News

Garry W. Jenkins, dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law, has joined the board of directors of the National Women’s Law Center, a Washington, DC-based non-profit organization that fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls.

The Community Legal Fellows Initiative, funded by The Minneapolis Foundation, provides much-needed legal support for low-income persons in North Minneapolis and the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis. Through a community partnership model with a civil legal aid organization and community health clinics, the initiative supports Minnesota Law graduates working with Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid to expand service capacity to clients in need while simultaneously training new public service lawyers in Minnesota.

Seven years ago, professor JaneAnne Murray was tapped for the steering committee of Clemency Project 2014 (CP2014), a national effort by lawyers and advocates to provide legal assistance for people given excessively harsh prison sentences seeking clemency from President Barack Obama. She thought that to make this work meaningful, she should take on a few clemency cases with her students.

Three Minnesota Law students, working in the Immigration and Human Rights Clinic, produced a comprehensive and significant report shining a spotlight on the harsh and repressive conditions faced by  the LGBTIQ community in Guatemala.

Thanks to a generous gift from Medtronic, Minnesota Law has created two new scholarships named after trailblazing alumni. The Judge Pamela G. Alexander ’77 Scholarship and Judge Michael J. Davis ’72 Scholarship were established to support law students who show a commitment to social justice and exhibit outstanding potential for legal work as civil rights or public interest attorneys.

The Law School has named incoming 1L Brandon Redmon as the first recipient of the George Floyd Memorial Scholarship in Law.

The scholarship was set up by the Law School with the generous support and leadership of Catlan McCurdy '11 and Sanjiv Laud '12 as well as hundreds of other contributors.

Seiko Shastri ‘21 has been named a 2021 Robina Post-Graduate Fellow.

Shantal Pai, 3L, and Heather Chang, 2L. are among the 2021 recipients of the President’s Student Leadership and Service Award announced by President Joan T.A. Gabel today.

The awards honor outstanding students for their invaluable leadership and service to the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities and the community.

Katherine Chen, 2L, and Victor Jimenez, 1L, will serve as Law Council the 2021-22 Law Council president and vice president, respectively. The students ran on a platform of improving the student experience and deepening support and communication for students who are Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC).

Read about these two leaders and their plans for their administration in an online exclusive in Minnesota Law magazine.

Walter F. Mondale ‘56, former vice president of the United States and 1984 Democratic nominee for president, has died at 93.

“We are heartbroken by the news of Vice President Mondale’s death,” said Garry W. Jenkins, Dean and William S. Pattee Professor of Law. “As a politician, public servant, diplomat, and lawyer, Walter Mondale exemplified the values of leadership and service that we seek to foster at Minnesota Law. In addition, he led with a remarkable degree of warmth and humility that always put his fellow citizens and the common good first.”