News

Mary Davidson ’75, a former Hennepin County District Court judge who once served as chief judge of Family Court, passed away in Plymouth, Minnesota on June 21 at the age of 82.

Elizabeth (“Betz”) Bentley recently joined Minnesota Law as a visiting assistant professor of law and the director of our new Civil Rights Appellate Clinic.  Her impressive legal background includes serving as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, as well as clerking for two other federal judges. She also worked at Jones Day and served as special counsel to Senator Amy Klobuchar and the Senate Judiciary Committee during the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson. 

The exceptional performance of multiple Minnesota Law moot court competition teams led to an unprecedented year at the University of Minnesota Law School.

“The Law School’s strategic investment in moot courts, combined with the hard work and dedication of students and their coaches, paid off in so many ways,” says Randall Ryder '09, assistant professor of appellate advocacy and director of Law in Practice. “Our moot court students develop advanced advocacy skills that allow them to excel as new lawyers and throughout their legal careers.”

Bruce Burton, a lawyer, law professor, and former Dean of William Mitchell College of Law, passed away on June 11 at the age of 83

Hailing from Fairmont, Minnesota, Burton graduated from Mankato State University in 1961, then taught high school English in Redwood Falls, Minnesota, and Long Beach, California, before returning to Minnesota to attend the Law School.

Although Minnesota Law’s new Civil Rights Appellate Clinic won’t be offered to students until the spring 2023, its newly-hired faculty director has already filed the clinic’s first amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Professor Emeritus Herbert M. Kritzer received the Law & Society Association's  Harry J. Kalven, Jr. Prize for empirical scholarship and the advancement of research in law. 

Originally trained as a political scientist, Kritzer is author, coauthor or coeditor of 12 books and over 100 research articles. He also served as general editor of a remarkable resource for comparative and international study—the four-volume encyclopedia, Legal Systems of the World, which includes detailed overviews of legal topics and summaries of the diverse legal systems of the world’s countries.

Joaquin C. Arriola ’53, whose storied public service career in Guam included serving as the speaker of its legislature, a member of its senate, and an associate justice on its supreme court, passed away on May 4 at the age of 96.

Arriola served as a senator in the Guam Legislature from 1955 to 1959. From 1967 to 1971, he served as speaker of the Guam Legislature. In 1974, he ran for governor of Guam.

Rising 3Ls Dustin Loosbrock and Ricardo Perez and rising 2Ls Amirah Ellison and Abby Frerick were selected for prestigious and highly competitive summer fellowships from the Peggy Browning Fund.

North Carolina Central University Law School Dean Browne Lewis ’88 died suddenly on June 2 while attending a professional conference in Colorado with colleagues.

Jordan Francis '22 has received the International Association of Privacy Professionals' (IAPP)  Westin Scholar Award. The award is given to select students identified by their professors as future leaders in the field of privacy or data protection.