Michele Blackwell currently serves as Chief of Staff to Elissa Silverman of the D.C. Council. As a third-year law student, Ms. Blackwell participated in the yearlong Federal, Criminal, and Appellate Clinic (recently renamed the Criminal Appeals and Post-Conviction Services Clinic) taught by Professor Anne Olesen and 2011-13 Friedman Fellow Wyatt Feeler. After graduation, she accepted a position as Legislative Counsel to D.C. Councilmember Mary Cheh, also a GW Law professor. In 2015, Ms. Blackwell transitioned to the position of Legislative Director for Councilmember Brandon Todd before assuming the Chief of Staff position for Councilmember Silverman this spring. What follows is an edited excerpt from an interview about her work, her clinic experiences, and her perspectives on law school.
Why did you want to attend law school?
I first became interested in attending law school after the 2000 presidential election. Bush v. Gore represented the first election I was eligible to vote in, and because I was raised in a family where voting is considered to be an important civic responsibility, I watched the election with great interest. I followed every news story and watched every debate. By the end of the election, I realized that I wanted to work in politics and believed that law school could help me develop the skills I needed. Additionally, because the Supreme Court ultimately decided the election, I became fascinated by how politics and law intersect, and I wanted to learn more about it.
Where has your career taken you since graduation? Has the path been what you expected?
When I accepted the Legislative Counsel position with Councilmember Mary Cheh, she was chairing the Committee on Transportation and the Environment, which oversees a wide range of issues that affect the day-to-day lives of D.C. residents. During my time in Councilmember Cheh’s office, I served as an advisor and subject matter expert on policies related to solid waste management, recycling, water quality, affordable housing, school modernization, and landlord-tenant disputes. Additionally, I worked closely with Councilmember Cheh on legislation that relaxed the District’s rigid law on assaulting a police officer and legislation that improved police practices related to civil asset forfeiture. When I became Legislative Director for Councilmember Brandon Todd, I managed his entire legislative portfolio and served as his senior advisor on policies related to education, transportation and infrastructure, wage and labor, the environment, and aging-in-place. All of these experiences enabled me to become Chief of Staff for Councilmember Elissa Silverman.
Although I was initially interested in national politics, working in local government has given me a tremendous opportunity to work on a variety of policies and issues. In this field, I’m known as a “generalist” and because of this I’m able to work on many interesting things.
What is a typical day at the office like?
A typical day in my office depends on what is happening at the Council. Members meet at least twice a month to discuss and vote on legislation. During these times, I typically spend the entire day working with my councilmember, reviewing legislation, and discussing how to vote on each bill. Other times, the Council may be holding hearings on various bills. On those days, I will usually attend a hearing and listen to testimony being provided by advocates and government witnesses. This is essential because both groups provide valuable insight into how a bill could possibly affect the city. When I’m not attending a legislative meeting or hearing, I spend the day reviewing bills that are coming through the Council, conduct legal research for new bills, or draft legislation to address a particular issue that is important to my councilmember.
How do you spend your time outside of work?
I believe that political activism is in my genes. In the 1950s and ’60s, my grandparents owned a taxicab company in Baltimore and used their fleet every Election Day to drive people to the polls. This has always inspired me to be actively involved in my community, so a lot of my time is split between friends, family, and advocacy work. Since graduating from GW Law, I’ve been a member of the Women’s Information Network and the Women’s National Democratic Club, and I’ve chaired the Legislative Affairs Committee for the Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women Lawyers Division, of the National Bar Association.
Why did you decide to take a clinic during law school?
I was drawn to the Federal, Criminal, and Appellate Clinic, which is now known as the Criminal Appeals and Post- Conviction Services Clinic, because of its focus on helping indigent clients who— after being convicted of a crime—are in need of appellate assistance. As a student, it gave me an opportunity to provide legal help to those in need and develop valuable writing and oral advocacy skills.
What did you gain from your clinic experience?
Writing well is an essential skill that every lawyer needs regardless of his or her practice area. I’m grateful for my clinic experience because I believe that it helped tremendously to shape and improve my writing. The clinic focused heavily on written advocacy, and when I was a student, I worked on at least four briefs that were submitted to the Court of Special Appeals, the second highest court in Maryland. Spending hours researching and writing with my fellow clinic students was invaluable and undoubtedly helped to prepare me for my current position, where I write countless committee reports and numerous public statements for elected officials.
How did your clinic enhance your law school experience?
One of the things that I enjoyed the most about my weekly clinic class was the camaraderie that I developed with Professor Anne Olesen, Friedman Fellow Wyatt Feeler, and my fellow students. Working with people who are passionate about criminal justice reform was quite inspirational. In fact, one of the first things that I worked on when joining the D.C. Council was a bill that reformed the District’s civil asset forfeiture law. A large part of my motivation for working on that and other reform matters developed from my clinic experience, where I spent a significant amount of time with people who were true advocates.
What was your most memorable experience in your clinic?
The most memorable experience I had in my clinic was helping my client win his case on appeal. Each student in the clinic was given an opportunity to be lead counsel on a case and develop appellate arguments to raise before the Court of Special Appeals. In my particular case, we raised three procedural issues. First, we argued that the state of Maryland failed to bring my client to trial within the statutory mandate of 180 days. Second, we argued that the judge had read an incorrect pattern jury instruction. Third, we argued that my client had been incorrectly charged. The Court of Special Appeals agreed with us on each argument and ruled in our favor. This was a significant win because my client was facing a 30-year prison sentence.
Did anything surprise you about your clinic experience?
I was pleasantly surprised by how much the clinic students worked collaboratively as a team. Although each case was assigned to an individual student, who worked with a student co-counsel, we frequently consulted with other clinic students for advice and ideas. It was clear that we were all learning how to collaborate and we were working hard to ensure that each of the clinic’s clients had the best representation possible.
Did your clinical experience have an impact on your career choices? If so, how?
Although I had an interest in working for a legislative body prior to participating in the clinic, my clinic experience solidified to me the importance of public interest work and ensuring that those who are most in need receive essential help. While working at the D.C. Council, I often think about how our work and the laws that we pass will affect D.C. residents. This is largely due to the fact that several of the clients in our clinic, who were low-income minorities, had been disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system.
What are the most valuable skills and perspectives that today’s law graduates can bring to the workplace?
As I learned in clinic, never be afraid to ask a question. I think that young professionals are often afraid to show that they may not know something. But truthfully, young lawyers have only just begun to develop the skills they need. When I arrived at the Council, there were so many things I simply didn’t know. I decided that to be successful, I needed to ask questions. And I asked lots of them, which helped me to learn what I needed to know.
What would you tell current students who are considering taking a clinic?
I would highly encourage any student who is able to do so to take a clinic. While law school provides its students with fundamentals, the clinical experience allows students to put those lessons into actual practice. While I was a student at GW, I participated in two moot court competitions, which helped me with my written and oral advocacy skills, but nothing compared to going before actual judges and arguing for my client. I could never overstate how much my clinic prepared me for real-world experience.