Meghan Cook Zuraw

Serving in the Children’s Rights Clinic was truly the seminal experience of my time in law school. Through handling my own docket of cases, I learned practical skills like time management, negotiation, and dealing diplomatically with opposing parties and counsel.  I was fortunate to have the experience of two trials – a week long jury trial and a short bench trial.  In the jury trial, my supervising attorney let me assist truly from top to bottom.  I prepped witnesses and our exhibits, participated in voir dire and jury selection, examined and cross-examined witnesses, and prepared and delivered our closing argument.  Beyond the practical skills I learned (which could not have been gained in any non-clinical course), I found my passion in the legal field.  I have spent my time since graduation serving vulnerable youth, and now run the North Texas office of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.  Finally, I was fortunate in the clinic to have found a lifelong friend, mentor, and inspiration in my clinical supervisor, Lori Duke.  I simply would not be the lawyer, or the person, I am today without the Children’s Rights Clinic and the leadership of both Lori and Leslie Strauch.