Michigan Law Review names Megan Brown its 1st black editor

June 2, 2024

42 2 minutes read

Michigan Law Review names Megan Brown its 1st black editor — megbrown jpg

Megan Brown claimed both Atlanta and Detroit as places she grew up.

“When I’m in Michigan, I say I’m from Atlanta; when I’m in Atlanta, I say I’m from Michigan,’’ said Brown. “I don’t think I’m a full Michigander and I don’t think I’m a full Georgian.”

But now she’s a full-time editor.

Brown, 25, was named editor-in-chief of the University of Michigan Law Review, which is run by students. By all accounts, she is the first African American to run the prestigious review.

“I want to be in places where people look around and say there’s not enough black people there,’’ Brown said this week of her goals.

Sarah Zearfoss, assistant dean of the U-M law school, praised Brown’s selection.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Zearfoss said. “She’s going to be a great person to work with for the next year.’’

About 100 students work for the Law Review, which is published eight times a year. Brown will be responsible for editing and overseeing the final product.

“It’s having a full-time job on top of your studies,’’ said Helen Marie Berg, the executive production editor. “There’s a lot of work and a lot of responsibility. Megan is a great person and a pleasure to be around. We have professors and students writing great pieces and we get a chance to read them.’’

Brown’s family hail from Detroit. She spent her early life in Ann Arbor, and her family moved to Atlanta when she was 11. She received her bachelor’s degree in neuroscience at the University of Michigan in 2015.

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Between undergrad and law school, she worked as a cashier at a plant nursery. In law school, Megan participates in the Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse, a website which collects documents from and summarizes civil rights cases from around the country. She is also a member of the Black Law Student Association, chair of the 1L Oral Advocacy Competition (a competition for first-year law students), and a member of the Michigan Law Headnotes A Cappella group. After her first year of law school, she was a 1L (first-year) Diversity Scholar at Latham & Watkins in Chicago, Ill.

One of her triplet sisters (the other two are Rosalie and Laura) went to Ohio State, so trash talking and Michigan athletics also rank high on her list of favorite activities.

“All the things that go into this have been going on since August,’’ said Brown. “You have to be diligent from the beginning. There are executive board interviews and the editorial board. It was long and arduous for me. It was a fun challenge.

“When you put it on top of school it becomes a little difficult to manage your time. In a three-or four credit class you’re expected to do about 10 hours of work outside of class. Every minute you spend away from your studies (in law school) is another minute that another student is spending, which could result in a lesser grade for you.’’

Megan hopes to become a patent attorney once she graduates the law school. “It feeds my brain,’’ she said.

“I wanted to be a doctor, and then pretty quickly decided that I didn’t want to be a doctor, but I like science.’’