Law Quadrangle

Features Spring/Summer 2023

Behind the Bench at the Supreme Court

For 20 years, Jeffrey Minear’s dealings at the Supreme Court followed a familiar pattern. As a litigator in the Office of the Solicitor General, he would prepare a brief, present argument, and await the ruling—a process he repeated more than 50 times. That all changed in 2006, when a new mandate became his daily task at the Court: perform such duties as may be assigned by the chief justice.

Litigation

Jeff Titus walks in the woods after being exonerated.

Features Spring/Summer 2023

Jeff Titus Celebrates Life (on the) Outside

Titus, a Michigan Innocence Clinic client, was exonerated and released from prison in February. He was convicted in 2002 of killing two deer hunters in a state game area in the southeast corner of Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

Rebecca Richards, tribal chair for the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, performs a smudging ceremony to begin a meeting with Michigan Law students and members of the Pokagon Band tribal court in Dowagiac, Michigan.

Features Fall 2022

Problem Solving Course Untangles a Web of Tribal Sovereignty and Policing

Earlier this year, students in Michigan Law’s Problem Solving Initiative course Policing by Indian Tribes had the opportunity to take a deep dive into the legal challenges that complicate law enforcement in Native American communities. In doing so, they found that there are rarely simple answers to the questions that arise.

Constitutional Law

In Practice

Dan Bergeson, ’82: Adapting to a New Normal in California Courts

Going to trial in the era of COVID-19 has introduced a new twist into once-familiar proceedings, especially for the complex business litigation that is typical of Bergson’s practice. “You don’t have those face-to-face moments where you have that feeling of connectivity from seeing the judge or juror’s reaction.”

Pixelated and digitized image of Lady Justice holding the scales. This is the cover image for the story "Can COVID-19 Help Expand Access to Justice?"

Cover Story

Can COVID-19 Help Expand Access to Justice?

When you arrived for a hearing at Michigan’s 36th district court before 2020, the most important question you might face was: where do you put your phone?

@UMICHLAW

Ramer, ’17, Receives Prestigious Bristow Fellowship

Only four or five Bristow Fellowships are awarded annually by the U.S. Department of Justice. A prestigious honor, its holders are allowed to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. John Ramer, ’17, is now among their ranks.

Beauty image of the Law School Reading Room

Briefs Fall 2020

News in Briefs: Fall 2020

Michigan Innocence Clinic celebrates 23rd exoneration | Historic fundraising year for Student Funded Fellowships | Alumni head to Supreme Court | and more...

@UMICHLAW Winter 2019

Kurt Johnson, ’15, to Clerk for Justice Gorsuch

Kurt Johnson, ’15, has accepted a U.S. Supreme Court clerkship with Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch. Johnson’s one-year clerkship is for the October 2019 term. He will start the job this summer.