Detroit Mercy Law School student Abrial Neely is a recipient of the Voice for Justice Fellowship.
Photo courtesy of Abrial Neely
Fellowship aligns with student’s desire to combat legal inequities
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
One of Abrial Neely’s earliest memories is of marching around the house in a black robe declaring she was a judge.
“This small act as a child seemed to foreshadow my involvement in legal studies now,” she says with a smile.
Her interest in law took full flight during undergrad at John Carroll University, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism with a minor in political science.
As a young child, she had initially struggled with reading; and some of the materials used to improve her reading proficiency and comprehension included plays and theatrical works.
“It was through some of those exercises that I realized I had a very strong interest in performing arts, which involved a lot of reading and interpretation—as a result, my skills in both reading and performance grew,” she says. “Over time, acting and reading became my favorite endeavors. Reading transported me to other places and exposed me to other points of view. As my interest in reading flourished, a parallel interest in writing developed. A degree in journalism was a natural progression that allowed me to combine all my interests.”
As part of her senior capstone, she researched and wrote about the relationship between homelessness and incarceration.
“I learned that some laws actually punished homeless individuals for having no place to live,” she says. “While conducting more research, I found other laws that had a discriminatory effect on those most vulnerable in society. This sparked a desire to address the unjust nature of the system. I knew the most effective way to combat such inequities was through the law.”
Her undergrad degree provided Neely with a set of skills that are transferrable to the legal field.
Now a 2L at Detroit Mercy Law School, where she is a member of Moot Court, the Black Law Students Association, Criminal Law Society, Women’s Law Caucus, Honor Council, and is a Barbri Representative, Neely appreciates the sense of community.
“The faculty and professors go above and beyond to make themselves available to students—I find it refreshing that the faculty is so invested in the success of their students,” she says. “Moreover, I’ve been embraced by many UDM Law alumni who offer guidance and encouragement.”
Neely is grateful for being a recipient of the Voice for Justice Fellowship that provided an internship with Neighborhood Defender Service (NDS) of Detroit, a public defense nonprofit organization.
“Being a fellow perfectly aligns with the reasons I decided to go into law in the first place,” she says. “Working with the Neighborhood Defender Service solidified that public interest was the area of law I want to continue pursuing. The passion and energy the attorneys and social workers had for advocating and uplifting clients was invigorating. Being able to have a part in that was rewarding because I knew the work I was doing would directly impact someone’s life. Despite having little control over a client’s fate, I felt a renewed sense of optimism. For the first time, I witnessed disadvantaged and marginalized individuals being seen and acknowledged rather than overlooked.”
Neely has a strong desire to pursue public interest law with a focus in criminal defense.
“It’s why I decided to enter the legal field,” she says. “It’s apparent that some parts of the criminal justice system remain flawed despite the promise of equality under the Constitution. My hope is that by working as a criminal defense attorney, I can chip away at the underlying injustice that so many experience, through proper representation and advocacy for my clients. It’s my mission to defend and empower individuals who have historically experienced negative treatment and encounters with the judicial system.”
Neely’s current aspirations include: becoming a public defender, spending time as a legal correspondent, and eventually serving as a judge.
“Interning with Judge David Lawson of the Eastern District of Michigan for the first half of the summer before my 2L year was invaluable,” she says. “The practice I gained from drafting memoranda and researching case law further enhanced my writing skills and allowed me to build upon what I learned in the classroom.”
Neely will intern with the Conviction Integrity Unit of Wayne County and is planning to participate in the CIU Clinic during her 3L year.
“I’m so inspired by the work the CIU is doing,” she says. “For several years I’ve been captivated by the process of attorneys exonerating individuals wrongfully convicted of crimes.”
Neely developed an interest in the Innocence Project following an article she wrote as a senior editor of her collegiate newspaper. The article focused on a panel of men who were subjected to time in prison for crimes they did not commit; and Neely began by researching more about the subject and the Innocence Project.
“I found the attorneys who had the courage to champion wrongfully convicted individuals incredibly inspiring,” she says. “The Innocence Project’s goal of exonerating innocent people, creating awareness, and reforming critical issues in the criminal justice system is exactly what our society desperately needs.”
The pandemic brought about many challenges, she says.
“Specifically, learning remotely tested my ability to focus on the task at hand while other distractions tried to pull my attention away,” she says. “The length of time the pandemic has lasted has tested my patience and resolve.
“Although meeting other law students is hard in a pandemic, I’ve been able to connect with several other students virtually and sometimes in person with safety precautions. Their support and friendship have kept me grounded while going through the ups and downs of law school. And while living at home has it challenges, it’s been a real blessing because I get to see and talk with my biggest supporters every day.
“My parents have worked incredibly hard to provide my brother and me with amazing experiences, an excellent education, and of course, a supportive home,” she adds. “My parents are also responsible for instilling in me the importance of having a good work ethic.”
A resident of Farmington Hills, Neely is originally from the town of Farmington in central Connecticut, west of Hartford.
“But sometimes I feel as though Detroit has adopted me,” she says, adding that she loves living here. “It’s not so much the city—it’s the people who make Detroit brilliant. I love the perseverance Detroiters display—nothing can keep Detroiters down for long.
“In addition, I absolutely love the food scene. I enjoy the fact that I can travel a very short distance and eat foods from so many different cultures. Right now, my favorite restaurant is a Lebanese spot called Leila.”
An avid reader, Neely currently is reading “Blood in the Water,” by Heather Thompson, about the 1971 Attica Prison Uprising. She also is reading “Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America,” by Gilbert King, about lawyer Thurgood Marshall’s defense of four young Black men in Lake County, Fla., falsely accused in 1949 and convicted of the rape of a white woman.
“This was recommended to me by a professor,” she says. “My next book will be something lighter and fictional.”
Passionate about travel, her favorite cities are Madrid and Berlin.
“There’s nothing that gives me greater excitement and pleasure than traveling to a new place and immersing myself in new traditions and cultures,” she says.
She recently took up ice-skating again; learned to swim last summer; and she and her brother are “die-hard” fans of England’s Arsenal soccer team.
She relaxes with mindfulness and meditation.
“Mindfulness is about taking the time to live in and appreciate the present moment,” she says. “It’s been a tremendous help in dealing with the stressors of law school.”
Prior to the pandemic she made time to give back to the community by volunteering with the Oakland Literacy Council.
“I was able to give people the gift of reading,” she says. “I was drawn to this program because I remember when I, too, struggled with reading. But I also remember the joy I felt after I had mastered it. Reading opened up a whole new world of experiences and opportunities that I want others to know.”
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