News

On Feb. 12, U.S. Immigration Judge Audrey Carr granted asylum to a Honduran woman who is a client of the Law School’s Immigration and Human Rights Clinic.

While working as a transit police officer in Honduras, the client refused to accept bribes from gangs who sought to procure drivers licenses for their members and information about police operations. Because she refused to comply, the client was threatened by the gang and eventually she and her family were attacked by gunmen at their home. The client fears that if she returns to Honduras, she will be killed.

We recently asked the incoming editors-in-chief of Minnesota Law’s four law journals to share a little bit about their backgrounds, interests, and plans. Today, we focus on Gina Tonn, who was elected editor-in-chief of the Minnesota Law Review for the 2019-20 academic year.

Hometown: Brooklyn Park, Minnesota

The Burton Foundation has announced that David Hahn ’19 is the winner of a 2019 Distinguished Legal Writing Award.

In the 20 years since the award’s creation, Law School students have received it 11 times. Only two other law schools -- Georgetown University Law Center (13) and the University of Pennsylvania Law School (12) -- have won the award more.

We recently asked the incoming editors-in-chief of Minnesota Law’s four law journals to share a little bit about their backgrounds, interests, and plans. Today, we start our “Meet the Editor” series with 2L Makenzie Krause, who was elected editor-in-chief of the Journal of Law & Inequality for the 2019-20 academic year.

Hometown: Delano, Minnesota

Nine Law School alumni were among the honorees recognized by Minnesota Lawyer newspaper in its inaugural In-House Counsel Awards.

The awards recognize in-house lawyers “who among other things, navigate complicated contract negotiations, defend their companies in high stakes litigation and defend some of an organization’s most important assets.” Alumni winners (by category) are:

When Rasheed Ogunmade met 2L Bethany Anderson, he was in dire straits. His employer, a local printing company, had terminated his employment and was contesting unemployment benefits. A Nigerian immigrant and father of four, Ogunmade had represented himself at the initial hearing and lost. He now lacked money to support his family and faced imminent eviction from his apartment.

Bert J. McKasy ’68, who was elected to three terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives and later served as commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Commerce, passed away peacefully at his home in Mendota Heights on Feb. 8. McKasy had undergone three years of chemotherapy for colon cancer until deciding in August 2018 to enter hospice care. He was 77.

Joining the faculty as a visiting professor this semester is Joe McGrath, a lecturer/ assistant professor at University College Dublin’s Sutherland School of Law. McGrath has researched and written extensively on white-collar crime, and his work has been published in books, journals, and national newspapers. In addition to white collar crime, he lectures on financial regulation and corporate governance.

What courses are you teaching while you are with the University of Minnesota Law School?

The University of Minnesota human rights faculty has been awarded a $325,000 Grand Challenges Research Grant. The grant will support “The Minnesota Model,” an interdisciplinary initiative to understand and propose solutions to the recent backsliding in human rights around the world. This project builds on and expands the Minnesota Human Rights Lab.

World Without Genocide, a St. Paul-based human rights organization, recently awarded Benjamin B. Ferencz Fellowships in Human Rights and Law for the 2018-19 academic year to 3Ls Abigail Hencheck and N. Georgette Marling.

The fellowships provide financial support for work on core areas of human rights including research, policy development, and action at local, state, national, and international levels.

Hencheck was selected to work on legislation to address gender discrimination and violence. Marling was selected to work on legislation to address climate change.