Editor's Note: This is the first profile of the attorneys known to be running for Jackson County District Court Judge to fill the seat vacated by Judge James Justin. Gov. Rick Snyder will make the appointment.
By Tom Gantert
Legal News
Jennifer Lamp says she knows where to go to work out her legal arguments - the swimming pool.
The Jackson lawyer says swimming laps just about every day is where she does some of her important legal thinking.
"I do think about closings while I swim and motion hearing arguments and sentencing allocutions," said Lamp.
Lamp remembers when she had a young client who had been charged with a felony. He was not an American citizen, but he was in the U.S. legally. She filed a motion to quash and dismiss the felony count.
"While swimming, I formulated my arguments for my case because the stakes would be high if he was convicted--deportation," Lamp said. "I polished up my arguments in the pool, went to court, and the circuit judge threw out the felony count and things worked out great for my client as a result."
One of only a handful of female criminal defense attorneys in Jackson, Lamp is also one of at least three attorneys running to be judge at the Jackson County District Court.
Her background is a bit unusual for an attorney.
Lamp attended three high schools in the Detroit area before dropping out of high school in the fall of 1987 after completing the 10th grade.
But by March of 1988, she completed her GED.
Lamp said she was never involved in the criminal court as a juvenile, but some of her experiences as a youth led her to a career in law.
"Some of the experiences I had as a juvenile made me have an appreciation that there is a place you can go to have disputes resolved in a fair manner," she said.
Lamp graduated from the University of Michigan with a bachelor's of art degree and earned her juris doctor degree from the University of Toledo.
She started her legal career as a legal intern in the Jackson County Prosecutor's office in 2002, then worked as an assistant prosecutor for Jackson County from 2002 to 2008. From there, she moved on to an assistant prosecutor position with Ingham County from 2008 to 2010.
In July of 2010, she started her practice and works as a court-appointed attorney in Jackson and Ingham counties. She also is a criminal defense attorney, practices family law and does judgment collection work. Lamp also works with juvenile delinquency, abuse and neglect.
"As a criminal defense attorney, you can run into people who say, 'Gosh. You represent people who do the worst crimes. The truth of the matter is I deal with the people charged with the crime. The people I represent have just made a series of poor decisions that have led them to the place they are at."
Lamp is also a member of the State Bar of Michigan's committee on domestic violence, which does training in the legal community. Lamp said she accepts cases from Jackson Legal Services involving people who can't afford to pay for a divorce that has an element of domestic violence to it.
Her work as an assistant prosecuting attorney and as a public defender has allowed her to see both sides of the legal system, she said.
"I've had the ability to be on both sides," Lamp said. "That gives me the ability to be fair and see where both sides are coming from."
Lamp says her experiences as a youth led her to be a lawyer and is one of the reasons she wants to be a judge.
"I have a very big appreciation for fairness," Lamp said. "We all know life isn't fair."
Published: Thu, Mar 15, 2012
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