Cooley Law rising 3L Codie Drake has lived in Cambodia and is pictured at the famous Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap.
Photo courtesy of Codie Drake
Photo courtesy of Codie Drake
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
As Codie Drake was studying for the LSAT, she came across written notes from elementary school days that read, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a … lawyer,’ or ‘judge.’
How right that young Codie Drake was.
Now a rising 3L at Cooley Law School, Drake is one of three Cooley recipients of the $3,500 Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation 2024 scholarships. She received the Jean Ledwith King Scholarship, sponsored by WLAM members, and named for the late Ann Arbor attorney who championed gender equity for millions of women.
Drake says she mindfully chose to apply because King was a fierce advocate, change maker, and determined to make an impact.
“I can’t wait to continue my pursuit to do the same in my legal career,” she says. “I’m humbled to have received the Jean Ledwith King Scholarship.”
Drake earned her undergrad degree in history and political science from Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC), recruited to play D2 basketball on a scholarship.
She was hooked on political science from her first class.
“It surprised me. It challenged me, my taught beliefs, my understanding of our country, the justice system, all of it. It taught me to find the gray in every concept, question everything, and be curious beyond face value. It lit a fire in me,” she says.
The week she started at Cooley in May 2022, Drake also started work as a full-time Communications Advisor at the Michigan House of Representatives, writing speeches, talking points, press releases, statements, and anything else requested. She wrote for the Progressive Women’s Caucus of Michigan, Michigan’s Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, and was a voice of 11 state representatives.
She currently is a summer intern in a Justice’s chambers at the Michigan Supreme Court.
“It’s amazing to receive hands-on experience and to better understand the daily work of an MSC clerk,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work inter alia with legally knowledgeable individuals, who are dedicated, and passionate about the law.”
She also is very appreciative of her mentor, Cooley alum Dave Coleman, her family’s attorney who also helped coach her in basketball.
Drake has had a wide variety of nonprofit volunteering experiences that have worked closely with the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.
In 2019, while earning her master's at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, she spent four months as an advocacy intern at UNICEF Ireland, as lead coordinator for an interactive picture exhibition for the #Uprooted Campaign, that brought awareness of children who experienced displacement and were on the move.
For the first six months of 2020, her work as a legal intern at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) in Phnom Penh provided experience in projects and research that focused on business in human rights, fair and free trial rights, and impunity. A member for the Fundamental Freedom Monitoring team, she reviewed and monitored social media information on violations of expression, association, and assembly; and researched and published newsletters on different new strategic litigation against public participants, the withdrawal of Everything but Arms Trade Agreement, and other human rights concerns.
For the following nine months, she worked as a research and documentation assistant at the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) Burma, where she collected and analyzed violations of civil and political rights while documenting arrests, and arbitrary detention of political prisoners. She assisted in accumulative publication on the human rights violations against political prisoners and the protection of civilians through the law, while advocating for an independent judiciary within Burma.
Working in the International Human Rights arena is not easy, she notes.
“It certainly has its paradoxes that workers must cope with—it isn’t always idealism— it’s a lot of grit and dedication,” she says.
For example, on February 1, 2021 while she was working on a report for AAPP Burma, news broke of the arrest of political leader Aung San Sue Kyi. Panic ensued and the advocacy and human rights work AAPP had done—and Drake had worked so hard on—was in extreme danger. The Burmese media buzzed over the November 8 election fraud claims months before the arrest, and it was clear the military was conducting a coup.
Drastic shifts within the organization and the country followed the takeover, and the high influx of political prisoners demonstrated the quick change in the political atmosphere. The once improving relationship between the government and AAPP instantly depleted, verified by the delegation of work, focused on writing tweets for potential staff member arrests. The members at risk of rearrest already served 3-10 years in prison, for their advocacy, from the 1988 student revolutions.
Drake, as a remote contributor to AAPP, was forced to evaluate how she was protected by a safety net of privilege while her compatriots suffered tangibly on the ground in Burma — and she wrestled with doubts as to whether she was an authentic human rights worker, an advocate or a fraud, or a hypocrite.
While a period of soul searching ensued, the experience eventually led Drake to law school to help sharpen her skills to better advocate for those who could not.
“I can continue to find ways, each day, to work toward equity and opportunity in this world and I believe going to law school will assist in this endeavor,” she says. “Working in human rights isn't the easy path, turning a blind eye is. International Human Rights law is a commitment to working in an arena that is very multidimensional with more than one paradigm at a time, from states to advocates they all have a perspective.”
She is applying for fellowships and is open to considering a variety of career options that fit within her passions, beliefs, and work ethic. “My career goal is to stand in my own personal power, continue to stay authentic to myself, and help others,” she says.
Legal News
As Codie Drake was studying for the LSAT, she came across written notes from elementary school days that read, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a … lawyer,’ or ‘judge.’
How right that young Codie Drake was.
Now a rising 3L at Cooley Law School, Drake is one of three Cooley recipients of the $3,500 Women Lawyers Association of Michigan Foundation 2024 scholarships. She received the Jean Ledwith King Scholarship, sponsored by WLAM members, and named for the late Ann Arbor attorney who championed gender equity for millions of women.
Drake says she mindfully chose to apply because King was a fierce advocate, change maker, and determined to make an impact.
“I can’t wait to continue my pursuit to do the same in my legal career,” she says. “I’m humbled to have received the Jean Ledwith King Scholarship.”
Drake earned her undergrad degree in history and political science from Kentucky Wesleyan College (KWC), recruited to play D2 basketball on a scholarship.
She was hooked on political science from her first class.
“It surprised me. It challenged me, my taught beliefs, my understanding of our country, the justice system, all of it. It taught me to find the gray in every concept, question everything, and be curious beyond face value. It lit a fire in me,” she says.
The week she started at Cooley in May 2022, Drake also started work as a full-time Communications Advisor at the Michigan House of Representatives, writing speeches, talking points, press releases, statements, and anything else requested. She wrote for the Progressive Women’s Caucus of Michigan, Michigan’s Firearm Safety and Violence Prevention Caucus, and was a voice of 11 state representatives.
She currently is a summer intern in a Justice’s chambers at the Michigan Supreme Court.
“It’s amazing to receive hands-on experience and to better understand the daily work of an MSC clerk,” she says. “I’ve enjoyed the opportunity to work inter alia with legally knowledgeable individuals, who are dedicated, and passionate about the law.”
She also is very appreciative of her mentor, Cooley alum Dave Coleman, her family’s attorney who also helped coach her in basketball.
Drake has had a wide variety of nonprofit volunteering experiences that have worked closely with the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights.
In 2019, while earning her master's at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, she spent four months as an advocacy intern at UNICEF Ireland, as lead coordinator for an interactive picture exhibition for the #Uprooted Campaign, that brought awareness of children who experienced displacement and were on the move.
For the first six months of 2020, her work as a legal intern at the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR) in Phnom Penh provided experience in projects and research that focused on business in human rights, fair and free trial rights, and impunity. A member for the Fundamental Freedom Monitoring team, she reviewed and monitored social media information on violations of expression, association, and assembly; and researched and published newsletters on different new strategic litigation against public participants, the withdrawal of Everything but Arms Trade Agreement, and other human rights concerns.
For the following nine months, she worked as a research and documentation assistant at the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP) Burma, where she collected and analyzed violations of civil and political rights while documenting arrests, and arbitrary detention of political prisoners. She assisted in accumulative publication on the human rights violations against political prisoners and the protection of civilians through the law, while advocating for an independent judiciary within Burma.
Working in the International Human Rights arena is not easy, she notes.
“It certainly has its paradoxes that workers must cope with—it isn’t always idealism— it’s a lot of grit and dedication,” she says.
For example, on February 1, 2021 while she was working on a report for AAPP Burma, news broke of the arrest of political leader Aung San Sue Kyi. Panic ensued and the advocacy and human rights work AAPP had done—and Drake had worked so hard on—was in extreme danger. The Burmese media buzzed over the November 8 election fraud claims months before the arrest, and it was clear the military was conducting a coup.
Drastic shifts within the organization and the country followed the takeover, and the high influx of political prisoners demonstrated the quick change in the political atmosphere. The once improving relationship between the government and AAPP instantly depleted, verified by the delegation of work, focused on writing tweets for potential staff member arrests. The members at risk of rearrest already served 3-10 years in prison, for their advocacy, from the 1988 student revolutions.
Drake, as a remote contributor to AAPP, was forced to evaluate how she was protected by a safety net of privilege while her compatriots suffered tangibly on the ground in Burma — and she wrestled with doubts as to whether she was an authentic human rights worker, an advocate or a fraud, or a hypocrite.
While a period of soul searching ensued, the experience eventually led Drake to law school to help sharpen her skills to better advocate for those who could not.
“I can continue to find ways, each day, to work toward equity and opportunity in this world and I believe going to law school will assist in this endeavor,” she says. “Working in human rights isn't the easy path, turning a blind eye is. International Human Rights law is a commitment to working in an arena that is very multidimensional with more than one paradigm at a time, from states to advocates they all have a perspective.”
She is applying for fellowships and is open to considering a variety of career options that fit within her passions, beliefs, and work ethic. “My career goal is to stand in my own personal power, continue to stay authentic to myself, and help others,” she says.
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