Political passion: Law student served in several legislatures, election campaigns

By Sheila Pursglove Legal News Mike Norris's family has served in the U.S. military in every armed conflict dating back to the Revolutionary War. "Growing up the son of a soldier, I knew I always wanted to go into the Army," says Norris, who served as an Infantryman with the 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, N.C. "The most enjoyable part of being Airborne is that you're a part of America's most elite military force." After his discharge, Norris-who hails from Lake Wales, Fla.-enrolled at Florida State University, originally with the intent of earning an undergraduate degree in Mass Communications. But after volunteering on his first political campaign, Norris quickly changed majors to political science and social science, and began an internship in the Florida Senate. Norris spent 4-1/2 years working for the Florida Senate; after interning he was extended a paid position as a legislative aide. Due to a death in the office, Norris became acting chief of staff shortly thereafter. "Unfortunately, my mentor, Gale Bass, passed of cancer just before Legislative Session," he says. "Because of the knowledge Gale passed on to me, I presented 96 bills before 19 Senate policy and five Senate appropriations committees, with a 100 percent pass rate." During election years, Norris also worked for the Republican Party of Florida, as a field director in Senate Campaigns. "Florida is the third most populated state in the United States and the largest swing state. Every election is a big election and big elections require a lot of staff and volunteers," he notes. "As a field director, my main job was to keep folks focused and on mission." The 2018 Legislative Session saw Norris' first experience working for a member of the Democratic Party, as the legislative aide to Michigan Senate Assistant Minority Floor Leader Coleman A. Young II. "My job in Senator Young's office was to seek out and craft bi-partisan legislation, as the Michigan Democrats do not have enough votes in the Legislature to pass legislation on their own," he said. "That session, we were able to craft a bi-partisan package of bills to attempt to fix Michigan's Revenue Sharing issue and we renamed a portion of the Lodge for Sergeant Collin Rose, a Wayne State Police officer killed in the line of duty." Prior to law school, Norris served as the secretary and vice president of the Tampa Bay Young Republicans, as well as serving as a region vice president for the National Young Republicans. He has also has served as an alternate delegate to the Republican National Convention and as a precinct committeeman. Norris is an active alumnus of Phi Sigma Kappa National Fraternity. Working in the Legislature, surrounded by lawyers, Norris-who earned a master's degree in political management in 2019 from George Washington University-was inspired to head to law school, and is now a rising 3L at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. "I was impressed by the depth of knowledge some lawyers possess and wanted to achieve that for myself-my grandmother always told me knowledge is the best and safest treasure to acquire," he said. "The University of Detroit alumni community is fantastic-in fact, it's what drew me to UDM Law," he says. "Everywhere you go, there's a UDM Law alum. I'm now engaged to a UDM Law alum." Norris particularly enjoys participating as a member of UDM Law's National Veterans Law Moot Court team. "Professor (Margaret) Costello is a legend in the legal community, so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to work with her," Norris said. "Although I'd never yet written a brief, or argued orally, Professor Costello's instruction got my team into the top eight out of what was originally a 32-team field. I'm looking forward to working with her again next year, to bring the National Championship to Detroit." Norris also serves as a JD ambassador with "Service 2 School," a nonprofit that mentors veterans and prepares them for the transition into higher education. "Society likes to paint veterans as people who go into the military because they weren't smart enough to do anything else," he said. "I too began to believe the stereotype and didn't continue my education after undergraduate because I didn't think it was for me-as I got older, I realized the stereotype was wrong. I was blessed to have lawyers and lobbyists mentor me and I want to make sure I pay my blessings forward." A member of the Federalist Society, Norris thinks it's important for both sides of a debate to be well represented. "Left-wing ideology typically dominates most higher-learning institutions," he stated. "I enjoy helping to maintain a balance in our legal discussions." Initially interested in maritime/admiralty law, after working in the Veterans Law Clinic for a year, Norris now wants to focus on Veterans and Social Security Disability Law; and his career goal is to pass the bar exam and find a job. "Between graduate school and law school, my retirement account is looking pretty sad," he says with a smile. Norris added that he is certainly ready for the pandemic to be over, both in terms of his remote studies and on the home front. "I now weigh what I weighed when I got out of the Army, except none of my suits fit, which is weird," he says. Thirteen years ago, Norris launched White Falcon Consulting, where-while he has significantly reduced operations during law school-he still maintains some clients, does marketing for a few Detroit area law firms and administers a political blog. "When you work for an elected official, it is not just their job at risk every election, but yours as well," he says. "Although there are many out there who will accept a check from a political campaign, not everyone does a good job. I wanted to remain employed, so I began to run my own campaigns, to ensure that things were done correctly." An Oakland County resident, Norris is a proud "Dad" to Ike, a pit bull he rescued from the west side of Detroit; and to an Eastern cottontail rabbit that Ike "rescued" from the yard. In his leisure time, Norris enjoys hunting, and fishing, as well as wakeboarding and waterskiing, although he notes living in Michigan has substantially mitigated that. He also is an SDI/TDI certified scuba diver and possesses his United States Parachuting Association A-license. Originally from the Metro Detroit area, Norris enjoys being back to where his family has deep roots. "My grandparents grew up on the east side and being able to visit my ancestors' graves is a unique experience," he says. "My Dad also owned a factory in Detroit when I was a child-seeing how much of it I actually remembered was surprising." Published: Tue, Oct 19, 2021