News in Briefs: Fall 2020

23rd Exoneration

The Michigan Innocence Clinic celebrated its 23rd successful exoneration when client Kevin Harrington was released after serving more than 17 years for a crime he did not commit. The victory comes after 11 years of work by 27 student-attorneys.

$122,585, Funds raised by Student Funded Fellowships in 2020, including from the annual auction—conducted entirely online due to the pandemic—matching funds from Professor Robert Hirshon, ’73, and a $30,000 gift from faculty, staff, and administrators. It was the largest one-year fundraising total in SFF’s history.

Litman Testifies

John F. Nickoll Professor of Law JESSICA LITMAN testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Intellectual Property in February 2020.

Advisory Board on Race and Racism at Michigan Law

Comprised of alumni, faculty, and administrators, and co-led by Professor Dana Thompson, ’99, and Ellisen Turner, ’02, the Board is charged with examining the effects of race and racism in the Law School community and issuing recommendations about ways to eradicate systemic, institutional racism and discrimination within the Quad and for engaging issues of race in constructive ways.

37, Briefs submitted by the Workers’ Rights Clinic to the Michigan Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, and Circuit Courts, including applications for leave, briefs on the merits, reply briefs, and amicus briefs, during the 2019–2020 academic year

Three Alumni Head to the US Supreme Court

Mary Miller, ’16, will serve as a clerk for Justice Samuel Alito during the term beginning October 2020. Previously, she was a clerk for the US District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She also worked as an associate in the Washington DC, office of Kirkland & Ellis. 

John Ramer, ’17, joins the chambers of Justice Neil Gorsuch following a Bristow Fellowship at the U.S. Department of Justice in the Office of the Solicitor General.

Sarah Alsaden, BA ’13, JD ’16, will serve as one of four 2020–2021 Supreme Court Fellows by the Supreme Court Fellows Commission, and is assigned to the Federal Judicial Center. She joins the program following a clerkship for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. Prior to that, she worked as an associate at Jones Day in Cleveland

Bagley Aids Whitmer

Since March, Professor of Law NICHOLAS BAGLEY has served as special counsel to Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to aid in her response to the COVID-19 crisis. In that role, he drafts executive orders for the governor and offers legal and policy advice on the state’s response to the emergency.

ABA Leadership Changes 

Bill Bay, ’78, Trish Refo, BA ’80, JD ’83, and Reggie Turner, ’87, gathered on Zoom ahead of the American Bar Association annual meeting, held virtually in early August, during which Refo assumed the presidency, Turner assumed the role of president-elect, and Bay completed his 2-year term as chair of the ABA House of Delegates.

Covid Capacity

Every space in the Law Quad has been reassessed to establish new capacity limits for the fall term, based on University guidelines informed by the latest public health information.