A sidebar with … Nicholas Colvin

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Less than a decade into his legal career, new Miller Canfield hire Nicholas M. Colvin will apply his experience from working in the White House and the City of Chicago to projects in Michigan.

Colvin, an Ionia native and a 2014 graduate of Harvard Law School, works at Miller Canfield’s Detroit and Lansing offices.

He spoke with Michigan Lawyers Weekly to discuss his background and his new work.

You worked at the White House (during President Barack Obama’s first term) before going to law school, what kind of work did that involve?

I was special assistant to two White House counsels before I went to law school. I was a paralegal basically. For everything that came through their office, which ranged from high national security issues to issues involving the First Lady or the Easter Egg Roll thing, I did legal research and managed workflow for the West Wing team on that.

I was also involved in the Supreme Court and federal judge nomination process. There was a little bit of everything, which is what I loved about my time there and it confirmed my interest in eventually going to law school.

I got a chance to work with some of the sharpest and best legal minds in the country on the highest and most important issues facing our country at that time.

It was an incredible opportunity in terms of substance but also an exciting time to be working in the White House.

How have you adapted your skills by working for firms and public entities?

I’m a very intellectually curious person and enjoy the necessity of jumping in and out of different issues at any given time. Fortunately, for this transition I’m working in the public law group on bond work as well as some economic development work with the Lansing office.

I’m splitting time between the Detroit and Lansing office. Economic development and also public finance are in line with what I was doing with the City of Chicago. There’s still a steep learning curve in this space and also just learning new relationships and personalities, but in terms of the substance, I think my experience in the White House is where I’ve developed the skill of bouncing in and out of very different issues and practices.

Being a first-time attorney in Michigan, what have you encountered so far that might be different than your other stops?

This is home for me, so it’s nice to be close to family, but for work, it’s nice to know the people and places that are being impacted by the work we’re doing, whether that’s on the economic development side or public finance side. If the work is to build a road, it may be a community I’m aware of or have family in. There’s additional gratification knowing it’s impacting people and places that raised me and are closest to my heart. There’s a special satisfaction that comes from being able to impact these places directly after my years away.

How do plan to apply your previous experiences in your new role?

My work in Chicago is directly applicable to the projects we do here whether it’s for schools, road commissions or airports. It’s a new experience being on the private side, but my experience in city government is directly applicable to my work now.

You’ve had some community involvement in your past, do you plan to get involved here as well?

I was very involved with nonprofits in Chicago, and that took up a large chunk of my time outside of work there. I’m looking for similar opportunities like that in the community. I’ve always been very involved in mentorship of teens in the community, so I’m still looking for opportunities to do that here, and people have started to reach out to me to do that and it’s something I’m excited for when the right opportunity presents itself.