Minnesota Law has always prided itself on its commitment to teaching innovation. Indeed, this year the Law School was ranked 4th in the country on the Best Law Schools for Practical Training Honor Roll from preLaw magazine and The National Jurist, up two spots from last year.
From group projects and drafting exercises in doctrinal courses to our intensive year-long law clinics to challenging specialized seminars, today’s students learn the law in varied and creative ways.
Now, three more new and expanded programs are using fresh approaches that help law students put learning into action and introduce undergraduates to the mysteries of legal reasoning. They exemplify the continued emphasis on constant evolution in pedagogy.
A New Fellowship in M&A Transactions
The Corporate Institute has always prepared students to work in business and transactional practices. A new initiative will harness AI to give students firsthand experience in handling mergers and acquisitions.
“Experiential education opportunities are often students’ most valuable part of their law school experience, because that is where they learn to do the work that lawyers do day in and day out,” says Kiri Somermeyer, executive director of the Corporate Institute.
The new training — dubbed a “virtual apprenticeship in transactional law” — takes place on rubi, a platform developed by two Big Law attorneys. The platform’s AI mentor serves as a senior associate that can answer questions and test students’ understanding of skills.
Any student can apply to be one of 15 “rubi Transactional Fellows,” Somermeyer says. The fellows will be selected based on their interest and application, and training will take place in the spring. The fellows will have access to the platform for two years, continuing asthey go into practice.
Somermeyer will gather student feedback and assess how the platform improves their performance in summer jobs.
“It helps put classroom learning into context and gives students experience so the transition from the law school classroom to the law firm environment or the business environment isn’t such a steep learning curve,” she says.
Countering Courtroom Mystique on Campus
Mitch Zamoff, assistant dean of experiential education, recognizes the value of observation as another form of experiential learning. That’s the idea behind the new Experience Court at Mondale Program, or ExCAMP. “Mondale” refers to Mondale Hall, named for former Vice President Walter Mondale ’56.
Through ExCAMP, students observe judicial proceedings in the Law School’s two newly built, stateof- the-art teaching classrooms. The Law School aims to host roughly one hearing a month during the academic year, primarily involving cases from the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota or state court in Hennepin or Ramsey counties. The first ExCAMP hearing took place in April 2026.
Many students, Zamoff says, graduate from law school without seeing a live court proceeding unless a litigation-based clinic or summer job provides them with that opportunity.
“Courtrooms can be intimidating to a junior lawyer. Live observation of hearings and other courtroom proceedings helps break down that mystique,” Zamoff says.
Undergraduate Law Course Expands to Duluth, Morris
Understanding the basics of legal reasoning can benefit students in their future careers and everyday lives. That’s why Minnesota Law offers undergraduate courses including Law 3000: Introduction to American Law and Legal Reasoning.
Law 3000 is Minnesota Law's signature prelaw course, according to according to Zamoff, who also serves as director of undergraduate programs. The extremely popular course “replicates aspects of the experience of a 1L student,” he says, and is taught by Minnesota Law professors, including Zamoff, typically at the Law School.
Students read cases on topics such as contracts, torts, and criminal law, write arguments like law students and lawyers, and take exams similar to those in law school. Professors, as in many law classes, employ the Socratic method to spur students’ critical thinking.
The Law School’s prelaw classes are open to undergraduate students from all University colleges and departments. Enrollment to date, however, has been limited to the Twin Cities campus. That will change in the spring of 2027, when Law 3000 will be offered as a synchronous remote option in a pilot program for undergraduate students at the University’s Duluth and Morris campuses.
“Because of the importance that law plays in a holistic education, it’s exciting to provide students throughout the system with opportunities to get exposure to the legal concepts covered in Law 3000,” Zamoff says, noting that some undergraduates who have taken Law 3000 later apply and are admitted to Minnesota Law.