Columbia Law School

Shades of green are all around Jerome L. Greene Hall. Happy first week of summer!

The yearlong 2026 Harlan Fiske Stone Moot Court Competition culminated on April 13 with finalists Margaret Broihier ’27, Jason Harward ’26, Coley Hungate ’26, and Benjamin Tutt ’27 arguing a student-written criminal case before a panel of distinguished jurists. For just over an hour, the student advocates presented their arguments, which tested not only their legal knowledge but also their preparation, flexibility, and presence under pressure from a hot bench.

Read more about this year’s competition, hear reflections from the student co-directors who wrote the case, and learn what the finalists took away from their experiences. https://bit.ly/4gkSVYT

Welcome back, Columbia Law alumni! 🩵

Graduates returned to New York City and Columbia’s Morningside campus on June 5 and 6, where they reconnected with classmates, attended panels and a Q&A with Dean Daniel Abebe, and explored a special exhibit in the Li Lu Law Library that featured yearbooks, directories, and photos from their time at the Law School.

Columbia Law School presented its first Excellence in Adjunct Teaching Awards to Lecturer in Law Scott Ruskay-Kidd ’98 and Lecturer in Law Graeme Simpson in May. The award recognizes outstanding classroom teaching and student mentorship by an adjunct instructor at Columbia Law School.

Congratulations!

📸 Dean Daniel Abebe (center) with recipients Simpson (left) and Ruskay-Kidd (right)

More than 4,000 guests cheered on Columbia Law School’s Class of 2026 at the Class Day ceremony held May 17 on Columbia University’s Morningside campus. The event honored the accomplishments of more than 800 J.D., LL.M., E.LL.M., and J.S.D. candidates and featured a keynote address by former U.S. Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr. ’83.

💬 In his remarks, Dean Daniel Abebe urged the graduates to bring the characteristics they displayed on campus out into the world: “The seriousness, empathy, and commitment you have demonstrated during your time at Columbia Law School are qualities that our world desperately needs. Your responsibility now is not simply to remain grounded in those values but to exemplify them for others.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/49GyJwe

Legal scholars, business experts, and corporate law practitioners gathered for the third annual Ira M. Millstein Memorial Conference, sponsored by the Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership, to discuss recent scholarship by Columbia Law School’s business law faculty. The conference honors corporate governance luminary Ira M. Millstein ’49 (1926–2024), a senior partner at Weil, Gotshal & Manges who also held numerous civic leadership roles.

“I’m proud to say that the legacy of Ira Millstein, a 1949 graduate of the Law School and founding chair of the center that bears his name, remains ever present at Columbia Law,” Dean Daniel Abebe said when welcoming participants to the event. “The impressive slate of leaders involved in today’s program—legal scholars and practitioners at the vanguard of their fields—are a fitting tribute to that legacy.”

Watch videos from the conference: https://bit.ly/4dIKc0H

Columbia Law faculty who are experts in immigration law and federalism explored recent legal challenges and court rulings that influence the framework of immigrants’ rights and enforcement at a Lawyers, Community, and Impact event held in April.

The discussion—moderated by Professor Benjamin L. Liebman, with Professors Jessica Bulman-Pozen and Elora Mukherjee—focused primarily on Trump v. Barbara, which seeks to block a January 2025 executive order that would bar birthright citizenship for babies born in the United States if their parents are in the United States temporarily or without legal status. The case was argued at the Supreme Court on April 1.

Faculty Experts on Immigration, Federalism, and the Supreme Court At a Lawyers, Community, and Impact event, faculty discussed recent legal challenges and court rulings that influence the framework of immigrants’ rights and enforcement.

Judge Brian E. Murphy ’06 of the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts joined Dean Daniel Abebe for a fireside chat in April; they spoke about his path to the law, the nuances of sentencing, and the value of clerking. The conversation launched Columbia Law School’s Weil, Gotshal & Manges Distinguished Jurist Speaker Series.

💬 “One of my colleagues described clerking as all the benefits of being a judge but without having to take responsibility. And I think that that’s fairly true,” said Murphy. “Clerks are intimately involved in the decision-making, and they’re talking about the legal thinking, and they talk about the case. … It is a year where you will put in a lot of time, and you will perseverate a lot—as you should. But it’s an incredible experience.”

Read more from the conversation with Judge Murphy: https://bit.ly/3Qd9M50

Professor George A. Bermann ’75 LL.M.—a world-renowned authority on comparative law, transnational litigation, and international arbitration who has trained generations of students—was honored at Columbia Arbitration Day 2026. The conference organized by the Law School’s International Arbitration Association paid tribute to Bermann’s 50 years of teaching at Columbia Law School and featured a special dinner on March 30, where faculty, students, alumni, and practitioners from around the world saluted the legendary scholar and teacher.

💬 Dean Daniel Abebe provided opening remarks at the dinner and praised Bermann’s “incredible range” as an academic. “In many ways, his work has shaped the architecture of international arbitration, making it more coherent, more legitimate, and more integrated across all systems. He’s a synthesizer, someone who brings doctrine, practice, and comparative insight into a single, highly influential body of work.”

Read more: https://bit.ly/4e2a2Mh.