Detroit Mercy Law student Nicholas Carroll is pictured with U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez during a political campaign event in Cleveland.
Photo courtesy of Nicholas Carroll
By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
In high school, Nicholas Carroll’s teachers often told him they could see his future as a policymaker or political advocate.
“At 16 years old, I had no clue what they meant, but I believed them and ran with it,” says Carroll, a rising 3L at Detroit Mercy Law. “Once I got to undergrad, however, I changed my major five times before I realized public policy was the field of study, I felt most comfortable in. So, maybe the high school teachers were right—or maybe I got lucky.”
After earning an undergrad degree in public policy from Michigan State University, Carroll studied—remotely during the pandemic—for a Master of Jurisprudence from DePaul University. The degree, centered around understanding laws from a policy standpoint, piqued his interest.
“The caveat was I couldn’t become a legal practitioner with this degree—I could know the laws and study them, but I couldn’t create change in the way I saw lawyers were able to,” he says. “So, I spoke to my Critical Race Theory professor about my dilemma, and she said, ‘If you’re going to do something, do it big!’ So, I casually dropped out of my master’s program and started the horribly long and tedious process that is applying to law schools.”
When applying to law schools, Carroll had no idea what to expect—but ultimately found his passion lay in immigration law.
“What I came to learn during my 1L year was that I didn’t feel like I was in love with the ins and outs of civil litigation or the philosophical dilemmas that arise in criminal law. I did, however, fall in love with immigration law and what I could do with it to help others,” he says. “Non-citizens are consistently treated lesser than their neighbors solely because they aren’t American citizens, and that’s pretty disgusting, in my opinion. We’re all human, and there’s no reason for harmful and archaic policies to say otherwise.”
Carroll is enjoying his experiences at the law school and its downtown location.
“Detroit Mercy Law has given me an opportunity to learn in an urban environment and embrace so many new perspectives and opportunities, all while supporting my academic and career goals too,” he says.
Last year, Carroll interned at Blanco Wilczynski, PLLC in Troy; and at the International Institute of Metropolitan Detroit.
“The Institute was the first immigration-focused experience I’d ever had and it was exactly what I needed,” he says. “I learned about all of the pathways to citizenship, researched human rights issues occurring in other countries as well as our own, and worked with asylum seekers who had come from war zones on the other side of the world. It was an incredibly humbling experience and so eye-opening, to say the least.”
He currently is working as a law clerk at Ellis Porter PLC, an immigration law firm in Troy.
“I’m shifting gears from the humanitarian and removal defense side of immigration, and focusing more on the employment-based side of immigration,” he says. “I’ve assisted attorneys in preparing employment visa packages, drafting motions before an immigration court, all while learning about the inner operations of a growing law firm.”
His role as president of the OutLaws organization is a highlight of his law school career as during this past school year, the OutLaws celebrated National Coming Out Day in October by raising money for the Ruth Ellis Center, which provides a wide range of support to Detroit’s LGBTQIA+ youth and young adult communities.
“Being a queer identifying person in this political climate is scary, but if there was ever a time to help get this organization moving to eventually use as a tool to bring awareness to queer struggles, triumphs, and the importance of representation, it feels like it’s now,” he says. “I think OutLaws’ intention this year is to express that it is important to be a proud advocate for yourself in however you see fit, and it is just as important to be a staunch ally to your queer friends and neighbors.”
A member of the school’s Hispanic and Latino/a Law Students Association (HiLLSA) and executive vice president of the Student Bar Association, Carroll also serves as vice president of the school’s Immigration Law Association.
“Another favorite organization of mine because I can witness and be a part of the amazing immigration legal community here in Detroit,” he says. “As an organization, we’ve been able to host informational panels of UDM Law alumni that graciously offer their advice and support to any aspiring immigration attorneys. It’s a wonderful organization to be a part of and I encourage any student to join those organizations that make them feel similarly.”
Carroll appreciates the Detroit Mercy Law policy requiring students to enroll in one of the many clinics the school offers.
“I think it’s a great idea because as law students, we hold quite a bit of privilege in our hands, so these clinics assist in creating opportunities to tackle and learn about transparency among soon-to-be practitioners. I took the Immigration Law Clinic, and it was a very difficult but very fruitful experience. Recently, we had a case that involved a family seeking asylum from para-militants in Colombia. I had the opportunity to work on the final pieces of their case, and in June their asylum application was granted. Obviously, I was excited that we won the case, but I think it gave me a lot of insight into being able to celebrate the joys found today, and not to sit too much in the really difficult circumstances that bring clients to the clinic’s door.
“The stories we heard coming from these clients were testaments to the remarkable strength so many of them possess, and only encouraged us to provide the best support and service that we could.”
Carroll’s immediate career goal is to finish law school next May, and then to pass the bar exam.
“After that, I’m not sure what will come next, but I do hope that whatever it is I’m doing, I hope it’s good and I hope I’m good at it.”
Originally from Bath, northeast of Lansing, Carroll now makes his home in Birmingham, with his partner Brian, and two feline friends, Tom and Seymour.
In his leisure time, he enjoys listening to Supreme Court oral arguments.
“And going on long walks where I dissect the meaning of the universe and, in the same breath, orate my opinions regarding the harms of vocal fry,” he says.
As a relative newbie to the area, Carroll enjoys living and studying in the Metro Detroit area.
“I love how many subcultures exist in this Midwest city,” he says. “And I love how everyone is so proud to be living in—or proud to be from—Detroit. It’s hard to describe why I love it so much, but there’s just something about it that keeps me here through these hellscape-winters!”
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