By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Law student Cassie Weck Wun found her passion for the legal world sparked while working and living at Jerusalem Farm in northeast Kansas City, Mo.
Tthree of my main roles were to coordinate restorative justice meetings in response to housing code violations, lead home repair sites, and host high school and college student volunteers for service immersion trips,” she says. “I really connected the Catholic Social Teaching principle of ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ with the housing injustices I was seeing. I have the capacity and the passion to work for the common good regarding housing justice, and so I’m taking this time in my life to seize that opportunity.”
Now a 1L student at Detroit Mercy School of Law, Weck Wun earned her undergrad degree from Creighton University in Omaha.
And for 9 months during the pandemic, she worked as a legal administrative assistant at Maryland Legal Aid in Baltimore.
The access to clinics and opportunities for experiential learning, especially in the first year, is one of the primary reasons she decided on Detroit Mercy Law, and she has already participated in a mini clinic at the Pope Francis Center in Detroit.
“I found the experience to be affirming and also a good challenge to keep up with my legal research class,” she says. “I’m here for all things pro bono and public interest in nature, so I’m looking to get involved with any opportunities that are offered.
“Beyond that, I helped to reinstate the St. Thomas More Society, a student organization interested in promoting the ethical practice of law in the spirit of St. Thomas More as well as creating a reflective space to explore the interconnectedness between faith and justice. We’ve had our first few meetings, and I’m curious and excited to see how we can be good community members at the law school and in the wider Detroit area.”
In addition to serving as president of the St. Thomas More Society, Weck Wun also is involved in the Women’s Law Caucus. She is looking forward to an upcoming 1L Moot Court competition and is curious to learn more about Law Review. She is particularly interested in practicing housing law or immigration law.
“While those are the top two areas I’m interested in now, I also could see myself desiring to practice environmental law or having a good grasp on general practice matters,” she says.
With many career dreams, her eventual goal is not yet set in stone.
“Some days I imagine myself starting a small, nonprofit clinic where people can access various legal services on a sliding scale basis. The essence of practicing law, from what I have gathered in my first 10 weeks of law school, is problem solving. Who doesn’t have a problem to solve? I get the sense many folks need legal services, but these services are often inaccessible,” she says.
“Other days, I imagine myself working in a state capital on policy issues. I think service and justice are wonderful when intertwined, but I’m a much more justice-oriented person. I could see my future-self easily feeling stuck inside of the bounds of legislature and wanting to change the policies that shape the way law is interpreted.
“Lately, I find myself musing about ‘big law’ and seeing what opportunities there are to ramp up the pro-bono or low-bono work and to hold big firms accountable for providing resources to the community when they have the means and access to provide good direction and counsel.
“Finally, I studied education for three years in college until I realized I didn’t picture myself teaching in a traditional high school classroom setting. My gravitation towards teaching will never leave me, so I’d love to become a professor of law one day.”
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