News

Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin joined European Parliamentarians in Brussels this week for a global conference on the closure of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The event brought the mandate of the UN Special Rapporteur, European Union Parliamentarians, former detainees including Mansoor Adayfi, a non-resident Visiting Fellow at the Law School's Human Rights Center, the former Muslim Chaplain to Guantanamo, and detainee lawyers together.

Governor Tim Walz announced this week that he appointed Minnesota Law alum Tamar Gronvall ’00 to serve as Minnesota's Commissioner of Administration.

Incoming LLM Lucy Zhang is from Shanghai, China. She received her bachelor of law degree from Fudan University and a master of law degree from the China University of Political Science and Law. She participated in the exchange program at the University of Montreal. She’s been a transaction lawyer in the Shanghai office of Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP for several years. After she completes her LLM degree, she will continue her career with Faegre.

Welcome to Minnesota Law! Can you tell us why you decided to get an LLM from Minnesota Law?

Incoming LLM Jung Ho Shim is originally from Seoul, South Korea, most recently living in Boston where her family lives. She is a surgical oncologist with an expertise in performing laparoscopic and robotic surgeries for intestinal cancers. She’s also worked with pharmaceutical and IT companies in helping to develop drugs as well as AI-driven platforms for doctors and patients.

Welcome to Minnesota Law! Can you tell us why you decided to get an LLM from Minnesota Law?

The University of Minnesota Law School is proud to welcome the Class of 2026! Comprising a diverse and talented group of 218 individuals, the incoming class promises to continue the Law School's tradition of producing exceptional lawyers who make a difference in their communities, the nation, and the world.

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.