News

Gale R Mellum died on Sept. 18 at the age of 79.

Born in Duluth, Mellum was valedictorian of his class at Morgan Park High School, where he was also an athlete. He attended the University of Minnesota on scholarship, graduating summa cum laude undergraduate (1964) and magna cum laude from the Law School.

A seminar offered annually at Minnesota Law allows students the opportunity to take a deep dive into the electrifying world of energy and utility law.

Minnesota Law grads performed extraordinarily well on the July 2021 administration of the Minnesota bar exam.

Among first-time takers, the bar exam pass rate was an eye-popping 96.3 percent, higher than any other law school in the state and the second highest recorded since the Uniform Bar Examination was introduced seven years ago. The pass rate of Minnesota Law's first-time bar takers was nearly 15% above the state's overall bar pass rate of 81.9%.

Among all takers (regardless of attempt), Minnesota Law grads' pass rate was 94% (also the highest in the state).

The U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Robert (Bob) Anderson '83 to serve as solicitor of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Anderson has served as Interior’s principal deputy solicitor since last January, and was nominated by President Biden as solicitor in March. 

With the arrival of the class of 2024, Minnesota Law welcomed 231 first-year J.D. students from nearly 140 undergraduate institutions in 38 states, the District of Columbia, and six different countries. Below are links to the Q&As of eight members of this the entering J.D. class who kindly consented to share their stories:

Kenneth Schoen, former director of the Law School's Institute for Criminal Justice, died on Sept. 1 at the age of 89.

Schoen had a long career devoted to criminal justice reform, helping to develop alternatives to incarceration and improve prison conditions nationwide. He also served as Minnesota commissioner of corrections, and as director of criminal justice grantmaking for the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation in New York.

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.

Effective immediately, Professors Allan Erbsen and William McGeveran have been named as the Popham, Haik, Schnobrich/Lindquist & Vennum Professor of Law and the Gray, Plant, Mooty, Mooty, & Bennett Professor of Law, respectively.

The Law School’s Driven to Lead campaign has not only surpassed its original $80 million fundraising goal, but exceeded its $100 million stretch goal, raising more than $100 million in total for scholarships, professorships and faculty research, student support and fellowships, clinical programs and experiential learning, leadership programming, and the annual fund.

Associate Dean for Information and Technology Joan Howland was recently elected to the Board of Governors of the International Association of Law Schools (IALS).