Chad Nowlan '24 Receives President's Student Leadership and Service Award 

Chad Nowlan '24 has received the University of Minnesota President's Student Leadership and Service Award. He joins students from across the University who have shown exemplary leadership and service to their respective communities. As a student director in the Gun Violence Prevention Clinic, Nowlan has had the opportunity to develop his leadership skills, training and guiding students new to the clinic on crafting legal arguments and giving them the foundation necessary to succeed in court. He serves as the symposium editor for Minnesota Law Review and organized a national conference bringing together scholars, elected officials, advocates, lawmakers, and others from diverse backgrounds and differing points of view in a day-long symposium focused on gun violence prevention post-Bruen.

"The opportunities provided to me by the Gun Violence Prevention Law Clinic and the Minnesota Law Review have changed my life in more ways than I can count," says Nowlan. "When I started law school, I didn't know that gun violence prevention law was something someone could even specialize in. Now, three years later, being recognized for my service to the community in this way is an incredible honor. I am confident that the students in the Gun Violence Prevention Law Clinic, under the mentorship and leadership of Professor Megan Walsh, will continue making an impact on firearm safety in Minnesota long after my time in Mondale Hall comes to an end this May."

In October, Nowlan had the opportunity to represent the Minnesota Attorney General in an oral argument in the Second Judicial District case Minnesota v. Greenlee, where he successfully defended the constitutionality of Minnesota’s statute requiring individuals to obtain a permit to carry a firearm in public and requiring firearms to have a serial number. The Court noted the “complexity” of Nowlan’s arguments put forward in his brief and orally in court.  Through a partnership with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, the University of Minnesota Law School’s Gun Violence Prevention Clinic intervenes in criminal cases challenging the constitutionality of Minnesota state firearm regulations under the framework laid forth by the Supreme Court in New York State Rifle & Pistol Ass’n v. Bruen. Nowlan and other students in the clinic serve as Special Assistant Attorneys General and conduct historical research, draft briefs, and present oral arguments defending Minnesota’s firearms laws against Second Amendment challenges.

Nowlan and other recipients of the President's Student Leadership and Service Award were honored in a ceremony on April 9.

Congratulations, Chad!