Lara S. Pierce

Lara S. Pierce graduated from the University of Cincinnati College of Law in 2008 in the top half of her class. She focused her legal education on civil rights and international human rights. She was active in helping the Cincinnati immigrant community and was awarded the Student Service and Leadership Award. She was the Co-Director of the Immigrant Community Legal Advocacy Project and participated in the Domestic Violence Clinic. She served as a Senior Articles Editor for the Human Rights Quarterly and was an Associate Member of the Freedom Center Journal, a collaborative publication with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center. Her review of “Forsaken Females: The Global Brutalization of Women” was selected for publication in the inaugural issue. In addition, she interned with the National Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Washington D.C., volunteered for the Cincinnati Interfaith Workers’ Center, and participated in an emergency effort to assist those affected by the ICE raid at the Koch Foods plant in Fairfield, Ohio.

Ms. Pierce was a Chancellor’s Scholar at Syracuse University where she graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in Geography and Photojournalism in 2002. She was awarded the Jonathan Chayat Memorial Award for her commitment to community and the arts.

In 2009, Ms. Pierce participated in the AILA National Day of Action, advocating for immigration reform on Capitol Hill. In 2010, she hosted a seminar for criminal defense attorneys who represent non-citizens and spoke at Alma College about Immigration Law and the U.S. Constitution, focusing on challenges to the Arizona law, SB 1070. She contributes to the firm blog at .   

Ms. Pierce is admitted to practice in Michigan and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. She is a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. She is also an advisor to the Royal Oak High School Model United Nations team, and is conversant in French.