Elinor “Elly” Jordan, an attorney at Michigan Immigrant Rights Center, graduated from Michigan State University College of Law in 2011. She is one of two alumnae who recently won a hard-fought immigration battle in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Mazariegos-Rodas v. Merrick B. Garland). She is an adjunct professor at the College of Law, teaching a course on children in the law.
I have always been incredibly grateful to MSU Law for providing the scholarship that made law school possible for me. Michigan is home for me, but I had been working in Central America and Washington, D.C., before I decided to become an attorney. Several human rights lawyers inspired me and gave me the courage to attend law school.
My central purpose in entering the law was to be helpful in some way. Early on, as I struggled with confidence, my spouse gave me a gift. It was a box of photos he had cut from magazines with stories about people and how I could help them once I became a lawyer. That box stayed on my desk throughout my studies and propelled me through my greatest struggles. At MSU Law, the Trial Practice Institute forced me out of my comfort zone. As editor-in-chief of the Michigan State Law Review, I was exposed to some of our most outstanding scholars and more from around the country, who treated me like a “thought partner” to plan symposia and events.
MSU Law opened doors I never would have anticipated. I am eternally grateful to Hon. David W. McKeague, for whom I clerked after graduation. I had the opportunity to research and draft bench memos and opinions for the Judge and familiarize myself with a broad swath of federal law.
I later returned to MSU as a supervising attorney in the Immigration Law Clinic. During this time, Professors David and Veronica Thronson became some of my most influential mentors. They shaped how I think about legal ethics and how I approach service.
What I’ve learned is that there are fascinating people all around the university who are working to make the world a better place. For example, I recently began a wonderful collaboration with Sriram Narayanan and the Broad College’s Center for Ethical & Socially Responsible Leadership to combat child labor within the manufacturing supply chain. I encourage all law students to find those in other colleges with whom you share values and can collaborate. We are stronger when we work together.
I still have my box, but after 13 years as an attorney, it is also filled with cards and letters from clients, legislation I have helped shape, and cases that have made a difference. To me, this is evidence of a dream come true. Though it has not been easy, there is nothing else I can imagine doing. I hope that all incoming lawyers find the thing that makes them want to get up every morning and do it.