted to be a force in the world to fight back against the oppression women face.
“I was drawn to sociology because it helped explain the way the world worked, and it demonstrates how the world could look without oppression.”
As a freshman, she had entertained thoughts of a political career, but quickly nixed that idea. At the end of undergrad, she looked at obtaining an MSW or a JD – and opted for the latter. She is now a rising 2L at Wayne Law, where she enjoys networking through the National Lawyers Guild and is an advocate for social justice.
“I’m incredibly privileged to have the education I have,” she explains. “In undergrad I worked with kids who were trying to gain access to college but were up against barriers like poverty, poor schools, and racism. I didn’t have those barriers; my parents were able to send me to college. I had to give back to my community.
“The legal system is complicated – it touches the lives of so many people, and there aren’t enough lawyers in the world to help every person who finds themselves wrapped up in a legal dispute,” she adds. “I can’t imagine trying to navigate the legal system without the help of a lawyer, but so many people attempt to do it because they can’t afford an alternative. I think that’s a great injustice, and that access to guidance and advice in all legal matters is something everyone deserves.”
Reimers is clerking this summer at the Family Law Project in Ann Arbor, through a Wayne Law Public Interest Law Fellowship. Part of Legal Services of South Central Michigan, the organization does family law for low-income survivors of domestic violence.
“The Family Law Project fulfills all the things I was looking for in a job, it’s legal aid that helps women in poverty. I gain so much experience and I get to do what I love,” she says.
Her work includes interviewing women for intake, preparing pleadings and initial filings, communicating between clients and lawyers, and drafting motions.
“The women we work with are so brave and so strong – “I’m inspired by them every day,” she says. “The amount of bravery it takes to leave an abusive relationship is awe-inspiring. I feel very privileged that I get to help these women move forward with their lives. My dream job would be for me to do what I’m doing now. I know that wherever I end up, I want to be in legal aid.”
Reimers has particular praise for her supervising attorneys: Emily Miller, Rebecca Ellis, and Rebecca Shiemke.
“All of them have demonstrated to me what being a public interest lawyer truly means – they work so hard and advocate so well for our clients,” she says. “Before working here I didn’t have the opportunity to observe many female lawyers, so I really value my ability to do so at this placement.
“I think being able to see yourself in your supervisors is something that’s very important as a young professional. My supervisors really demonstrate what it means to be a legal advocate for women.”
Always involved with pro-choice activism, Reimers is a staunch member of Law Students for Reproductive Justice.
“The right to an abortion should be absolute,” she says. “Reproductive justice also entails the right to give birth the way one wants, the right to parent, the right to contraception, the right to raise one’s child the way one wants. Women’s suffering will not end until women enjoy full choice and control over their bodies – as long as forces exist to deny women those rights, feminists need to devote time to maintain those rights.”
Drawn to join The National Lawyers Guild by its belief in “people over property,” Reimers serves as an NLG legal observer in Detroit and traveled to Cleveland for
the Republican National Convention to do legal work with the National Lawyers Guild on behalf of leftist protestors.
“The majority of the people I’ve met in the NLG share my values – they believe in ending poverty and injustice and have a strong value system,” she says.
“The NLG attempts to subvert existing oppressive hierarchies in the legal system,” she adds. “I don’t believe the system can be totally changed from within, but I do believe someone needs to be on guard to stop the system from doing more damage than it already does. I admire NLG lawyers who devote their careers to their values. I believe protecting the poor from further subjugation by the ruling class should be the goal of radical lawyering.”
Reimers believes poverty is a choice society has made.
“Poverty does not need to exist – we’ve created it so a ruling class can maintain power in our society,” she says. “Women and children don’t need to suffer. Men allow and contribute to the suffering of women and children because it reinforces the power they hold in society.
“I believe poverty and violence are unnecessary, and that we as a society have failed women and by extension, children. I want to do everything I can to alleviate the suffering of women and children. Women and children living in poverty are at high risk of being cheated by the legal system – if I can do something to ensure that won’t happen, I will.”
During the school year, Reimers volunteered at United Community Housing Coalition, escorted patients at two Detroit-area abortion clinics, and recently organized a street-medic training for the Detroit community.
The Saginaw native currently makes her home in Detroit, with her cat Boudica, and enjoys the diversity of the Motor City. A swimmer since childhood, and a certified lifeguard, in her undergrad years she helped coach a youth swim team.
“I’m a member of the Detroit YMCA and swim laps three times a week,” she says. “Last year I did my first open water race and I hope to do more in the future.”
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