By Sheila Pursglove
Legal News
Law student Cassie Weck Wun found her passion for the legal world sparked while working and living at Jerusalem Farm, a Catholic, intentional community and urban farm in northeast Kansas City, Mo.
“Like any small nonprofit, I had many roles there, but three of my main roles were to coordinate restorative justice meetings in response to housing code violations, lead home repair sites, and host high school and college student volunteers for service immersion trips,” she says. “Throughout this work, I really connected the Catholic Social Teaching principle of ‘Rights and Responsibilities’ with the housing injustices I was seeing.
“I have the capacity and the passion to work for the common good regarding housing justice, and so I’m taking this time in my life to seize that opportunity.”
Now a 1L student at the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law, Weck Wun earned her undergrad degree in Spanish Language and Literature from Creighton University, a Jesuit University in Omaha, where she also studied Justice & Peace Studies.
And for 9 months during the height of the pandemic, she gained experience of the legal world by working as a legal administrative assistant at Maryland Legal Aid in Baltimore. She collaborated with the Directors of Advocacy and supervising attorneys on drafting letters, proofreading and editing briefs, and compiling trial notebooks.
“The Statewide Advocacy Team is amazing, and it was an honor to work with and learn so much from them,” she says.
The access to clinics and opportunities for experiential learning, especially in the first year, is one of the primary reasons she decided on Detroit Mercy Law, and she has already participated in a mini clinic at the Pope Francis Center in Detroit.
“I found the experience to be affirming and also a good challenge to keep up with my legal research class,” she says. “I’m looking forward to the next opportunity to assist in a mini clinic so I can help out however is needed as well as take that time to learn by observation. I’m here for all things pro bono and public interest in nature, so I’m looking to get involved with any opportunities that are offered.
“Beyond that, I helped to reinstate the St. Thomas More Society, a student organization interested in promoting the ethical practice of law in the spirit of St. Thomas More as well as creating a reflective space to explore the interconnectedness between faith and justice. We’ve had our first few meetings, and I’m curious and excited to see how we can be good community members at the law school and in the wider Detroit area.”
In addition to serving as president of the St. Thomas More Society, Weck Wun also is involved in the Women’s Law Caucus, and is staying in the loop for events hosted by the Immigration Law Society and the Environmental Law Society as well as a couple other organizations. She recently took part in a 1L Moot Court competition and is curious to learn more about Law Review for her upper years. She is particularly interested in practicing housing law or immigration law.
“While those are the top two areas I’m interested in now, I also could see myself desiring to practice environmental law or having a good grasp on general practice matters,” she says.
With many career dreams, her eventual goal is not yet set in stone.
“Some days I imagine myself starting a small, nonprofit clinic where people can access various legal services on a sliding scale basis. The essence of practicing law, from what I have gathered in my first 10 weeks of law school, is problem solving. Who doesn’t have a problem to solve? I get the sense many folks need legal services, but these services are often inaccessible,” she says.
“Other days, I imagine myself working in a state capital on policy issues. I think service and justice are wonderful when intertwined, but I’m a much more justice-oriented person. I could see my future-self easily feeling stuck inside of the bounds of legislature and wanting to change the policies that shape the way law is interpreted.
“Lately, I find myself musing about ‘big law’ and seeing what opportunities there are to ramp up the pro-bono or low-bono work and to hold big firms accountable for providing resources to the community when they have the means and access to provide good direction and counsel.
“Finally, I studied education for three years in college until I realized I didn’t picture myself teaching in a traditional high school classroom setting. My gravitation towards teaching will never leave me, so I’d love to become a professor of law one day.”
Raised in Marengo, a small town about 90 minutes northwest of Chicago, Weck Wun and her husband Joseph now make their home in Detroit. The couple met when both were working at Jerusalem Farm—and were married there this past summer, the first wedding to take place at the farm.
“We just moved to Detroit this summer, but outside of law school, I like to attend church at Gesu, check out parks in the area, ride my bike down the Dequindre Cut and spend time with friends,” she says. “I’m enjoying this return to the seasonal Midwest weather after living in 50-degree, drizzly Seattle for a year—Seattle is great though!”
She and her husband both recently returned to school after a break of a few years.
“My husband started medical school at Wayne State this year, so by default this has created a natural daily rhythm of life that lends to lots of study time.”
The oldest of four siblings, Weck Wun has family in several states, mostly in the Midwest, and most of her husband’s family is in California. Her interests include restorative justice, ice cream, camping, backpacking, Catholic Social Teaching, swimming, open mic nights/poetry, birthdays, listening to live and folk music—and dogs.
“Nearly every day I send Joseph pictures of dogs from local shelters and we dream up names like Tortilla and Tostada and Cardamom for these would-be pets,” she says. “Maybe soon?”
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