Law School News

Two members of the Law School's Career Center—Dana Bartocci, employer relations coordinator, and Victor Massaglia, career advisor—have published an article on career development planning in the June 23, 2009, issue of The Hennepin Lawyer, the official publication of the Hennepin County Bar Association. Read the article in The Hennepin Lawyer.

The Law School's Partners In Excellence annual fund set a new record in the 2008-09 fiscal year: Alumni and friends contributed $834,868, the largest-ever non-campaign annual fund total and a 4% increase over the previous year.

The Law School is proud to introduce the Fourth Judicial District Law Clerk Post-Graduate Fellowship. Up to five Judicial Law Clerk Post-Graduate Fellowships will be awarded. Fellows are required to work a total of 400 hours and will receive an award of $5,000.

Youth-program leaders, coordinators, and teachers from such locations as London, Toronto, California, Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee are heading for the University of Minnesota this weekend to participate in the Second Annual Somali Youth Summit, to be held July 24-26, 2009, at the Law School.

The Law School has announced it will offer several new post-graduate fellowships, funded by the Robina Foundation. The fellowships will include up to 15 Robina Public Policy Post-Graduate Fellowships and up to 7 Robina Second Judicial District Public Defender’s Office Post-Graduate Fellowships.

Joseph R. Klein ('86) was appointed to Minnesota's Fourth Judicial District trial court bench by Gov. Tim Pawlenty ('86) on July 14, 2009, filling the vacancy left after the September 2008 death of Judge Steven A. Pihlaja.

Kathleen Ann Blatz ('84), the first woman to become chief justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court (1998-2006) and a long-time children's advocate, is one of three state officials selected for the 2009 Award for Distinguished Service to State Government from the National Governors Association (NGA).

Clinical Professor Prentiss Cox will testify before the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection in Washington, D.C., on July 8, 2009. The Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Bobby L. Rush (D-Ill.), is hearing testimony on President Barack Obama’s proposed Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA) and implications for consumers and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The hearing is part of Congressional scrutiny of Obama’s June proposal for nationwide financial regulatory reform.

The Law School and Just The Beginning Foundation (JTBF) are co-hosting a reception to launch the first annual Twin Cities Summer Legal Institute on July 9, 2009. The seven-day summer program will introduce 28 Minnesota high-school students to the legal profession.