News

LLM student Ilkin Gurbanov is from Azerbaijan and is a Fulbright Scholar. He earned his bachelor of laws degree from the Police Academy of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. He is a police colonel and has worked for the past 17 years as a law enforcement officer with experience in combating human trafficking, irregular migration, and the provision of passports and IDs. He has lectured and trained officials on various subjects related to state regulation of migration processes, combating human trafficking as well as protecting and rehabilitating victims.

LLM student Mariia Melnyk is from Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine. She studied in a school that focused on foreign languages and has been learning English since she was 7 and Spanish since she was 10. Due to a different academic approach in Ukraine, she went to law school right after high school. There she obtained bachelor’s and master’s degrees in International law and the law of the European Union. While working on her master’s degree, she spent a semester studying international commercial arbitration and EU investment law in Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Fascinated with human psychology and the law, incoming 1L Jadyn Lovelady ’26 planned to pursue a career as a forensic psychologist. She thoroughly enjoyed her work counseling youth in the juvenile justice system. But even as she was building trust with clients and helping them get on a better path in life, she realized she could make a bigger impact as a lawyer. 

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey has nominated Minnesota Law alum and Hennepin County Chief Judge Toddrick Barnette '92 to serve as the city’s next community safety commissioner, the mayor’s office announced in a news release.

Incoming 1L Vincent Cheng ’26, is originally from Winnipeg, Canada, but moved to Minnesota when he was 7. He majored in English at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and then received a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction from the University of Minnesota. He then worked at a high school directing the debate program and teaching English courses. He also taught creative writing courses to students at the Minnesota Correctional Facility at Faribault through the Minnesota Prison Writing Workshop.

Dear Alumni and Friends of Minnesota Law:

Warm greetings from Mondale Hall! While I have been a professor at Minnesota Law for 17 years, I began serving as the interim dean this summer. I’ve already gotten to know many of our alumni and friends over the years and truly love this great community. If I haven’t met you yet, I look forward to the opportunity!

MINNEAPOLIS (09/06/2023)–The University of Minnesota Law School’s 2023 Stein Lecture series will feature a wide-ranging conversation between the Honorable Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, and Professor Robert A. Stein ’61. The lecture will be held on Monday, October 16, 2023, at 4 p.m. (Central) at Northrop Auditorium, 84 Church Street SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455.

Incoming 1L Emily Sparling ’26, was born and raised in St. Paul, but has lived across the country. She earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Wheaton College and a master’s degree in museology from the University of Washington. She’s worked as an educator at the Smithsonian, the Minnesota History Center, as well as her children’s elementary school. She and her husband and two young children live on a horse farm near the St. Croix River.

Incoming 1L Alex Mysler ’26, was born in the U.S. but has lived in Buenos Aires, Argentina since the age of two. He studied history at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, and worked as an educator in various settings. During the past year, he worked at a museum that preserves the story and memory of Anne Frank and victims of the Shoah, while advocating for human rights. He also was tutoring and wrote simplified high school history textbooks.

Welcome to Minnesota Law! Can you tell us why you chose the University of Minnesota Law School?

Professor Fionnuala D. Ní Aoláin was recently elected to the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) for a 5 year term. Established in 1952, the Commission plays a unique and prominent role in defending human rights and the rule of law worldwide. Served by a full-time staff with offices in every region of the world, ICJ is founded on the appointment by ballot of a fixed number of 60 eminent global jurists.