About Dana A.
Dana A. Thompson trained in two disciplines that would shape her path: political science and French at Bryn Mawr College, followed by a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School, completed in 1999. She arrived in the legal profession at the turn of the century equipped for both practice and teaching. Her academic background gave her tools for analysis and an interest in law that reaches beyond courtroom advocacy.
Her early career began at Morrison & Foerster LLP in 1999, where she worked as an associate. She moved on to Miller Starr Regalia in 2003, again in an associate role, learning the transactional and corporate practice that would mark her later work. In 2004 she joined The Nature Conservancy as a regional lawyer, a role that added nonprofit and environmental transaction experience to her resume.
Thompson’s professional affiliations include longstanding membership in the State Bar of Michigan, recorded as beginning in 2006 and continuing to the present. In 2015 she took on a board role at Wayne State University, joining other professionals who advise the institution on governance and strategy. These positions reflect a mix of practice, institutional engagement and public service.
In 2019 she returned to the University of Michigan Law School as Clinical Professor and Director of the Transactional Law Clinics Program, Community Enterprise Clinic. In that capacity she supervises students who provide transactional legal services to community-based organizations and small enterprises. Her work involves mentoring law students, overseeing clinic matters, and helping community clients navigate contracts, organizational choice, and compliance issues.
Colleagues describe Thompson as steady and pragmatic in her approach to transactional problems. Her background spans private firm practice, nonprofit legal work, and clinical legal education. Those moves make for a career that balances client needs and training the next generation of lawyers. She has worked on corporate and nonprofit transactions and brought that practical experience into a law clinic setting.
She holds faculty office at the University of Michigan Law School and maintains active involvement in clinical teaching and program administration. Her current practice centers on transactional clinics and community enterprise law.
