Aaron Lewis, ’05, comes from a family with strong ties to Michigan Law.
His paternal great-grandfather, Oscar W. Baker Sr., 1902, was the 100th Black student to attend the Law School. He became a vocal advocate for Black Michiganders and a prominent attorney in Bay City, Michigan, along with his sons Oscar, ’35, and James, ’51. His maternal grandfather, the Hon. Wade H. McCree Jr., joined the Michigan Law faculty after a barrier-breaking career, and his grandmother, Dores McCree, worked at the Law School as a career adviser. His parents are also alumni. For Lewis, his ties to the Law Quad almost proved too substantial.
“I remember being a bit nervous about attending Michigan Law because of my family history—there were faculty who taught my parents and worked with my grandparents, and I wasn’t eager to invite comparison to them,” says Lewis. “But when I visited campus as a prospective student, I realized that no other law school aligned so completely with my values and aspirations.”
Lewis, a partner at Covington & Burling LLP in Los Angeles, recently made a $100,000 gift to the Wade Hampton McCree Jr. Scholarship Fund. The fund was established in 2006 by a gift from a 1971 Michigan Law graduate who had clerked for Lewis’s grandfather.
Influential figures
Growing up, Lewis didn’t have to look far for role models. “Observing the kind of lawyering my grandfather did was inspiring,” says Lewis. “I hoped that if I worked really hard, I might be able to accomplish some of the things that my family had accomplished in the law.”
After serving in the Army for four years during World War II, Lewis’s grandfather went to law school at Harvard and graduated near the top of his class in 1948. He began his career in private practice in Detroit and went on to become a trailblazing judge in state and federal courts. In 1977, Judge McCree was appointed Solicitor General of the United States by President Carter, a position he held until he joined the Michigan Law faculty in 1981.
Lewis’s parents, David Baker Lewis, ’70, and Kathleen McCree Lewis, ’73, met during law school.
“Both of my parents took a great deal of pride in their lawyering, and they worked very hard. My mother was one of the first Black partners at Dykema Gossett PLLC, so I never doubted that a person could be a Black lawyer and succeed at the highest levels at the very best firms in the country,” Lewis says. “My father founded his own firm in 1972, which left me with the view that we could compete with anyone and find ways to win and secure the trust of clients. That was a powerful example as well.”
Aaron Lewis, ’05My grandfather was an inspiration to me, so I wanted this gift to honor both him and his eldest daughter, my mom, who was my first and greatest teacher.
Carrying the torch
After graduating from Michigan Law, Lewis served as a law clerk for the Hon. Ronald M. Gould on the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He then joined Covington as an associate in the firm’s Washington, DC, office.
Between 2009 and 2015, Lewis served in the US Department of Justice as a counsel to Attorney General Eric Holder and as an assistant US attorney in Los Angeles. He returned to Covington in 2015.
Lewis says he is proud to have the opportunity to continue his family’s dedication to the pursuit of excellence in the legal profession, public service, and the betterment of society, and that his recent gift to the Law School is with gratitude for those who came before him.
“My grandfather was an inspiration to me, so I wanted this gift to honor both him and his elder daughter, my mom, who was my first and greatest teacher,” he says. “I feel a deep sense of obligation and gratitude to Michigan Law. Giving back and supporting its mission is the least I can do.”
