LaFayette City Council Member graduates from Jones School of Law

BY KADIE TAYLOR

THE LAFAYETTE SUN

LAFAYETTE — LaFayette City Council Member for District A Emily Milford is reaching a life milestone; graduating from law school. 

Milford said she graduated from Chambers Academy in 2011 and then completed her Bachelor’s degree in Human Development and Family Studies at Auburn University in 2015. After graduating from Auburn, Milford said she had considered law school, but said she was not sure if she was ready to jump right into pursuing the degree, so she became a school counselor for a couple of years. 

Milford said she decided to take the LSAT and see what her score was, and everything fell into place. 

“I was like, ‘Let’s just see what happens,’” she said. “And lo and behold, all the doors fell into place, and I couldn’t ignore the signs that I just felt like it was the right time for me to go to school. So I wound up interested in Jones School of Law, which is down here at Faulkner University in Montgomery, and I started school in the fall of 23 and it’s a three-year program. Honestly, over the last three years, I have just been blessed with so many opportunities, so many internships. I have met so many people through this experience. I truly believe it was just the right time. It was God’s calling for me to go to law school.”

As she closes on another educational chapter of her life, Milford said she is reflecting on the growth she has experienced from the hard work done to complete law school. 

“Law School has been challenging; not every day has been easy by any means,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, it’s a lot of reading, it’s a lot of research, but overall, I feel like it’s been manageable. I have just kind of approached it like a job. I really feel like having that work experience before I started law school helped my experience, because it prepared me for what a chaotic schedule could look like, what the demands of having eight to 10 hours a day worth of work and then juggling a personal life as well.”

After graduating on May 16, Milford said she will spend the summer studying for the bar exam that she will take at the end of July. She said the Bar Prep Program she will complete during the summer is 40 hours of studying a week, and after she takes the exam, she will wait six weeks to find out if she has passed and will receive her license. 

“At that point, I am planning on practicing locally and in the area, and potentially opening up a solo firm in the downtown LaFayette area,” she said. “I’m still on the fence of if I’m going to practice with a local firm right out of law school, right after passing the bar, and kind of getting some hands-on experience, or if I’m going to go on and open up a solo practice on day one.” 

Throughout her time at the Jones School of Law, Milford said she has been involved in a variety of organizations and gained valuable experience through internships. 

Milford said she joined the Student Bar Association during her first year and worked her way up through leadership — to Student Bar Association President. 

“In my third year, I was blessed to be the Student Bar Association President,” she said. “So that means I’m basically our student president on campus. I attend all of our open houses, a lot of speaking engagements to the classes and then I oversee a lot of student life and networking opportunities on campus.

“I’ve also been involved with several other organizations while I’ve been down here,” she said. “Last year, I was our Sport and Entertainment Law President, and I am also a part of our Women’s Legal Society. I am a Dean’s fellow, which is like a mentor program for the first and second year law students. And I’m probably a member of a couple of other organizations, but those are the ones that I hold leadership positions in.”

Milford was also awarded the Jones Student Leadership Award, was recognized as a Public Interest Fellow and was named a finalist for the Distinguished Public Interest Fellow at the 2026 Barristers Awards Dinner at Faulkner Law.

“For the Public Interest Fellow Award, I compiled over 250 community service and pro bono hours, and an additional 400 hours in unpaid fieldwork and legal clinics during my time in law school, which makes me a finalist,” she said. “The Distinguished Fellow Recipient will be announced at graduation. The Jones Student Leadership Award recognized the graduating student voted on by the entire student body for the dedication of leadership, service and commitment to the law school community. 

While completing school in Montgomery, Milford said she has had the opportunity to meet many legislators and had many internships with law clinics, with the DA’s office and even Gov. Kay Ivey, experiences which she said has helped her as she navigates being a city council member for the first time. 

“I interned with the Governor’s Office, with Kay Ivey and her legal staff,” she said. “I actually feel like that experience helped me a lot with some of my city council exposure, because I was working more with the political side of things, and I got to work on some oversight with the local bills that were passed in the legislation. I was interning there during the legislative session in 2025, so I got to see that whole process and how things were done at the state level.”

With her dad an attorney who became District Judge in Chambers County, Milford said she is excited to use her position as a lawyer and city council member to help others and her community as a whole. This impact will continue the community legacy from the Milford family on LaFayette and Chambers County through a new generation. 

“I guess this is another thing, I probably picked up from seeing my dad and politics and law growing up, but I think I’ve always kind of known that in some way I would be involved in some realm of the political spectrum,” she said. “I think that also relates back to my nature of wanting to just be there to help people and use my skill set to give back to the area that helped raise me.

“I feel like I have had a ton of support throughout this whole process. I wouldn’t have made it without support, because it has been very challenging and overwhelming at times… There’s so much that I have just been able to be blessed with opportunities to do over these last three years. I never would have imagined that this is how my life would have turned out three years ago, and it’s just been overwhelming, but in a good way. And I’m so blessed with this opportunity.”