Wayne Law students awarded Women Lawyers Association of Michigan scholarships

DETROIT - Three Wayne State University Law School students were awarded scholarships from the Women Lawyers Association of Michigan.

Marie Bonnici won the Dawn Van Hoek Scholarship, Alexis Smith won the WLAM Foundation Scholarship and Jacqueline Yee won the General Motors Scholarship.

The foundation makes financial awards to women law students at each of Michigan's law schools. Scholarships are determined on the basis of the students' demonstrated leadership capabilities; community service in such areas as family law, child advocacy or domestic violence; commitment to diversity; and potential for advancing the position of women in society.

Bonnici, a third-year student, is vice chair of Levin Center Students at Wayne Law. In 2018 Bonnici interned for the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in Washington D.C. as part of the center's internship program. She also participated in the Law School's Criminal Appellate Practice Clinic, alongside the State Appellate Defender's Office. Bonnici is spending her final semester externing for the Michigan Attorney General in the Civil Rights Division and plans to continue her career in public service.

Before starting law school, Smith, a second-year student, spent 13 years in marketing and communications. She serves on the executive board of the Wayne Law Black Law Student Association, is a governor-at-large for the Student Board of Governors, member of the Entrepreneurship and Business Law Society, and was appointed to the Law School's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee. She is also a recipient of the Wolverine Bar Foundation Damon J. Keith Scholarship and the Warner Norcross + Judd Scholarship. This summer, Smith will be joining Plunkett Cooney PC as a summer associate and will hold a judicial internship with Judge Stephen J. Murphy III of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.

Yee is a third-year student who is passionate about using her legal education to help advance the rights of women and minorities. She has served on the executive boards of the Wayne Law Review and Women's Law Caucus, and is president of the Asian Pacific American Law Student Association. She also interned for the Judge Marianne O. Battani of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. After graduation Yee will serve on the 2019-20 executive board of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Bar Association.

This story was updated at 3:55 p.m., Friday, May 3.

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Contact: Kaylee Place

Email: kaylee.place@wayne.edu

Phone: 313-577-4629

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