By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Prior to law school, Emily Baxter worked as an economic researcher focusing on work-family policy at the Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C.
“I really enjoyed the work and the ideas, but I knew I needed more concrete skills to make a difference — I believed studying law could provide me with the tools I lacked,” she said.
During this time, she also was a non-resident Fellow at Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society, before heading to the University of Michigan Law School.
Interested in litigation work, particularly employment law, the rising 3L student is getting a taste of Big Law this summer at the global law firm of Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston.
The firm, with other U.S. offices in Los Angeles, New York City, Silicon Valley, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C., as well as overseas in Paris, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, and London, focuses on complex transactional work and high-stakes litigation.
Baxter interned last summer with Judge Patty Shwartz of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Newark, N.J.
“I learned so much from watching Judge Shwartz and her clerks — they were brilliant, kind, and energetic,” she said. “I’d been told to expect a ‘sleepy circuit,’ but that wasn’t the case — it was so exciting to work on real cases and receive feedback from such amazing writers and legal thinkers.”
Entering law school four years after earning her master’s degree, Baxter threw herself into activities.
She served as a student advocate in the Unemployment Insurance Clinic, a 1L Senator in the student senate and worked as a political action co-chair for the Reproductive Rights and Justice organization.
At the same time, Baxter took part in the Michigan Access Program, was a quarterfinalist in the 1L Oral Advocacy Competition and served as a 1L representative in the American Constitution Society (ACS) where last year she served as co-president.
“I knew I wanted to do some of the things that, in retrospect, I hadn’t gotten to do as an undergrad — and I do tend to say yes to and try new things,” she said. “The biggest thing was that I wanted to be involved in and build the MLaw community. So, participating in student organizations, such as Reproductive Rights and Justice, or activities within the law school administration, such as the Nannes committee or the Michigan Access Program, have given me the chance to engage with my peers and learn from the expertise of faculty.
Participating in clinics, as well as being part of the Detroit Litigation Advocacy Workshop, “also provided a way to be involved and learn more about legal issues in Michigan beyond the walls of the MLaw Quad,” Baxter said.
In May, she was one of two MLaw students honored as Next Generation Leaders by the ACS.
“ACS has given me the opportunity to put together events and learn about issues we don’t often discuss in class,” she said. “To me, ACS is a community I’d always planned to take forward throughout my career. It’s a national network of progressive lawyers, and I’m truly excited to be an NGL to further engage in and grow through the ACS community.”
Her favorite ACS event was last year’s symposium for the 15th anniversary of the Grutter v. Bollinger landmark case, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the U-M Law School.
“Maureen Mahoney, who argued the case before the Supreme Court, and former law school Dean, Professor Evan Caminker, flew in for the event,” Baxter said. “It was gratifying to have over a hundred of my schoolmates there to learn about the legal strategy and legacy of that case from the lawyers and MLaw faculty who experienced it firsthand.”
Serving as editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law Reform married Baxter’s interest in scholarship and editing with her commitment to active and engaged leadership.
“The members of our managing editorial board team complement each other so well that my job is often working to facilitate and move forward their ideas,” she said. “I’m excited to publish next year.”
Baxter is enjoying her time in Ann Arbor.
“Michigan students say it so often that it’s clichéd, but the best part of MLaw truly is the people,” she said. “I’ve made smart, fun, and inspiring friends who’ve been there for me throughout law school, whether it was surviving a difficult exam, choosing a wedding dress, or checking out the newest restaurant in Ann Arbor. The professors have been amazing resources, as well, both academically and beyond.”
During undergraduate studies at Dartmouth College, where she earned her degree magna cum laude, Baxter spent a summer in Ireland, living with and researching Catholic nuns.
She went on to earn her master’s degree from the London School of Economics, where she interned at the International State Crime Initiative (ISCI) at King’s College, and was a research assistant at the Dickson Poon School of Law, designing a research database on Turkey regarding issues of politics, terrorism, religion and diplomacy.
Living in London during the celebrations for Queen Elizabeth’s 60th Jubilee and the 2012 Olympics was an exciting time.
“My favorite thing to do was to walk along the South Bank of the Thames — there’s so much history on the walk between Shakespeare’s Globe, the National Theater, and the ‘London ‘’Eye,’” she said. “I used to go for runs along the South Bank in the evening, when there were fewer tourists, and it was wonderful to see the whole city laid out along the water.”
Baxter grew up in community-theater and participated in a few productions before law school while working in Washington, D.C.
In college, she was a founding member of a student-run Shakespeare troupe, the Dartmouth Rude Mechanicals, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year.
Baxter and her fiancé, Scott, a recent graduate from the U-M Ross School of Business, plan to marry next summer in her hometown of Erie, Pa. The couple share their home with a rescue whippet-Labrador mix named Sophie.
“She’s the queen of our house,” Baxter says
In her leisure time, Baxter enjoys making jewelry, a skill she learned in college.
“It’s not something I get to do too often because it requires a fair amount of potentially dangerous equipment but I hope to someday have my own torches and metalsmithing set up,” she said.
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