By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Alexis Amy headed to the University of San Diego intent on majoring in International Business. However, after taking an Intro to Human Communication course her first semester, she was enthralled by the examination of communication principals, including verbal and nonverbal communication, perception, persuasion, and listening—and was intrigued at witnessing these principals play out in day-to day life.
With a father who is a retired prop master in the film industry, Amy was always interested in TV and film, and the positive and negative effects different media have on cultural narratives and biases—and switched her majors to Communication, Media Studies, and French.
“Being an effective lawyer demands being an effective communicator and invested listener,” she adds. “Communication is everywhere in life and the legal field, whether it be orally or in writing, talking to a judge, counseling a client, collaborating internally at a firm, or negotiating with opposing counsel. I’m confident my undergraduate studies, in addition to 10 years of personal and professional experiences before law school, will help me in my law career.”
In spring of 2020, Amy talked to lawyers and social workers to gather advice about their field of work. However, Amy experienced several situations that reassured her law school was the next step.
“The common factor in those experiences was that I didn’t have the knowledge of the law or the tools to fully help someone, and I felt frustrated and restricted by that reality,” she says. “Finding justice or solutions can be a barrier to those who don’t understand the court system or legal documents. I want to be able to navigate the law and be a guide to others so that they can find the positive impacts that the law has to offer.”
By summer, she decided on law school and started studying for the LSAT. By fall, she landed a legal assistant position with Hammerschmidt Stickradt & Associates in Royal Oak— eventually becoming Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case Manager. Her communication studies were invaluable in this job.
“Creating a sensitive and non-judgmental atmosphere and a rapport of mutual respect and trust was crucial to positive client relationships,” she says. “Timely and effective written and oral communication, including active listening, was foundational to fostering relationships of trust with clients and managing their expectations. I felt fulfilled helping people work through a solution to their problems and witnessing a client’s transition from feeling overwhelmed and defeated to leaving the office with newfound hope.”
In choosing Detroit Mercy Law, where she is a 3L student, Amy has always felt a connection to Michigan and Detroit, spending summers in her youth with her grandparents in Royal Oak and having extended family here.
“What specifically drew me to UDM Law was its rich history in Detroit, diverse student body, large percentage of first-generation law students, and the emphasis on educating the complete lawyer,” she says.
“I’m passionate about the welfare and dignity of all people, the condition of the environment in which we all live, and the equal administration of justice,” she adds. “The law and legal system have such capacity for positive impact and can be powerful problem-solving tools. I believe the law is the best way I can be of maximum service to my passions, people, and the world around me. I want to be a part of finding solutions for individuals and larger social issues, and the law offers me that ability.”
She is enjoying her peers and professors, and positive experiences with students and faculty.
“Students are always genuinely celebrating each other’s successes, and I appreciate feeling that comradery and also positively contributing to our community. Professors want their students to succeed and are always accommodating and approachable for office hours. I’ve had so many professors willing to be a reference or connect me to someone outside the UDM Law community. UDM Law professors help students pursue their passions.”
Amy interned last summer in U.S. District Judge Judith Levy’s courtroom, and enjoyed watching the administration of justice and participating in or observing case discussions in chambers. She watched civil and criminal cases in court, researched legal issues to assist with preparing recommendations for the judge, reviewed filings, edited opinions, and worked on a longer memorandum project under one of the clerks.
“Judge Levy embodied everything a judge should be—fair, impartial, ethical, thorough, detail-oriented, professional, and compassionate,” she says. “I enjoyed being around Judge Levy and her clerks in the courtroom and in chambers. It was evident everyone in Judge Levy’s office cared about the interns learning and growing. Everyone was incredibly smart, hardworking, and full of integrity. I loved being around the collective passion for the law and pursuit of justice.”
She enjoys serving as Executive Articles Editor on the Law Review Executive Board.
“I love being part of a tradition and positively contributing to it. I love the detail-oriented demands of the work and working as a team toward a common goal,” she says. “I appreciate the opportunity for growth that working on law review allows its members. You get as much out of it as you put in it. The dedicated focus I’ve given to editing, writing, and creating positive relationships within the organization has made me even more prepared for legal work outside of school.”
January through August of this year, Amy worked as a part-time law clerk with Sommers Schwartz in Southfield, in the Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice Group. The work entailed drafting complaints, demand letters, notices of intent, initial disclosures, and other pre-trial litigation documents; and she also conducted document review and research, legal analysis, and writing projects.
“I found the medical malpractice work intellectually stimulating and challenging because the work required knowledge of the law but also included complex medical topics,” she says. “I constantly expanded my legal research and writing skills and learned from experienced, sharp attorneys who were more than willing to provide feedback.”
Amy’s current interests are environmental, civil rights, international, employment, and criminal law.
“One of the biggest pieces of advice that I have received from practicing attorneys is to stay flexible and open to different opportunities,” she says. “I am taking that advice to heart.”
However, during law school, her focus has primarily been on environmental law.
“My parents taught me while growing up how to reuse, recycle, not waste or litter, and be respectful of the environment. Earth, the environment, and animals do not have voices, so someone has to stand up for their preservation and improvement,” she says. “I’ve carried love and respect for nature throughout my life so taking environmental law and the environmental law clinic with Professor Nicholas Schroeck—now the interim dean—was an easy choice.”
She wrote her Law Review note on forever chemicals and proposing that Michigan adopt a Green Amendment to its Constitution. The previous UDM Law Review Executive Board chose her note for publication, and it will appear in the Law Review’s next issue.
“My career goals are more abstract. I’m looking for a feeling rather than specific ‘things’,” she says. “I’d like to find an area of law that challenges me to constantly learn and grow both professionally and personally. I want to work in an area of law I’m passionate about and in which I can wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work. Equally important is finding a mentor in my field and a community of co-workers who are similarly hard working, compassionate, and supportive. In sum, my goals are to create life-long friendships in the field, find fulfilling purpose in the work I do, and experience a lifetime of learning.”
Amy takes part in legal mini-clinics when the opportunities arise through UDM Law or other organizations. She has participated in the Sugar Law Center Unemployment mini-clinics, Crime Stoppers mini-clinic, and an expungement clinic through the Detroit Justice Center. She serves on the Future Leaders of Hope Board at the Detroit nonprofit, Focus Hope. She was introduced to Focus Hope as a member of the Incorporated Society of Irish American Lawyers, which volunteers there twice a year to pack food for the senior food program.
Passionate about travel, she has fond memories of her undergrad study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence, France, when she visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Leipzig, Germany.
After graduation, she taught English at a high school in Beaune, France, through the Teaching Assistance Program in France. When her uncle visited from Michigan, the two traveled to Paris and Zurich.
Her father also visited and the duo went to several small villages where he had spent time in childhood.
“He was born in France and lived in Mexico City and New York growing up. He speaks Spanish and French, which is what I believe helped me have a love for other languages and cultures and a desire to explore and live outside the United States,” Amy says.
“I am without a doubt a Francophile because of him.”
In October 2015, Amy moved to Aix-en-Provence on a year-long visitor visa and reconnected with people she had known while studying abroad and with the American University that she had attended. During the December/January holiday, she met up with her sister in Zakopane, Poland, and also visited Krakow.
“My dad and stepmother also visited me,” she says. “We took a road trip across the southeastern coast of France and even into Italy for a quick breakfast.”
The Los Angeles native now makes her home in Ferndale, and enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Dan, her cat, Kiki, and with extended family who live in Metro Detroit, especially her grandparents who are both in their 90s. She also enjoys playing soccer, languages, coffee, baked goods, camping, puzzles, traveling, and the environment/nature.
“The Detroit community is so vibrant, passionate, and full of love,” she says. “I’m still here eight years later and plan to practice here.”
Legal News
Alexis Amy headed to the University of San Diego intent on majoring in International Business. However, after taking an Intro to Human Communication course her first semester, she was enthralled by the examination of communication principals, including verbal and nonverbal communication, perception, persuasion, and listening—and was intrigued at witnessing these principals play out in day-to day life.
With a father who is a retired prop master in the film industry, Amy was always interested in TV and film, and the positive and negative effects different media have on cultural narratives and biases—and switched her majors to Communication, Media Studies, and French.
“Being an effective lawyer demands being an effective communicator and invested listener,” she adds. “Communication is everywhere in life and the legal field, whether it be orally or in writing, talking to a judge, counseling a client, collaborating internally at a firm, or negotiating with opposing counsel. I’m confident my undergraduate studies, in addition to 10 years of personal and professional experiences before law school, will help me in my law career.”
In spring of 2020, Amy talked to lawyers and social workers to gather advice about their field of work. However, Amy experienced several situations that reassured her law school was the next step.
“The common factor in those experiences was that I didn’t have the knowledge of the law or the tools to fully help someone, and I felt frustrated and restricted by that reality,” she says. “Finding justice or solutions can be a barrier to those who don’t understand the court system or legal documents. I want to be able to navigate the law and be a guide to others so that they can find the positive impacts that the law has to offer.”
By summer, she decided on law school and started studying for the LSAT. By fall, she landed a legal assistant position with Hammerschmidt Stickradt & Associates in Royal Oak— eventually becoming Chapter 7 Bankruptcy Case Manager. Her communication studies were invaluable in this job.
“Creating a sensitive and non-judgmental atmosphere and a rapport of mutual respect and trust was crucial to positive client relationships,” she says. “Timely and effective written and oral communication, including active listening, was foundational to fostering relationships of trust with clients and managing their expectations. I felt fulfilled helping people work through a solution to their problems and witnessing a client’s transition from feeling overwhelmed and defeated to leaving the office with newfound hope.”
In choosing Detroit Mercy Law, where she is a 3L student, Amy has always felt a connection to Michigan and Detroit, spending summers in her youth with her grandparents in Royal Oak and having extended family here.
“What specifically drew me to UDM Law was its rich history in Detroit, diverse student body, large percentage of first-generation law students, and the emphasis on educating the complete lawyer,” she says.
“I’m passionate about the welfare and dignity of all people, the condition of the environment in which we all live, and the equal administration of justice,” she adds. “The law and legal system have such capacity for positive impact and can be powerful problem-solving tools. I believe the law is the best way I can be of maximum service to my passions, people, and the world around me. I want to be a part of finding solutions for individuals and larger social issues, and the law offers me that ability.”
She is enjoying her peers and professors, and positive experiences with students and faculty.
“Students are always genuinely celebrating each other’s successes, and I appreciate feeling that comradery and also positively contributing to our community. Professors want their students to succeed and are always accommodating and approachable for office hours. I’ve had so many professors willing to be a reference or connect me to someone outside the UDM Law community. UDM Law professors help students pursue their passions.”
Amy interned last summer in U.S. District Judge Judith Levy’s courtroom, and enjoyed watching the administration of justice and participating in or observing case discussions in chambers. She watched civil and criminal cases in court, researched legal issues to assist with preparing recommendations for the judge, reviewed filings, edited opinions, and worked on a longer memorandum project under one of the clerks.
“Judge Levy embodied everything a judge should be—fair, impartial, ethical, thorough, detail-oriented, professional, and compassionate,” she says. “I enjoyed being around Judge Levy and her clerks in the courtroom and in chambers. It was evident everyone in Judge Levy’s office cared about the interns learning and growing. Everyone was incredibly smart, hardworking, and full of integrity. I loved being around the collective passion for the law and pursuit of justice.”
She enjoys serving as Executive Articles Editor on the Law Review Executive Board.
“I love being part of a tradition and positively contributing to it. I love the detail-oriented demands of the work and working as a team toward a common goal,” she says. “I appreciate the opportunity for growth that working on law review allows its members. You get as much out of it as you put in it. The dedicated focus I’ve given to editing, writing, and creating positive relationships within the organization has made me even more prepared for legal work outside of school.”
January through August of this year, Amy worked as a part-time law clerk with Sommers Schwartz in Southfield, in the Personal Injury/Medical Malpractice Group. The work entailed drafting complaints, demand letters, notices of intent, initial disclosures, and other pre-trial litigation documents; and she also conducted document review and research, legal analysis, and writing projects.
“I found the medical malpractice work intellectually stimulating and challenging because the work required knowledge of the law but also included complex medical topics,” she says. “I constantly expanded my legal research and writing skills and learned from experienced, sharp attorneys who were more than willing to provide feedback.”
Amy’s current interests are environmental, civil rights, international, employment, and criminal law.
“One of the biggest pieces of advice that I have received from practicing attorneys is to stay flexible and open to different opportunities,” she says. “I am taking that advice to heart.”
However, during law school, her focus has primarily been on environmental law.
“My parents taught me while growing up how to reuse, recycle, not waste or litter, and be respectful of the environment. Earth, the environment, and animals do not have voices, so someone has to stand up for their preservation and improvement,” she says. “I’ve carried love and respect for nature throughout my life so taking environmental law and the environmental law clinic with Professor Nicholas Schroeck—now the interim dean—was an easy choice.”
She wrote her Law Review note on forever chemicals and proposing that Michigan adopt a Green Amendment to its Constitution. The previous UDM Law Review Executive Board chose her note for publication, and it will appear in the Law Review’s next issue.
“My career goals are more abstract. I’m looking for a feeling rather than specific ‘things’,” she says. “I’d like to find an area of law that challenges me to constantly learn and grow both professionally and personally. I want to work in an area of law I’m passionate about and in which I can wake up in the morning and look forward to going to work. Equally important is finding a mentor in my field and a community of co-workers who are similarly hard working, compassionate, and supportive. In sum, my goals are to create life-long friendships in the field, find fulfilling purpose in the work I do, and experience a lifetime of learning.”
Amy takes part in legal mini-clinics when the opportunities arise through UDM Law or other organizations. She has participated in the Sugar Law Center Unemployment mini-clinics, Crime Stoppers mini-clinic, and an expungement clinic through the Detroit Justice Center. She serves on the Future Leaders of Hope Board at the Detroit nonprofit, Focus Hope. She was introduced to Focus Hope as a member of the Incorporated Society of Irish American Lawyers, which volunteers there twice a year to pack food for the senior food program.
Passionate about travel, she has fond memories of her undergrad study abroad program in Aix-en-Provence, France, when she visited Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Leipzig, Germany.
After graduation, she taught English at a high school in Beaune, France, through the Teaching Assistance Program in France. When her uncle visited from Michigan, the two traveled to Paris and Zurich.
Her father also visited and the duo went to several small villages where he had spent time in childhood.
“He was born in France and lived in Mexico City and New York growing up. He speaks Spanish and French, which is what I believe helped me have a love for other languages and cultures and a desire to explore and live outside the United States,” Amy says.
“I am without a doubt a Francophile because of him.”
In October 2015, Amy moved to Aix-en-Provence on a year-long visitor visa and reconnected with people she had known while studying abroad and with the American University that she had attended. During the December/January holiday, she met up with her sister in Zakopane, Poland, and also visited Krakow.
“My dad and stepmother also visited me,” she says. “We took a road trip across the southeastern coast of France and even into Italy for a quick breakfast.”
The Los Angeles native now makes her home in Ferndale, and enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, Dan, her cat, Kiki, and with extended family who live in Metro Detroit, especially her grandparents who are both in their 90s. She also enjoys playing soccer, languages, coffee, baked goods, camping, puzzles, traveling, and the environment/nature.
“The Detroit community is so vibrant, passionate, and full of love,” she says. “I’m still here eight years later and plan to practice here.”
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