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Erin Abramovitz, a current 3L student at Minnesota Law, has always had a passion for helping people, especially empowering marginalized individuals and families. After working in social work for almost five years as a case manager for foster care families, Abramovitz had seen the powerful impact lawyers made in the lives of the kids whose cases she had worked on—for better or worse. She witnessed firsthand the areas of the legal system that are lacking and felt limited in the ways she could make a difference through social work.

Minnesota Law 1s Tony Sanchez, Emanual Williams, and Mica Standing Soldier were recently hired for three newly created public-interest clerkships at the Legal Rights Center. Now and through the summer they will coordinate public education and civic engagement efforts relating to the trials of Derek Chauvin and the other three former Minneapolis police officers charged in the killing of George Floyd. The clerkships are part of a unique collaboration between the LRC and Minnesota Law.

Paul Feinman ‘85, the first openly LGBT judge to serve on New York's highest court, has died.

Feinman, 61, had a judicial career that spanned 25 years before stepping down from the New York Court of Appeals on March 23, 2021, due to his health. Before joining the N.Y Court of Appeals bench in 2017, Feinman sat on the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court’s First Department in Manhattan.

CaringBridge Chief Executive Officer Liwanag Ojala ’98 will be the Law School’s 2021 commencement speaker.

CaringBridge is a nonprofit organization that has more than 43 million unique users across all 50 states and 236 countries and territories around the world. Ojala joined CaringBridge in 2014, first as chief operating officer, and then becoming CEO in 2016, with a goal to reinvigorate all aspects of the pioneering organization, leveraging her previous legal and ecommerce experience. 

Lee Bearmon '56 passed away on March 14. He received his bachelor’s degree with from the University of Minnesota, and received his law degree with honors. In 1999, he was recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of the Law School. 

Mirella Ceja-Orozco, along with Elizer Darris, was recently appointed co-executive director of the Minnesota Freedom Fund. MFF’s mission is to end cash bail in the State of Minnesota and provide bail relief in the interim. The group, once operating on a shoestring, made national headlines last summer when it received more than $30 million in donations in the wake of the civil unrest following the brutal killing of George Floyd.

Four Minnesota Law students recently coordinated and participated in high-level policy discussions with members of the Biden transition team and incoming administration as part of the 2021 Summit for Civil Rights.

Read about the students' experience, which included connecting with a cabinet nominee and Biden transition team leaders, in a special online extra in the digital edition of Minnesota Law magazine.

Greer Edwin Lockhart ’53 passed away peacefully earlier this year at the age of 91. 

Lockhart the first in his family to obtain a college degree, graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1951. He then went on to get his law degree from the Minnesota Law in 1953. He later was an adjunct professor of trial practice at the Law School and was active in fundraising and other rolls as an alumnus. 

The American Law Institute (ALI) has announced that Professor Francis X. Shen will receive its Early Career Scholars Medal. The award is presented every other year to one or two outstanding early-career law professors whose work has the potential to influence improvements in the law. 

A team of four Minnesota Law students emerged as Midwest Region champions in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) National Patent Application Drafting Competition.

The team defeated Notre Dame Law School in the final round to take the championship. As a result of the win, the Minnesota Law team advances to the National Finals, which will be held at USPTO headquarters in Alexandria, Va. on April 9.