Law student Catherine Gagnon is pictured with her husband Zach and children Jack and Léa at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Cooley Law student Catherine (Steffanus) Gagnon grew up in Postroff, a small village in northeastern France, home to her family for several generations.
“My grandmother would have loved to study, but she was the oldest child, and the only girl in the family, so she did not get a chance to get a real education,” Gagnon says. “She always told us how important it was to learn. I think she would be proud to see I followed her advice.”
Gagnon has certainly followed the academic path, starting with her attendance at "Sciences Po Strasbourg" –one of several Institutes of Political Studies in Strasbourg, France. In the first three years, she studied political science and public administration, and in the final two years, focused on French and European public, economic and regulatory law. The program focused on the legal framework applying to public entities engaged in economic activities.
Part of the program involved a year of study abroad, and Gagnon spent a year in Berlin, where she learned to speak German fluently.
After graduation, she had the opportunity to participate in a program led by the French government, which gives incentives for French companies to hire young interns for their foreign subsidiaries. In 2013, Gagnon joined the Berlin office of the French construction and concession company VINCI—where her one-year contract turned into a seven-year stay. She provided legal support to the executive and operational teams for all aspects of the company, but with a heavy focus on bidding for large public-private-partnership projects surrounding the construction and operation/maintenance of highways.
“I enjoyed my time at VINCI tremendously,” she says. “I had a great team, who collaborated really well together, striving for excellence in everything we did, but also enjoyed each other's company. My boss, Dr. Roland Schmidt, was a tremendous mentor, and instrumental in my decision—later—to go to law school.”
Gagnon, who naturalized as a U.S. citizen last year, met her future husband Zach Gagnon—a Michigander and now a pricing analyst at Gordon Foods—in Berlin during her study abroad, and when she returned to Berlin to work for VINCI, he moved to Berlin and the couple were wed.
“We enjoyed our time in Berlin, but after our kids were born, it started to no longer make sense to both be foreigners—we knew we wanted to be in either France or the U.S.,” she says. “The pandemic almost changed our plans—but in May 2020, we settled in Michigan.”
While attending law school was always in the back of Gagnon’s mind, for many reasons, it remained on the back burner for several years.
When she worked as a paralegal for Rockford Construction, a construction, real estate development, and property management company in Grand Rapids, chief legal officer Melissa Collar encouraged her to advance her career. The thought of returning to school, while holding a full-time job and being mom to two small children, as well as acclimating to her new life in Michigan, was daunting, to say the least.
But Gagnon increasingly realized that no matter how competent she was as a paralegal, no matter how hard she worked, there was a ceiling to what she could achieve.
The path became clear when she realized Cooley offered an evening and weekend program, providing a way for her to balance family, work, and study. Not only that, but Collar told her Rockford Construction would support her through law school, and that a corporate counsel position would be waiting after she passed the bar.
Six weeks later, Gagnon took the LSAT, and started at Cooley a week after receiving her score.
“Cooley is an amazing opportunity for people who've already had a career to go to law school,” she says. “I’m able to do most of my law school classes at night and on the weekends. I feel very grateful for that.”
Set to graduate in December, she loves the intellectual challenge of studying the law.
“I’m very grateful our Cooley professors find the energy, semester after semester, to teach us,” she says. “As an immigrant, having this deep understanding of the law of the country I now call home is a privilege I don't take for granted.
“I’m amazed at this system humans have come up with to work together as a society. Most of what we do as humans, and really everything we do as a society, has its roots in the law. I’m amazed to see that whether in France, Germany, or the United States, the law really isn't that different. Of course, there are many big and small nuances. But the root of it is the same.”
With a particular interest in business law, Gagnon enjoys working for Rockford where she gets to see all aspects, from nitty-gritty details to more complex matters. She mostly focuses on construction and contracting, and supports the project management teams in negotiating contracts with clients, negotiating subcontracts, and through any issues they encounter. Her focus is slowly expanding to other areas of the business, including real estate and corporate work.
“I love helping our teams through all the matters they encounter that have anything to do with the law. And really, most of what a business does has, at some point, something to do with the law,” she says.
A highlight of her legal studies was receiving the 2024 Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Michigan Chapter $3,000 Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Corporate and Business Classes.
“Going to law school has been a fabulous experience, but it’s also required many sacrifices for me and my family,” she says.
“The ACC award was the recognition our hard work is paying off.”
Legal News
Cooley Law student Catherine (Steffanus) Gagnon grew up in Postroff, a small village in northeastern France, home to her family for several generations.
“My grandmother would have loved to study, but she was the oldest child, and the only girl in the family, so she did not get a chance to get a real education,” Gagnon says. “She always told us how important it was to learn. I think she would be proud to see I followed her advice.”
Gagnon has certainly followed the academic path, starting with her attendance at "Sciences Po Strasbourg" –one of several Institutes of Political Studies in Strasbourg, France. In the first three years, she studied political science and public administration, and in the final two years, focused on French and European public, economic and regulatory law. The program focused on the legal framework applying to public entities engaged in economic activities.
Part of the program involved a year of study abroad, and Gagnon spent a year in Berlin, where she learned to speak German fluently.
After graduation, she had the opportunity to participate in a program led by the French government, which gives incentives for French companies to hire young interns for their foreign subsidiaries. In 2013, Gagnon joined the Berlin office of the French construction and concession company VINCI—where her one-year contract turned into a seven-year stay. She provided legal support to the executive and operational teams for all aspects of the company, but with a heavy focus on bidding for large public-private-partnership projects surrounding the construction and operation/maintenance of highways.
“I enjoyed my time at VINCI tremendously,” she says. “I had a great team, who collaborated really well together, striving for excellence in everything we did, but also enjoyed each other's company. My boss, Dr. Roland Schmidt, was a tremendous mentor, and instrumental in my decision—later—to go to law school.”
Gagnon, who naturalized as a U.S. citizen last year, met her future husband Zach Gagnon—a Michigander and now a pricing analyst at Gordon Foods—in Berlin during her study abroad, and when she returned to Berlin to work for VINCI, he moved to Berlin and the couple were wed.
“We enjoyed our time in Berlin, but after our kids were born, it started to no longer make sense to both be foreigners—we knew we wanted to be in either France or the U.S.,” she says. “The pandemic almost changed our plans—but in May 2020, we settled in Michigan.”
While attending law school was always in the back of Gagnon’s mind, for many reasons, it remained on the back burner for several years.
When she worked as a paralegal for Rockford Construction, a construction, real estate development, and property management company in Grand Rapids, chief legal officer Melissa Collar encouraged her to advance her career. The thought of returning to school, while holding a full-time job and being mom to two small children, as well as acclimating to her new life in Michigan, was daunting, to say the least.
But Gagnon increasingly realized that no matter how competent she was as a paralegal, no matter how hard she worked, there was a ceiling to what she could achieve.
The path became clear when she realized Cooley offered an evening and weekend program, providing a way for her to balance family, work, and study. Not only that, but Collar told her Rockford Construction would support her through law school, and that a corporate counsel position would be waiting after she passed the bar.
Six weeks later, Gagnon took the LSAT, and started at Cooley a week after receiving her score.
“Cooley is an amazing opportunity for people who've already had a career to go to law school,” she says. “I’m able to do most of my law school classes at night and on the weekends. I feel very grateful for that.”
Set to graduate in December, she loves the intellectual challenge of studying the law.
“I’m very grateful our Cooley professors find the energy, semester after semester, to teach us,” she says. “As an immigrant, having this deep understanding of the law of the country I now call home is a privilege I don't take for granted.
“I’m amazed at this system humans have come up with to work together as a society. Most of what we do as humans, and really everything we do as a society, has its roots in the law. I’m amazed to see that whether in France, Germany, or the United States, the law really isn't that different. Of course, there are many big and small nuances. But the root of it is the same.”
With a particular interest in business law, Gagnon enjoys working for Rockford where she gets to see all aspects, from nitty-gritty details to more complex matters. She mostly focuses on construction and contracting, and supports the project management teams in negotiating contracts with clients, negotiating subcontracts, and through any issues they encounter. Her focus is slowly expanding to other areas of the business, including real estate and corporate work.
“I love helping our teams through all the matters they encounter that have anything to do with the law. And really, most of what a business does has, at some point, something to do with the law,” she says.
A highlight of her legal studies was receiving the 2024 Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC) Michigan Chapter $3,000 Scholarship for Academic Excellence in Corporate and Business Classes.
“Going to law school has been a fabulous experience, but it’s also required many sacrifices for me and my family,” she says.
“The ACC award was the recognition our hard work is paying off.”
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