News

Professor Linus Chan, who teaches the Detainee Rights Clinic in the Law School’s James H. Binger Center for New Americans, has been selected by Minnesota Lawyer magazine as one of its 2017 Attorneys of the Year. Chan was honored in the “Partners” category, along with Twin Cities attorney Mai Neng Moua. The two were nominated by the Minnesota Asian Pacific American Bar Association (MNAPABA) for their work on the “Minnesota Eight” case.

Students in the Law School’s James H. Binger Center for New Americans and recent Law School graduates played key roles in a class action litigation effort that won a court order on Tuesday, December 19, temporarily blocking the deportation of 92 Somali men and women. The lawsuit was filed by the Binger Center, University of Miami Law School, and other legal services organizations in U.S. District Court in Miami.

The Law Library and Riesenfeld Rare Books Center recently received an important archival donation from Chief Judge Edward J. Cleary (’77) of the Minnesota Court of Appeals. The donated material is related to R.A.V. v. City of St. Paul (1992), a key U.S. Supreme Court First Amendment case—indeed, the first hate speech case ever heard by the court. Cleary, who argued the case from the trial level to the Supreme Court, has generously gifted the library his copies of the petitions, transcripts, briefs, and correspondence related to the case, for the sake of future study.

Lawrence Yetka (’48), who served for a decade in the Minnesota legislature and for nearly two decades on the state’s highest court, passed away Nov. 12 in his hometown of Cloquet, Minn. He was 93.

Amy Hang (’18), a student attorney in the Law School’s Ronald M. Mankoff Tax Clinic, recently won a favorable ruling for clients before the U.S. Tax Court in St. Paul on an issue that usually favors the IRS.

Warren Spannaus (’63), a former three-term Minnesota attorney general and candidate for governor, died suddenly on Monday in St. Louis Park, Minn. He was 86.

Former Vice President Walter Mondale (’56), who was both a mentor and colleague of Spannaus, told Minnesota Public Radio, “This guy deserves a very significant place in Minnesota history and the history of legal rights and justice. He was an extraordinary public leader and human being, and I would hope that Minnesotans would agree with me on that.”

The Law School's National Moot Court Competition teams achieved outstanding results at the Region 14 tournament held at Mitchell Hamline School of Law in St. Paul Nov. 16-18, winning a best brief award and sending one team on to the national finals.

The Law School’s Robina Institute of Criminal Law and Criminal Justice and its co-director, Professor Kevin Reitz, have been selected to take part in a new interdisciplinary research project under the auspices of the University’s Driving Tomorrow Grand Challenges program. The two-year project, entitled “Identifying and Addressing Disparities in the Criminal Justice and Health Care Systems,” will also involve researchers from the University’s medicine, sociology, and pediatrics departments; it is part of the Grand Challenges focus area Fostering Just and Equitable Communities.

The Law School’s Institute on Metropolitan Opportunity and Law & Inequality: A Journal of Theory and Practice will present a “Summit for Civil Rights: Racial Unity and Integration as a Path to Prosperity” Nov. 9-10.

Vice President Walter Mondale (’56) and Rep. Keith Ellison (’90) are serving as co-conveners of the summit. The Kresge Foundation, based in Troy, Mich., is a sponsor of the convening and is providing grant support.

The Law School’s Intellectual Property & Entrepreneurship Clinic will host free drop-in legal advice sessions. The sessions are designed to help innovators, creators, and entrepreneurs protect their ideas, kickstart their startup companies, and build and secure their dream businesses. All sessions are offered under limited representation, and are filled on a first-come, first-served basis. Professor Phillip Goter will serve as faculty supervisor during each session.