Keith Ellison ’90 Headlines Climate Liability Program
The Law School’s Environmental and Energy Law Society hosted a conversation on the legal and scientific case for recovering climate change damages on Oct. 15.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison ’90 delivered opening remarks and Professor Alexandra Klass moderated the seminar.
Ellison stressed the role of states’ attorneys general in recovering these types of costs, comparing such suits to the successful litigation against big tobacco companies over health-related costs.
The CLE event was co-sponsored by the Law School, Fresh Energy, the Center for Climate Integrity, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.
Professor Ní Aoláin Addresses United Nations General Assembly
Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, faculty director of Minnesota Law’s Human Rights Center, addressed the United Nations General Assembly on Oct. 16 regarding the standard-setting processes in the counterterrorism context on global governance.
Photo: Julie Brown
Ní Aoláin has served as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism since 2017. She is Regents Professor and Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy, and Society at the Law School.
Journalist Ben Wittes Discusses Presidential Power
Journalist Ben Wittes, who focuses on issues of national security and law, spoke at the Law School on Oct. 3 on the topic of executive power.
Wittes is a senior fellow in governance studies at the Brookings Institution and co-founder of the popular Lawfare blog, dedicated to national security issues.
The discussion, moderated by Professor Alan Rozenshtein, centered on the uses of executive power by the Trump administration and the implications for presidential administrations to come.
Justice Hudson Delivers Keynote at 131st Commencement Ceremony
Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Natalie Hudson ’82 spoke on the privileges and the responsibilities of being a lawyer during her keynote address at the Law School’s 131st commencement ceremony on May 18.
“The law is unquestionably apowerful vehicle for change inour society,” Hudson said. “Thus, you have the skill and the meansto challenge the many systemic inequities that still exist in our nation and that impede the realization of that more perfect union. In addition to the power to engineer fundamental societal changes, you can also make profound differences in the individual life of a client.”
