A classically trained chef, a Broadway musician, a paralegal, and a teacher. These are just a few of the students from various walks of life who came to Michigan Law three years ago to begin their studies. On May 12, a diverse community gathered to celebrate their graduation as the Class of 2025.
Inspired by their differences, student speaker Brittney Dorton, ’25, addressed her classmates, including 340 JD students and 30 graduate students, at Michigan Law’s Senior Day at Hill Auditorium.
Dorton reflected on the power that lies in differences, using her own disability as an illustration.
“On my first day at Michigan Law, I was keenly aware of what made me different,” she said. “As someone who is chronically ill and disabled, I looked different, too—with my bright blue walking cane and my N95 mask I have to wear because my lungs don’t work as they should.”
Dorton, whom her fellow students selected to deliver the speech, said that she initially felt so out of place, she wondered whether she had made a mistake in coming to law school. However, over the course of the following three years, she found that her disability also meant that she could connect with disabled clients with a better understanding of their situation.
“It meant that I could…use the creativity and adaptability that comes from a lifetime of having to find your own way to do things to solve problems and analyze the law from a unique perspective.”
Dorton, who will spend the next two years as a Skadden fellow with the ACLU Disability Rights Program in San Francisco, was involved as a student in the Michigan Innocence Clinic, the Disability Rights Organization, and the Michigan Journal of Law Reform.
She noted that the diversity within the graduating class allowed her fellow students to learn not only with each other, but from each other. That appreciation of diversity is a valuable lesson in the current times, she added.
“Now more than ever, we must embrace what sets us apart and celebrate those differences in one another. I have faith that we will do so, because from here on out one of the things that makes us different is our distinction as an alumnus of Michigan Law.”
Breach, ’94, encourages graduates to embrace discomfort
David Breach, ’94, gave the alumni address, tracing the lessons he has learned since he graduated from Michigan Law more than 30 years ago. To begin with, he let graduates in on a little secret: “I wasn’t supposed to be here.”
If he had followed his initial career trajectory, he would be selling bottled juice in southeastern Michigan instead of serving as president and chief operating officer at Vista Equity Partners, a global investment firm with more than $100 billion in assets.
He said that when he was 19, he started working as a sales representative for the juice company while attending night school—and he realized that he liked his sales career a lot more than pursuing academics. But with inspiration from the company’s attorney, he decided to take a chance and enroll in law school, initially at Detroit College of Law before transferring to Michigan.
Over the course of his career, he learned four valuable lessons: work hard and be able to sustain it, find your passion, push yourself into uncomfortable situations, and be grateful along the way.
He spoke of his parents—neither of whom graduated from high school while growing up in rural Canada but both of whom had fulfilling careers—as examples of hard work and persistence. While he acknowledged that “life is going to get in the way,” whether it’s a difficult boss, a family illness, or self-inflicted mistakes, overcoming obstacles and remaining focused on one’s career goal is key to moving forward.
Such obstacles are easier to manage if you are truly passionate about your work, Breach told the graduates. He added that their passion might not come early in their careers, noting that he didn’t find his passion until he was nearly 30 years old and joined Honigman Miller as a corporate lawyer.
“Very few people have a career that’s linear,” he said. “But someday I hope that you will find your passion and you will throw everything into it.”
Breach said that career growth is possible when people are willing to take risks. For example, he pivoted his career from law to finance when he moved from a position as one of the founding partners of the San Francisco office of Kirkland & Ellis to Vista.
“I certainly had no proven ability as an investor in the finance world,” he said. “But…I put myself in these uncomfortable situations and was willing to fail but fundamentally [wanted] to find out what I was capable of doing.”
Helping him keep perspective in uncomfortable situations was approaching life through the lens of gratitude. That has allowed him to accept sacrifices with joy rather than with burden.
“I’m in a role where I deal with problems all day,” he said. “When I’m really having a tough day and I feel like a lot’s coming at me, I sit back and I say, ‘You know what, people would love to have my problems.’ And it completely reframes my mind.”
