By Bob Needham
Michigan Law
The value of education and helping community organizations are two common themes in Albert Pak’s life. When he found the opportunity to combine those interests at Michigan Law and in Detroit, the decision to jump from private practice to academia was made.
Pak joins the Michigan Law faculty this fall, working in the Community Enterprise Clinic. Although he comes to the faculty from private practice, the things that appeal to him most about academia have long been a part of his career.
—————
Laying the groundwork
Shortly after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Pak helped launch 12 Plus, a nonprofit that provides post-secondary pathway assistance to high school students in underserved areas of Philadelphia.
“I have always had a passion for education,” Pak said. “At 12 Plus, I enjoyed giving my students the tools they needed to prepare for life beyond 12th grade. Increasing access to opportunity was and continues to be a very meaningful pursuit,” Pak said. “So after law school, I always had it in the back of my mind to return to academia in some form or another to be able to work with students.”
First, though, Pak had some other avenues to explore. While in graduate school, he spent a summer interning with the philanthropy arm of a large Detroit-based corporation, focusing on education issues in the city.
“I was given a window into a lot of what was happening in the city—I witnessed a wide range of needs, how some of those needs were being met, and the challenges ahead,” he said.
Then, after graduating from law school at the University of Pennsylvania—and earning a master’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, both in 2018—Pak won a prestigious Skadden Fellowship. Based on his previous experience in Detroit, he proposed a program for under-resourced entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits in the city to receive quality legal support.
He spent two years with the nonprofit Michigan Community Resources, building out a program to help provide pro bono legal assistance.
In 2021, Pak joined Bodman PLC in Ann Arbor, working with foundations and other nonprofits on a variety of legal issues. In 2023, he received the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer of the Year (Young Lawyer) Award.
“When I was invited to join the Law School, which happens to be right in my backyard, and to work in the Community Enterprise Clinic, it was an easy decision,” Pak said.
“Having worked as a public interest attorney through the Skadden Fellowship in Detroit, helping in many ways the same client population that the clinic assists, I viewed this opportunity as a serendipitous coming together of many different parts of my life.”
—————
Bringing it all together
Pak joins the Michigan Law faculty as a clinical assistant professor, and he will work in the Community Enterprise Clinic with Director Dana Thompson.
“The focus of the Community Enterprise Clinic is to work with neighborhood-based organizations, from nonprofits to small businesses,” Pak said. “The clinic’s mission builds on the work I did both as a Skadden Fellow and as a nonprofit and business attorney at Bodman. It’s an honor to reconnect with these community-based organizations and assist them in this way.
“Throughout my career, I have seen the often unsung and underappreciated impact that nonprofits, small businesses, and other neighborhood-based organizations have in the community in advancing equity,
being a voice for the marginalized, and providing much-needed services,” he continued. “I believe that providing legal assistance and other core professional services to help them succeed is of utmost importance not only to the communities they serve but also to the region as a whole. I’m excited to be working for a clinic that is devoted to supporting these community-based organizations.”
Beyond his work with the clinic, Pak has other goals as an incoming faculty member, including contributing to the positive culture at the Law School and supporting faculty and staff colleagues in their endeavors.
But most of all, he looks forward to helping students.
For example, he hopes to assist students who are interested in public interest fellowships and public interest careers in general. “I’m also currently the vice president of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and I’d love to connect current law students with the greater statewide Asian Pacific American legal community,” he added.
“My goal is for every student who steps into the clinic to develop their legal skills as well as to gain a deeper appreciation of the city of Detroit and other cities from which we draw our clients. My hope is that by better understanding what our clients mean to and for the city, the students will recognize the impact they are making through their work, and, as a result, counsel with greater purpose and conviction.”
Michigan Law
The value of education and helping community organizations are two common themes in Albert Pak’s life. When he found the opportunity to combine those interests at Michigan Law and in Detroit, the decision to jump from private practice to academia was made.
Pak joins the Michigan Law faculty this fall, working in the Community Enterprise Clinic. Although he comes to the faculty from private practice, the things that appeal to him most about academia have long been a part of his career.
—————
Laying the groundwork
Shortly after graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Pak helped launch 12 Plus, a nonprofit that provides post-secondary pathway assistance to high school students in underserved areas of Philadelphia.
“I have always had a passion for education,” Pak said. “At 12 Plus, I enjoyed giving my students the tools they needed to prepare for life beyond 12th grade. Increasing access to opportunity was and continues to be a very meaningful pursuit,” Pak said. “So after law school, I always had it in the back of my mind to return to academia in some form or another to be able to work with students.”
First, though, Pak had some other avenues to explore. While in graduate school, he spent a summer interning with the philanthropy arm of a large Detroit-based corporation, focusing on education issues in the city.
“I was given a window into a lot of what was happening in the city—I witnessed a wide range of needs, how some of those needs were being met, and the challenges ahead,” he said.
Then, after graduating from law school at the University of Pennsylvania—and earning a master’s degree from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs, both in 2018—Pak won a prestigious Skadden Fellowship. Based on his previous experience in Detroit, he proposed a program for under-resourced entrepreneurs, small businesses, and nonprofits in the city to receive quality legal support.
He spent two years with the nonprofit Michigan Community Resources, building out a program to help provide pro bono legal assistance.
In 2021, Pak joined Bodman PLC in Ann Arbor, working with foundations and other nonprofits on a variety of legal issues. In 2023, he received the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Nonprofit Lawyer of the Year (Young Lawyer) Award.
“When I was invited to join the Law School, which happens to be right in my backyard, and to work in the Community Enterprise Clinic, it was an easy decision,” Pak said.
“Having worked as a public interest attorney through the Skadden Fellowship in Detroit, helping in many ways the same client population that the clinic assists, I viewed this opportunity as a serendipitous coming together of many different parts of my life.”
—————
Bringing it all together
Pak joins the Michigan Law faculty as a clinical assistant professor, and he will work in the Community Enterprise Clinic with Director Dana Thompson.
“The focus of the Community Enterprise Clinic is to work with neighborhood-based organizations, from nonprofits to small businesses,” Pak said. “The clinic’s mission builds on the work I did both as a Skadden Fellow and as a nonprofit and business attorney at Bodman. It’s an honor to reconnect with these community-based organizations and assist them in this way.
“Throughout my career, I have seen the often unsung and underappreciated impact that nonprofits, small businesses, and other neighborhood-based organizations have in the community in advancing equity,
being a voice for the marginalized, and providing much-needed services,” he continued. “I believe that providing legal assistance and other core professional services to help them succeed is of utmost importance not only to the communities they serve but also to the region as a whole. I’m excited to be working for a clinic that is devoted to supporting these community-based organizations.”
Beyond his work with the clinic, Pak has other goals as an incoming faculty member, including contributing to the positive culture at the Law School and supporting faculty and staff colleagues in their endeavors.
But most of all, he looks forward to helping students.
For example, he hopes to assist students who are interested in public interest fellowships and public interest careers in general. “I’m also currently the vice president of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association, and I’d love to connect current law students with the greater statewide Asian Pacific American legal community,” he added.
“My goal is for every student who steps into the clinic to develop their legal skills as well as to gain a deeper appreciation of the city of Detroit and other cities from which we draw our clients. My hope is that by better understanding what our clients mean to and for the city, the students will recognize the impact they are making through their work, and, as a result, counsel with greater purpose and conviction.”
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
https://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
