News

Ralph Strangis ’60, whose legal acumen and dealmaking prowess put him at the center of many of the Twin Cities’ most consequential business mergers and public-private partnerships, died Aug. 15 at his home in Minneapolis. The cause was heart disease.

Editor’s Note: This is one of a series of Q&As with incoming Minnesota Law students.

Before enrolling in Minnesota Law's class of 2021, Jacky Arness won the Miss North Dakota title in 2014, and was also named Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants in the Miss America Pageant.  She recently answered a few questions about her background and her aspirations as she embarks on her legal education here at Minnesota Law.

Yu (Iris) Zhang ’19 recently completed a three-week legal internship program with Apple, an experience that provided her unique insights into her career path as well as diverse networking experiences.

Please describe the program.

When Derrin Perkins declined a plea offer of five years in a federal drug distribution case in 1992, little did he know that this decision set him on path to a life sentence without the possibility of parole. But after 27 years in custody, he is now finally preparing to go home—thanks to the dogged efforts of Professor JaneAnne Murray’s Clemency Project at the Law School and Pro Bono Partner Joshua Toll at King & Spalding.

J.J. Pristanski ’19 learned of the NFL Management Council Law Clerk Program from a guest speaker in Professor Francis Shen's seminar. He immediately applied and ultimately snagged the prestigious clerkship. Pristanski, who spent his 1L summer in a clerkship with the NHL's San Jose Sharks, hopes to one day work in the sports law field. With the summer experiences he has had as a student at Minnesota Law, it is safe to say he has a leg up on the competition. He recently answered some questions about his current clerkship.      

Chloe Margulis ’20 recently had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of participating in the Google Legal Summer Institute, spending a week in California and experiencing life and law on several Google campuses.

What is the Google Legal Summer Institute?

The Google Legal Summer Institute is open to applications from 1L students around the country. The program promotes diversity and minorities in the law by providing selected students with the opportunity to grow in the industry.

What was the selection process?

Ron Meshbesher ’57, whose storied career as a defense lawyer included some of the most sensational trials in Minnesota legal history, has died.

After graduating from the Law School, Meshbesher started his legal career as a prosecutor in the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office. He tried 45 felony cases in his first three years, earning a 92 percent conviction rate. In 1961, he co-founded the Minneapolis law firm of Meshbesher & Spence.

With massive data breaches routinely in the news and the advent of sweeping regulatory changes such as the General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR), the once obscure niche of data privacy law has suddenly gone from nerdy to sexy.

The ABA Forum on Affordable Housing and Community Development has recently named Derek Waller ’19 as the winner of its 2018 Law Student Writing Competition for his article “Leveraging State and Local Antidiscrimination Laws to Prohibit Discrimination Against Recipients of Federal Rental Assistance.”

Judge Diana E. Murphy ’74, the first woman ever appointed to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, has died.

Murphy joined the Eighth Circuit bench in 1994, having been nominated by President Bill Clinton. For 19 years, she was the court’s sole woman member. She had previously served 14 years as a judge in the U.S. District Court, including two years as chief judge. Her prior experience included serving as a judge on the Hennepin County Municipal Court and working as a lawyer in private practice in Minneapolis.