By Bob Needham
Michigan Law
For Professor Jenna Cobb, perhaps the most important thing a lawyer can do is help a person win their freedom.
“Walking someone out of prison after decades—someone you’ve come to know and develop a relationship with, who has been through so much and has so much to give—It is difficult to think of moments that are as rewarding in your career,” she said.
This fall, Cobb joins the Michigan Law faculty in a role perfectly suited to her dedication—as co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which fights for the release of men and women who have been wrongfully convicted in the criminal justice system. It will be something of a homecoming for Cobb, who grew up in Detroit and whose father is a Michigan Law graduate.
Cobb developed her dedication to public-service work early. After earning her JD at Harvard Law School in 2007, she spent two years at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., where her litigation practice included criminal post-conviction pro bono work. Then she spent two years clerking on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, already pretty sure she would pursue a career in criminal defense. But first, she wanted to pursue a different avenue she’d been thinking about since her teens: divinity school.
“The law has its limits,” she said. “I wanted to think about other ways to pursue and promote justice, and divinity school was an opportunity to explore that. It was not my intention that I would not be a lawyer anymore.
Also, in divinity school I learned a lot about pedagogy and teaching, and I was really drawn to it.”
After earning her master of divinity at Yale in 2014, Cobb worked for nearly eight years in the Special Litigation Division of the District of Columbia’s Public Defender Service. While doing that work, she also started teaching legal writing as an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia. “Another professor there would talk to me about teaching full time, and I would always say, ‘Oh, I would love to teach, I’m just not ready to stop practicing law yet.’”
However, when Boston College approached her in 2020 about an opening in their criminal defense clinic, the combination of advocacy and teaching seemed like a good fit. Yet now she’s found an even better fit, continuing her teaching and advocating for the wrongfully convicted in her home state.
“Michigan Law is a great school, and the state of Michigan is a place where I already have ties, thoughts, and passions. I could not pass that opportunity up,” she said.
Prepared for the new challenge
Cobb finds motivation in the people she works for, and that extends to her new role.
“The thing that really drives me to the work is the clients,” she said. “When you are working with people who have been incarcerated—many for long periods of time—you’re often dealing with people who’ve been very marginalized and who may no longer be entitled to an attorney. Through the clinic, we are literally able to expand access to justice. In any number of jurisdictions across the country, if clinics are not representing these individuals, they are not being represented.”
Yet Cobb sees herself as a teacher just as much as an advocate.
“I absolutely love teaching. I love working with students. I feel so fortunate to be in a position where I can do the work that I’m passionate about, and that I also get to work with students and accompany them on their journey—and teach them what it means to be a client-centered advocate and stare down some of the injustice embedded in our system.”
As she prepares for her latest role, Cobb’s primary goals are simple: Obtaining relief for clients and becoming embedded in Michigan Law.
“I am really hoping that I can dive right into the community. Part of what has made teaching so rewarding for me is developing relationships with students and mentoring students, even beyond the classroom. I would like to be a meaningful part of the community from the very beginning.”
Professor Spencer Smith was initially drawn to the law as a way to make positive change in the world.
He has put that drive into practice at the U.S. Department of Justice and as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. As he joins the Michigan Law faculty, the desire to spur change continues to motivate him into the world of academia.
While Smith has written on a number of topics, from taxation to torts, his recent focus, both in practice and in research, has been antitrust law. “I’m interested in what works,” he said. “How can the law create real competition and economic opportunity, free from monopoly power?”
The reach and impact of antitrust law
Born and raised by schoolteacher parents in Holland, Michigan, Smith got his bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from U-M, then a master’s and doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He earned a JD from Harvard Law School.
“Even as I was doing graduate work in economics, it became clear that law was essential to work on some of the problems that I cared about most,” he said. “Law is, among other things, a powerful means to shape private conduct for the public good.”
Smith has worked for the Justice Department twice, most recently as counsel to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, who is known as a strong enforcer of the antitrust laws.
“A lot has changed in our economy and our society, and antitrust law needs to keep up,” Smith said. “The antitrust statutes might be sufficiently flexible to address new forms of anticompetitive conduct. But for the law to develop, advocates and enforcers have to be creative, and they must be determined to bring hard cases.”
Smith previously served as a law clerk to Justice Sotomayor during the Supreme Court’s 2022–2023 term, when the Court confronted challenges to the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action in university admissions, and LGBTQ rights.
“Justice Sotomayor is an amazing mentor and role model,” Smith said. “She is brilliant, strategic, full of integrity, and tireless in her pursuit of justice. With her example in mind, I left the clerkship energized and recommitted to an approach to law that focuses on how legal rules and institutions affect people’s everyday lives.”
A coming home to academia
Smith was drawn to academia for two main reasons: the example of his parents, who were both public school teachers; and the chance to make a difference in the world through research and advocacy.
The opportunity to pursue teaching at Michigan Law, where he is now an assistant professor of law, was particularly appealing to him. “I was born and raised in Michigan and attended this university for college. The chance now to join this top-flight law school is something I’m deeply grateful for. I anticipate learning a lot from my remarkable colleagues and students.”
On a personal level, it was at U-M that Smith met his future husband, who joined the faculty of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts last year—not long after Justice Sotomayor married them.
“It is very special for us to be back where it all began,” Smith said.
Smith will teach antitrust law in the winter term, and he encourages students of all backgrounds and interests to study the subject. “Antitrust has a reputation for being a difficult course, and maybe that’s deserved,” he said. “But it’s not just a technical exercise in economics. Antitrust has it all: civil and criminal litigation, fascinating history, crossover politics, statutory interpretation, administrative law and regulatory policy, even some constitutional questions. There’s something for everyone.”
Michigan Law
For Professor Jenna Cobb, perhaps the most important thing a lawyer can do is help a person win their freedom.
“Walking someone out of prison after decades—someone you’ve come to know and develop a relationship with, who has been through so much and has so much to give—It is difficult to think of moments that are as rewarding in your career,” she said.
This fall, Cobb joins the Michigan Law faculty in a role perfectly suited to her dedication—as co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, which fights for the release of men and women who have been wrongfully convicted in the criminal justice system. It will be something of a homecoming for Cobb, who grew up in Detroit and whose father is a Michigan Law graduate.
Cobb developed her dedication to public-service work early. After earning her JD at Harvard Law School in 2007, she spent two years at Covington & Burling in Washington, D.C., where her litigation practice included criminal post-conviction pro bono work. Then she spent two years clerking on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, already pretty sure she would pursue a career in criminal defense. But first, she wanted to pursue a different avenue she’d been thinking about since her teens: divinity school.
“The law has its limits,” she said. “I wanted to think about other ways to pursue and promote justice, and divinity school was an opportunity to explore that. It was not my intention that I would not be a lawyer anymore.
Also, in divinity school I learned a lot about pedagogy and teaching, and I was really drawn to it.”
After earning her master of divinity at Yale in 2014, Cobb worked for nearly eight years in the Special Litigation Division of the District of Columbia’s Public Defender Service. While doing that work, she also started teaching legal writing as an adjunct professor at the University of the District of Columbia. “Another professor there would talk to me about teaching full time, and I would always say, ‘Oh, I would love to teach, I’m just not ready to stop practicing law yet.’”
However, when Boston College approached her in 2020 about an opening in their criminal defense clinic, the combination of advocacy and teaching seemed like a good fit. Yet now she’s found an even better fit, continuing her teaching and advocating for the wrongfully convicted in her home state.
“Michigan Law is a great school, and the state of Michigan is a place where I already have ties, thoughts, and passions. I could not pass that opportunity up,” she said.
Prepared for the new challenge
Cobb finds motivation in the people she works for, and that extends to her new role.
“The thing that really drives me to the work is the clients,” she said. “When you are working with people who have been incarcerated—many for long periods of time—you’re often dealing with people who’ve been very marginalized and who may no longer be entitled to an attorney. Through the clinic, we are literally able to expand access to justice. In any number of jurisdictions across the country, if clinics are not representing these individuals, they are not being represented.”
Yet Cobb sees herself as a teacher just as much as an advocate.
“I absolutely love teaching. I love working with students. I feel so fortunate to be in a position where I can do the work that I’m passionate about, and that I also get to work with students and accompany them on their journey—and teach them what it means to be a client-centered advocate and stare down some of the injustice embedded in our system.”
As she prepares for her latest role, Cobb’s primary goals are simple: Obtaining relief for clients and becoming embedded in Michigan Law.
“I am really hoping that I can dive right into the community. Part of what has made teaching so rewarding for me is developing relationships with students and mentoring students, even beyond the classroom. I would like to be a meaningful part of the community from the very beginning.”
Professor Spencer Smith was initially drawn to the law as a way to make positive change in the world.
He has put that drive into practice at the U.S. Department of Justice and as a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. As he joins the Michigan Law faculty, the desire to spur change continues to motivate him into the world of academia.
While Smith has written on a number of topics, from taxation to torts, his recent focus, both in practice and in research, has been antitrust law. “I’m interested in what works,” he said. “How can the law create real competition and economic opportunity, free from monopoly power?”
The reach and impact of antitrust law
Born and raised by schoolteacher parents in Holland, Michigan, Smith got his bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from U-M, then a master’s and doctorate in economics from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar. He earned a JD from Harvard Law School.
“Even as I was doing graduate work in economics, it became clear that law was essential to work on some of the problems that I cared about most,” he said. “Law is, among other things, a powerful means to shape private conduct for the public good.”
Smith has worked for the Justice Department twice, most recently as counsel to Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Jonathan Kanter, who is known as a strong enforcer of the antitrust laws.
“A lot has changed in our economy and our society, and antitrust law needs to keep up,” Smith said. “The antitrust statutes might be sufficiently flexible to address new forms of anticompetitive conduct. But for the law to develop, advocates and enforcers have to be creative, and they must be determined to bring hard cases.”
Smith previously served as a law clerk to Justice Sotomayor during the Supreme Court’s 2022–2023 term, when the Court confronted challenges to the Voting Rights Act, affirmative action in university admissions, and LGBTQ rights.
“Justice Sotomayor is an amazing mentor and role model,” Smith said. “She is brilliant, strategic, full of integrity, and tireless in her pursuit of justice. With her example in mind, I left the clerkship energized and recommitted to an approach to law that focuses on how legal rules and institutions affect people’s everyday lives.”
A coming home to academia
Smith was drawn to academia for two main reasons: the example of his parents, who were both public school teachers; and the chance to make a difference in the world through research and advocacy.
The opportunity to pursue teaching at Michigan Law, where he is now an assistant professor of law, was particularly appealing to him. “I was born and raised in Michigan and attended this university for college. The chance now to join this top-flight law school is something I’m deeply grateful for. I anticipate learning a lot from my remarkable colleagues and students.”
On a personal level, it was at U-M that Smith met his future husband, who joined the faculty of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts last year—not long after Justice Sotomayor married them.
“It is very special for us to be back where it all began,” Smith said.
Smith will teach antitrust law in the winter term, and he encourages students of all backgrounds and interests to study the subject. “Antitrust has a reputation for being a difficult course, and maybe that’s deserved,” he said. “But it’s not just a technical exercise in economics. Antitrust has it all: civil and criminal litigation, fascinating history, crossover politics, statutory interpretation, administrative law and regulatory policy, even some constitutional questions. There’s something for everyone.”
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