News

Since 2013, students in the Law School's Child Advocacy & Juvenile Justice Clinic and Professor Perry Moriearty have worked to reform Minnesota's Heinous Crimes Act, which became unconstitutional in 2012 when the U.S. Supreme Court banned the mandatory imposition of life in prison without parole for children.

Professor Amy Monahan has been named to The Commonwealth Fund Task Force on the Future Role of Employers in the U.S. Health System. 

Minnesota Law's 2024-25 Kommerstad Faculty Imagination Fund grants have been awarded to Professors Claire Hill, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin & Alan Rozenshtein, and Paul Vaaler.

Liwanag Q. Ojala ’98 will deliver the keynote address for Minnesota Law’s 136th commencement exercises scheduled for 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11, 2024, at Northrop.
 
Ojala is the chief transformation officer at American Public Media Group and Minnesota Public Radio. She leads digital transformation strategy to advance the mission of “creating the future of public media by amplifying voices to inform, include, and inspire.”
 

Two students in the James H. Binger Center for New Americans’ Federal Immigration Litigation Clinic (FILC) recently had the rare opportunity to argue an impact litigation case in front of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Mollie Clark Ahsan ’24 and Amirah Ellison ’24 shared the opening and rebuttal arguments, respectively, for a complex case involving the deportation of a local permanent resident.

Ann Burkhart, beloved teacher, colleague, and friend at the University of Minnesota Law School, passed away March 26, 2024. A nationally recognized expert in real estate law, she taught land-use law and planning, real estate transactions, comparative property law, and consumer protection law. She served on the faculty at Minnesota Law for 42 years and was most recently the Curtis Bradbury Kellar Professor of Law before assuming emeritus status earlier this academic year.

In an exciting first, Minnesota Law’s Environmental Moot Court Competition Team won the Jeffrey Miller National Environmental Law Moot Court Competition at Pace Law School. The winning team includes Maria Pfister ’24, Poojan Thakrar ’24, and Hanna Weil ’24. All have backgrounds in pursuing environmental law expertise.

On March 12, 2024, Gun Violence Prevention Clinic students Will Roberts ’25 and Arielle Hugel ’25 argued in Federal District Court on behalf of the State of Minnesota before Magistrate Judge John Docherty ’86. The Gun Violence Prevention Clinic, led by Visiting Assistant Professor of Law Megan Walsh, is assisting the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office in their lawsuit against Fleet Farm, in which the State alleges that Fleet Farm negligently sold firearms to straw purchasers.

Shayna Korsh '25 and David Lindgren '25 argued before Justice G. Barry Anderson '79, Justice Karl Procaccini, and Justice Gordon Moore of the Minnesota Supreme Court, in the final round of the Maynard Pirsig Moot Court Honors Tournament last week. Korsh won the closely contested argument, with both students receiving tremendous praise for their skills.