Professor Brian Tamanaha, John S. Lehmann University Professor at Washington University Law School, delivered the 2026 Dewey Lecture in the Philosophy of Law. “The Perennial Dialectic and a Baseline Theory of State Law” explored theoretical questions in jurisprudence and state law.
Minnesota Law Class of 2025 achieved a 96% employment rate for full-time, long-term legal positions, according to data reviewed by the American Bar Association.
U.S. District Court Judge Carlton Reeves of the Southern District of Mississippi, chair of the U.S. Sentencing Commission, delivered the keynote address at Minnesota Law’s 2026 MLK Convocation. In his address, “Reconstructing Justice: Honoring Dr. King’s Vision in Our Federal Justice System,” Reeves outlined Dr. King’s positions on the need for a robust federal justice system to safeguard civil rights, emphasizing its continued relevance today. Professor Sam Merchant introduced Reeves and moderated the discussion.
In February, former Minnesota Law Dean E. Thomas Sullivan, president emeritus of the University of Vermont, joined his co-author Professor Richard W. Painter, S. Walter Richey Professor of Corporate Law and former White House ethics attorney, to discuss their new book, The U.S. Presidency: Power, Responsibility, and Accountability, which examines the evolving state of presidential power in the United States.
The James H. Binger Center for New Americans has partnered with The Advocates for Human Rights, the National Immigration Project, and several law firms to launch the Minnesota Habeas Project in response to federal enforcement actions in Minnesota. The Project has trained more than 300 volunteer attorneys who provide legal support for immigrants facing detention without access to bond or judicial review.
Haley S. Anderson will join the faculty as an associate professor of law in fall 2026. She is a proceduralist and political theorist whose scholarship examines the concept of sovereignty. Her work spans civil procedure, international law, federal courts, and related fields. Anderson is currently an Academic Fellow and Lecturer in Law at Columbia Law School. She is also a Ph.D. candidate in Jurisprudence and Social Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and a postgraduate fellow at Just Security. She previously worked for the Permanent Mission of Mozambique to the United Nations in Geneva, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, and Oxford University Press. Anderson earned her J.D. from New York University School of Law and her B.A. from the University of Virginia.
Lyle Cherneff will join Minnesota Law as a visiting assistant professor of law in fall 2026. Cherneff holds a B.A. from Brown University and a J.D. from Yale Law School, where he served as articles editor for the Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. While at Yale, Cherneff was awarded the Israel H. Peres Prize for Best Student Note or Comment appearing in the Yale Law Journal and the Benjamin Scharps Prize for Best Paper by a Third-Year Student. He also co-led a student practicum course on the civil rights of queer and trans youth. After graduating, he clerked for Judge Jeffrey M. Bryan, U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, and is currently serving as a Liman Legal Fellow with the Legal Rights Center in Minneapolis.
Minnesota Law’s Legal Research & Writing Program welcomed the Minnesota Supreme Court to Mondale Hall in February. The court heard oral arguments in State v. Nicholas Engel in front of the 1L class. After oral arguments concluded, the justices answered student questions.
Minnesota Law launched the Experience Court at Mondale Program (ExCAMP) in April. Judge Laura Thomas of the Fourth Judicial District presided over the inaugural ExCAMP hearing held in a newly renovated Minnesota Law courtroom. ExCAMP provides students with opportunities throughout the academic year to observe judicial proceedings at the Law School that are presided over by state and federal judges from the Twin Cities.