News in Brief: Summer 2025

Michigan Law students playing mini golf in the Law Library subs

Fore!

The Law School community gathered in the Law Library in February for the Golf in the Subs mini-golf tournament, a fundraiser for the student group Legal Alternative Winter (LAW) Breaks. In 2025, LAWBreaks organized service-oriented trips to support nonprofit organizations in Chicago (The Exoneration Project) and New York City (the Waterkeeper Alliance) during winter break.

Ann Arbor <---> Tokyo

The Law School has maintained close ties to Japan and its legal system for more than a century—the first LLM degrees awarded by Michigan Law were to two Japanese students in 1890, and more alumni live in Japan than any other foreign country. In February, Emily Lovell, ’25, and Michael Zhao, ’25, participated in a weeklong program at the University of Tokyo, where they studied alongside students from 13 elite global institutions and visited the Supreme Court of Japan (pictured). And in March, Dean Masami Okino gave a lecture, “The Use of Trusts in an Aging Society,” as part of the Law School’s annual University of Tokyo Faculty Exchange.

Emily Lovell and Michael Zhao in front of the Supreme Court of Japan — Emily Lovell, ’25 (left), and Michael Zhao, ’25 (right)

Dean Masami Okino lectures at Michigan Law — Dean Masami Okino

Rebecca Scott receives applause from the MLaw community — Rebecca Scott, professor of law and the Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History

Farewell, and Thank You

Rebecca Scott, a professor of law and the Charles Gibson Distinguished University Professor of History, retired after the winter 2025 term. Members of the faculty filed into her last class to honor her years of service to students with the Law School’s traditional “clap out.” Scott is the co-founder of the Program in Race, Law, and History, and taught law courses on civil rights and the boundaries of citizenship in historical perspective as well as slavery and the law.

Keeping it cool

Michigan Law students at Yost Ice Arena — Students embraced winter with a free skate organized by the Office of Student Life at Yost Ice Arena in February.

At this moment, many public servants feel as if they are under attack. That feeling is warranted. Any affirmation of their mission and dedication is precious. The Fiske Fellowship’s ongoing work to support public interest lawyers and to foster community among them is so important, and I am thankful for it.

—Mike Kabakoff, ’03, assistant public defender, Mecklenburg County [North Carolina] Public Defender’s Office. He is one of 86 recipients of the Fiske Fellowship for public service since the program’s inception in 2001. Fellows reflected on their careers as part of their fifth reunion with benefactor Bob Fiske, ’55, which was held in Washington, DC, in May.

Federalist Society Convenes in the Quad

Michigan Law faculty and alumni at the Federalist Society’s 2025 National Student Symposium — Michigan Law faculty and alumni with varying ideological perspectives spoke at the Federalist Society’s 2025 National Student Symposium, which was held at the Law School in March. The conference’s theme was Congress: Reviving the Impetuous Vortex.

Justin Amash, ’05, former US Congressman from Michigan
Nicholas Bagley, Thomas G. Long Professor of Law
Hon. Raymond Kethledge, ’93, Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Nina A. Mendelson, Joseph L. Sax Collegiate Professor of Law and co-director of the Environmental and Energy Law Program

Julian Davis Mortenson, James G. Phillipp Professor of Law
Richard Primus, Theodore J. St. Antoine Collegiate Professor of Law
Hon. Chad A. Readler, ’97, Judge, US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Christopher J. Walker, Professor of Law and adviser to Michigan Law’s Federalist Society chapter