On Martin Luther King Jr. Day, civil rights activist and freedom fighter David Dennis Sr., ’71, met with students for a conversation hosted by the Law School and U-M’s Department of African American Studies. Born on a sharecropper’s plantation in Louisiana, Dennis became involved with protests related to segregated buses in the early 1960s and led efforts to register Black voters in Mississippi in the summer of 1964. After law school, he practiced in Lafayette, Louisiana.
“If drugs are sold in your community, human beings are likely as well.”
—Bridgette Carr, ’02, clinical professor of law, founding director of the Human Trafficking Clinic, and co-director of the AI Law and Policy Clinic, in the Detroit News. She said approaches to combating human trafficking still vary by jurisdiction in Michigan, with some police and prosecutors disagreeing over who is a victim and who is part of a criminal enterprise.
Dialogue Across Difference
In February, the Hon. Chad Readler, ’97, and the Hon. Stephanie Dawkins Davis, who were appointed by presidents of different political parties and are colleagues on the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, spoke to students in a discussion moderated by Nicole Appleberry, ’94, clinical professor of law. “We write opinions, and that can take months and months of drafts and revisions. So if there is tension, we just don’t go on Twitter and type out an opinion, as the rest of the world does,” Readler told the audience. “I really enjoy understanding why people think what they think. We need to be very curious about what each other thinks, even if at the end of the day we’re going to disagree.”
9,000+
Number of Michigan Law alumni who were admitted by Sarah Zearfoss, ’92, senior assistant dean, out of more than 23,000 total Michigan Law alumni worldwide. Zearfoss announced in spring 2026 that she will retire at the end of the 2026–2027 academic year.
Farewell but Not Goodbye
Rebecca Eisenberg, the Robert and Barbara Luciano Professor of Law, received the traditional clapout from members of the Michigan Law faculty after teaching her last class in December. Eisenberg, who joined the faculty in 1984, specializes in patent law and the regulation of biopharmaceutical innovation. She was active in public policy debates concerning the role of intellectual property in biopharmaceutical research, advising the National Institutes of Health and the National Academies of Science.
Faculty held their traditional clapout in honor of Howard Bromberg after he taught his last class in April. Bromberg, a clinical professor of law, taught in the Legal Practice Program, and his scholarship ranges from tax and the evolving legal landscape of marijuana law to legal history.
“It’s easy to want to drive one of these cute kei cars. It’s another thing to put your family in them and travel down the highway at 70 mph between a Suburban and an F-150.”
—Tifani Sadek, clinical professor of law, co-director of the Zell Entrepreneurship Clinic, and director of the Law and Mobility Program, in an NBC News article about the viability of Japanese kei microcars and trucks being built in the United States. In December, President Trump indicated his support for their production.
“The advantage of the judicial process—even if the effects of it are long and historic—is that you have the establishment, by a judicial body, of facts. That’s a very precious thing in today’s world.”
—Síofra O’Leary, former president of the European Court of Human Rights, shared her experiences on the court and some of the wisdom she gained along the way during a talk at Michigan Law in March. The Q&A event was moderated by Daniel Halberstam, the Eric Stein Collegiate Professor of Law and director of the European Legal Studies Program.
Professor Samuel Bagenstos received the 2025 President’s Award for Public Impact for his demonstrated commitment to public service, significant contributions to society through national and state leadership, and efforts to address the challenges communities face every day. He was nominated by his colleagues, who wrote that his work leading critical government agencies during the pandemic was “ instrumental in galvanizing our nationwide response in a time of crisis and ensuring access to medical care among the most vulnerable.” U-M President Domenico Grasso (right) presented the award to Bagenstos at a ceremony in March.
Top 5
The annual Student Funded Fellowships (SFF) Auction in March featured 198 items. The ones that garnered the highest bids were…
5. An Afternoon at YORK Food and Drink with Professor Emily Prifogle
4. “Something Frameable” from Assistant Dean Sarah Zearfoss, ’92
(The 2025 winner chose an awkward, JC Penney-style photoshoot.)
3. Karaoke Night with Professor John Pottow
2. Pool/Hot Tub Party in the Backyard of Professors Amy Sankaran, ’01, and Vivek Sankaran, ’01
1. Learn the Four Major Life Skills with Professor Len Niehoff, ’84
(One: How to defend yourself. Two: How to do “flashy things” with knives. Three: How to make a James Bond martini. Four: How to eat an oyster.)
For the first time in its history, the Federalist Society at Michigan Law received top honors. In a field of more than 200 chapters, the students brought home two of the nine awards: the James Madison Award for Chapter of the Year and the George Washington Award for Innovation—for their video series Courtside, in which they interview federal judges in various Michigan athletic arenas.
